Tuesday, August 4, 2015

Rule #3: Always appear to be willing and able

You should always appear to be willing and able. The operative word is "appear." Capable people in government and industry are consistently approached with new work. Good work attracts more work, but they wouldn't get that reputation if they took on every task or project that came along. Some of those jobs are time-wasters and career-killers.

So how do you avoid the bad jobs and still be considered for the good ones?

When I was a contractor, my boss used to say, "Never turn down billable work." The implication was that there will always be tasks that are not related to revenue generation. When my time could be charged to a contract, I was encouraged to take on those billable assignments without checking with her first. But when it came to the other kind, she would caution, "whoever is looking to task you, don't turn them down. Let me do it.” In government employment, “billable work” is not an applicable term; you have core duties and collateral assignments. Whatever the label, the technique is the same.

The requester should always be under the impression that you have the skills and willingness to take on the assignment, but it is your supervisor that has to approve and assign new work. This sets up your supervisor, not you, to be the bad guy. But guess what? That's their job. They make the assignments and prioritize the ongoing work. They are the gatekeepers to your skills.

The key is to work out a system in advance with your supervisor.

DON'T SAY: "Let me check with my supervisor."

DO SAY: "You have to check with my supervisor."

What's the difference? In the first version, you are still the person who ultimately says "no" - even though you may only be the messenger.

If you use the second method, the requester has to do the work of getting the assignment cleared with your chain-of-command. After all, you are busy with a priority assignment, remember? As a bonus, the lazy requester might give up, especially if they know their request is hard to justify. Some problems do just go away.

Sometimes the requester is as industrious as you are. For this, you need to bake in a signal that your supervisor will recognize, so the two of you have a chance to talk about the crappy inbound request. For instance, you could use the same phrase with the requester, "My supervisor has me working a top priority project that I am not allowed to put aside ..." Then when the requester goes to your supervisor and tells them what you said, they will respond with, “Oh right, that project is a high priority, but let me see how far we are with that assignment and I'll see what we can do about yours."

Time is purchased. Now the two of you can talk about the new horribleness coming your way. Perhaps it can be deflected, changed, reduced, or killed off completely. Your supervisor may have to play this role too, kicking the request further up the chain-of-command, but they will probably need your help explaining why the request is a dog.

There may be unrecognized forces at play and you end up doing the work anyway, but you and your supervisor (perhaps the whole team) will learn this and be better equipped next time.

Your success, your survival, depends as much on the perception of your willingness as it does on the facts of your accomplishments.

-AR
© Aron Ruthe, 2015
thiasuswake.blogspot.com

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