Why You Need To Stop Doing Other People's Work For Them

[@vikaueland6104]

Warwick, you are the best, I just shared your channel with our global team.. so relevant

[@kamcoach]

Thanks Vika - I really appreciate the kind words and spreading the news about my channel with your team! If there's anything I can do to help, don't hesitate to reach out! 😀

[@bdpatton2]

the invoice chasing hit a chord with me --- so frustrating to have someone ask me to do that work for them

[@kamcoach]

I hear you! I'm an account manager, not accounts receivable.

[@stosvahtube2195]

I know I'm four years late. But I so get your point. I am an operations manager at a huge customer service and I feel like i'm also a sales manager, Vendor Manager, CX manager, Team leader, Change manager aswell. But if I stop, shit will hit the fan and it will probably be my fault.

[@kamcoach]

I'm sorry to hear that, and sadly, it's not uncommon. We take on all this extra responsibility to put a patch on things that the organization (or at least other departments) should fix, because we care about our customers. Suddenly we wake up and we're doing everyone else's job and can't remember how we got there. If you're feeling this way, I do think it's time for a conversation with your boss about your workload and redirecting some of it back to where it belongs. Here's an article that might help you start the conversation hbr.org/2017/01/how-to-tell-your-boss-you-have-too-much-work

[@hakimsuhaili8712]

Great advise

[@kamcoach]

Thanks Hakim! "Stop doing other people's work" is my daily affirmation!

[@JS-sv4ol]

This speaks directly to one of the pains my team is feeling across all 3 segments of our team. I just had a conversation where the newly hired manager of our support experts (more of a support + product/technical focus) brought up not wanting the time taken up from his team when training is needed. They are a branch of the support team and the support team expertise is low (significantly lower) - this is also in part due to internal hiring a skimming our top talent for new roles and other departments. What are some solutions you have seen work? What could I do to empower my manager with the information/data they need to show other managers what we are doing and how much time is spent on the technical learning, training and resolution on issues?

[@kamcoach]

Doing other people's work is not going to be a good enough excuse when you miss your targets. This is such a big issue, a huge hidden cost and a major distraction from achieving your goals. So I feel your pain! The biggest thing I've learned is that you can't stop doing something until you find a home for it somewhere else. So I would focus on smalls steps to restore the work back to the appropriate teams. And for anything to change you need to pitch the emotional story. I had a situation where I showed tables and data and forecasts and no-one listened. Then I pulled together three slides - presented the same information visually with some story-telling elements (beginning/middle/end/what is and what could be) - and I had everything approved that I wanted. Often it's not what you say, but how. I'm happy to jump on a call if you want to chat more about your specific situation - you can grab time in my diary at amtip.co/chat/