How to refuse overtime without risking your career

rabiarahi

Almost 50% of specialists work more than the required 40 hours a week, according to a study by VTsIOM . Of these, 76% are ready to work overtime if they are paid extra for it. And what should those who do not want to stay late at work do? We give examples from life and tell you how to diplomatically refuse your boss and find a compromise.

Situation 1: Temporary work for two employees becomes permanent
Responsible web designer Igor has been working in the company for 3 years, the manager was satisfied with the results and had no complaints about him. But six months ago, the second designer quit, and Igor had to do the tasks of both. Every day there were rush jobs, he began to work himself to the point of exhaustion both on weekdays and on weekends. Time passed, but it seemed like they were not looking for a new employee. Then Igor decided to sort things out with the management and asked to relieve him of additional duties, citing the job descriptions in the employment contract. The manager flared up in response, the conversation escalated into a conflict.

Recommendations: most likely, the manager social media marketing service perceived the mention of regulatory documents as an ultimatum and lack of desire to help in the current situation. It is better to draw up a detailed report on the workload and politely ask for help from an employee from the team, immediately allocating a number of tasks for him. And also emphasize that this will help increase efficiency.

Situation 2: There are no priorities in tasks, you need to do everything at once
Darya is often overloaded with work on certain days. It happens that she is given three big tasks at once that need to be done urgently. When asked what is the best place to start, the manager replies: "All at once." Darya starts doing one task, then breaks off for another and tries to complete a third one at the same time. As a result, at the end of the week, not a single task was fully completed. To which the manager reprimanded her and said that she needed to plan her workday better.

Recommendations: next time Daria should clarify the priorities in the tasks, but at the same time focus on the quality of the work. For example:

“The tasks are complex and large, I want to complete them well - let’s agree on a schedule.”
"I can do one more task, but I want to warn you that I am currently working on other assignments, and this may affect the performance."
"I'm always ready to give my best, but being overloaded can affect productivity - I don't want to let you down."