Posted by Have you ever thought that, somewhere along your career path, you have become the type person who would comply to anything? Taking on every task that was given to you regardless if it’s relevant or suitable for your position? Have you been constantly struggling with every request given by your peers and supervisors?
Regardless if we want to be considerate and helpful towards other at work just to show our commitment to your job. There must be a threshold to it, even just for the sake of proving your value to the company. Each turn you take, you are potentially taking a step to compromise your own work and also potentially degrade your work quality and satisfaction.
In the end, its all about setting the standard on how to manage your work relationship and this are the few key steps you should exercise.
1. Provide alternatives before accepting or declining
The issue with declining to help your coworker may be seen as uncooperative or inflexible which won’t be good for your relationship. If you don’t want to be a pushover, you certainly don’t want to put yourself in a complex situation. You will need to be creative in figuring out a solution that solves both sides without having you overextend your limit.
Take for example your manager gave you an urgent task to complete by the end of the workday. It is certainly not possible for you unless you stay late in the office. Instead of declining the task entirely, propose to your superior by offering an alternate solution. State that it won’t be possible for you to complete it in a day but will require 2 days of time. Through this manner, you are still being respectful and eager to accomplish the task.
2. Do not say you are sorry
Whenever someone in the workplace asks for a favour from you, do not apologise after declining to help him or her out. For instance, if a co-worker request for your assistance on an assignment when your hands are full. Just mention that you are not able to accommodate your time to assist due to your own workload.
Related: How To Talk in a Workplace So People Listen
3. Come up with your own to-don’t list
Schedule your daily work to determine your duties and responsibilities. For each task, identify what is the outcome upon completing the task and how it will help you and the company. Once you have a list up, sort your task and shift anything that does not affiliate with your top priorities. As an example, if you have a sales target to achieve by the end of this month, you should not agree to pick up other duties. Irrelevant tasks that would eat up your time from working on your main focus should be placed on your to-don’t list instead.
4. Stay true to your words
Declining your colleague’s request can make things awkward and different at first. But when it comes to tasks that way out of your expertise. You will need to decline and stick to you what you preach. If it’s a demand from your supervisor, try to negotiate and looks for alternatives to settle. As an example, if your employer wishes you to complete a task ASAP by staying till late at night. You will need to ask and find out the significance of getting it done as soon as possible. Propose a better solution, for instance getting another colleague to help you out to speed up the progress. In doing so will display the value and dedication of the people involved.
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