Don’t overcommit

WORKWISE

Learn not to take on work you and your team cannot handle, says Rahul Kapoor

Any manager will tell you it is a grave mistake to take on work the team does not have time and resources to handle. Yet, people become victims to overcommitment and invite trouble.
There can be many reasons for this — urgency to meet targets, temptation to make more money, fear of losing an opportunity, fear of looking inadequate, inability to say no, avoiding disappointing customers; the list goes on. However valid the reason, it still has an adverse effect on people, relationships, quality of work and eventually the health of the business.
Overcommitment forces people to overstretch, make compromises of different kinds, live under stress, and make errors; timelines can suffer creating unhappy customers; eventually it takes away the peace and joy of doing things.
Every professional must rise to the occasion and deliver. But it is equally important to ensure that one makes commitments that can be kept. Here are a few suggestions that help:
1. Consult your team, take their views on how much everyone can stretch to, to deliver quality results; make the commitment accordingly.
2. Spend adequate time on planning, allocate the right resources to ensure the work is done in time.
3. If needed, increase your resources temporarily, seek support from other teams or out-source the job if you can keep tabs on quality.
4. Be transparent and honest with your customers while you make a commitment, especially if it is a last minute order or request. Keep them posted on your schedules and let them know that it will be a stretch. This approach will not only earn you respect and understanding but also avoid misunderstanding.
5. Let go of some assignments if you really cannot deliver. It is better to do some jobs extremely well rather than ruin most because of over commitment.
6. If you must say no, say it honestly without guilt. Be assertive and let your customers know why it is not possible to service them then. You can however support by referring them to someone who you think can do justice to their needs. Most businesses survive on referrals and feedback; so it’s important not to make commitments and break them. No reasons are valid, no excuses are acceptable, the only thing customers need — results.
– Rahul Kapoor is the author of a book on work place matters