Who Should Get Extra Assignments?
Question: When special projects come up or I need extra work to complete a deliverable, I tend to go to the same staff members. They are my superstars and never let me down. I certainly don’t want to overload these highly productive employees with more work, and I don’t want to burn them out. However, they always deliver, so they are my go-to high achievers. Should I be looking elsewhere when these situations come up?
Answer: This is a complicated issue so let’s break it down. It is understandable for any manager to turn to the people who as you say, “never let you down.” A new project or deliverable is put on your plate, and you immediately think of the person who did such an excellent job on the last special assignment in your department.
Here are some things to consider and ask yourself before you assign the work to one of your star staff members:
How will asking them to take on this new challenge effect their current workload? If they are your high achievers, odds are they already have a large number of deliverables. Will taking on this new work interfere with completion of their current assignments?
One of the challenges of being a manager is to support your staff members so they can have some balance in their lives. If you ask a high achiever to take on more work, what will it do to their work-life balance?
Will taking on this additional assignment require them to work additional hours which may result in burnout?
Do you intend to compensate them for this additional work, or are you expecting them to add work to their already full plate?
Is there something, other than pleasing you—such as a learning experience or visibility in the organization—in this for them?
Think about others on the team. When you always give the extra assignments to your high achievers, are you doing others a disservice? Consider expanding your horizons to look at additional team members who could benefit from this opportunity. You may need to spend more time with them to get the job done, but it will be time well spent. They will develop new skills and abilities, grow in their value to your organization, and you will have more individuals to turn to.
It's also good management to give your employees permission to say no to a special assignment. Be clear when offering a new project that you want them to consider their current workload. If they know that they don’t have the bandwidth to take on the new work and complete their current deliverables, you want them to be honest with you. If they say, “This isn’t the right time for me to take this on because I’m already working at full capacity,” it should not be perceived as a negative. Their honesty should be appreciated.
Don’t automatically assign new projects to a high achiever. Instead, look at your entire team and their abilities and their capacity for additional work. The result will be a win-win.
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