Discussion Thread

  • 1.  Declining a Request While Maintaining Trust

    Posted 02-08-2019 10:43 PM
    I am a project engineer / manager assigned to 10-15 projects annually. I am heavily overloaded at any given time. I am frequently asked to take on other tasks or projects that I simply cannot handle while still managing to complete my original assignments. How do you successfully decline a request from someone you ultimately need to please such as a manager or a current or future stakeholder without them losing confidence in your capabilities?

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    Michelle Haacke A.M.ASCE
    Project Manager
    West Bountiful UT
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  • 2.  RE: Declining a Request While Maintaining Trust

    Posted 02-09-2019 10:33 AM
    Michelle,

    Interesting question -  I will presume the tasks are assigned from one same boss/manager - I would respond by asking what projects were to have priorities over the others, if the new request changes any priorities or deadlines/milestones.  Maybe the manager/senior engineer is not aware of your concerns.  That is what you must be asking though - how to express the concern of not being able to handle  more projects.  This may also be how your manager/senior engineer "tests" to determine how much you would take on.  Do not consider that in a negative, that is not how I intend it to be.  Early in my career I recall having a lot of field work, very long days, extra hours, and fortunately extra pay.  Regular out of town projects I worked 12 to 14 hours a day!  I discussed with my senior engineer that I was not really interested or asking for extra work but that I would work extra hours as I was asked to do.  That was honest on my part and in the end did not really work out for me as that company was interested in persons who had interest to work 20 to 30% more, particularly from March through October/early November, rather than hire additional staff who may not be needed from November through February.  I now consider assigning me much field work and over-time that first summer was a test.  I worked there through the next summer with the understanding of those higher expectations, a lot of overtime, and saved the extra money.  Then I found other employment when a transition worked out well - I then also did some initial study for a master's degree, something that would not have been practical working all the OT.  The value of getting another degree was more than the earnings from OT.  Working for another company while I was in college a few years earlier than that, I worked as much as I could each summer and during many breaks although there was much less opportunity for overtime.  I was active in asking for more work, well beyond 40 hours a week and I earned more money.  I was very pleasantly surprised to receive a "bonus" check during Christmas Break after not working over the fall semester since my college was in a different town.  The bonus was based on being of "extra value" the previous summer and leading to more profits for that company.   

    If you are requested to take on projects from multiple bosses, that seems to be another issue.  Someone in the business should be able to convey to you the expectations and priorities.  If projects are assigned from multiple bosses, likely these multiple bosses are not aware of the extent of the many projects you have being "heavily overloaded at any given time" as you state.  

    All the Best,

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    David Devine P.E., L.S., M.ASCE
    Fort Wayne IN
    (260)486-8842
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  • 3.  RE: Declining a Request While Maintaining Trust

    Posted 02-10-2019 11:34 AM
    Michelle, I think many times when a manager is assigning you these projects, they might not know you are overloaded. 

    Every time you get assigned another project, it is important that you ask how to prioritize. Something like: "How would you like for me to prioritize this project compared to my other projects?" That allows you to subtly bring up that you have other projects that need your attention and that something is going to have to take a back seat. 

    I would also recommend having an honest dialogue with your manager to mention that you are overloaded but are going to push to get things done. I've usually said something like "I hold my myself and my work to a high standard, and I am going to push to get all my projects completed. But with everything on my plate, I am unlikely to meet my high standards in the time that I am given to complete these projects." That way, you are signaling to your manager that you produce great work, but all the projects have consumed your bandwidth and it would be difficult for you to take on more work.

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    Zaid Admani P.E., M.ASCE
    Sugar Land TX
    (832)818-6213
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  • 4.  RE: Declining a Request While Maintaining Trust

    Posted 02-11-2019 09:14 PM
    The other comments are spot-on. It is your manager's responsibility to help you prioritize projects, so as others have said, go straight to him or her and say, "I have these projects, can you help me prioritize which ones take precedence over the others? And, which ones do we have other engineers available to assist with in order to meet these deadlines?"

    I also suggest creating a  single document that lists each of your projects and known deadlines/deliverables. This should include not just design deadlines but when shop drawings are expected, meetings are needed to attend, etc. If you have a particularly demanding client/project that eats up hours of your day with "urgent for him/her" (but not urgent for you) requests, this needs to be on that list also. Take that list with you when you have this discussion. Often when a manager sees everything laid out that way, the overwhelming visual makes a point better than you can with words alone.  It is human nature to underestimate what others are doing when we are knee-deep in our own work.

    One caveat here - This approach works well if you are working in a positive work culture that values you as an employee. It doesn't work at all if you are in a work environment that requires employees to work substantial extra hours for months on end. There are firms or managers out there with a reputation for this, in which case it may be better for you to find a new job. 

    The third thing (which one has mentioned yet) that can happen is what happened in the last recession, which has had a lasting effect on hiring. Many people were hired, and then laid off when the downturn hit. That experience can make firms (still) reluctant to hire, believing that the excess work is temporary. If you have this conversation with your manager and are told that working extra is "temporary," request a definition of that timeframe. For example, you could say "I am committed to getting done what needs to be done in the immediate future,  but I also know that in order to grow the firm we'd need to expand our capacity at some point. If workloads are substantial for many employees, I'm curious at what point would you consider hiring additional staff, and if, for example, you would consider hiring new staff I would supervise for my projects in the next 3 to 6 months? " The response to this question will be very enlightening for you on multiple fronts and may give you substantial clues as to if you should wait out the workload as a temporary situation or seek employment elsewhere.

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    Stephanie Slocum P.E., M.ASCE
    Founder
    Engineers Rising LLC
    www.engineersrising.com
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