Added Responsibilities: Where Stress Ends and Success Begins

This week, I had a client call for an urgent consultation. Her peer resigned, and her boss told her she would take on his responsibility and keep her current role and responsibilities. At the moment, it felt like a vote of confidence, and she was reluctant to say no. However, the truth was that she was already overwhelmed, and the team needed more than four members due to other shifts in the business.?

But how could she say no??

In our conversation, we discussed the reality of her situation.?

Politically, saying no was not an option. Her boss had no alternative, so she had no choice, so she had to accept the additional responsibilities. However, she realized she needed to establish boundaries and set clear expectations, even if she couldn't immediately secure additional support.?

She transformed a challenging conversation into a productive exchange of ideas, and here's how she did it.

Use Data to Tell the Story

In her emotional turmoil, my client recognized the need to gather data to support her case. Instead of presenting a story they both knew, she approached it from a fresh angle that evoked empathy.?

She leveraged data to illustrate the challenge in the place of emotion. This data-driven approach allowed her boss to understand the magnitude of the challenge and helped her request the necessary resources.

Be an Ally

When you think about the other person's perspective, you can create a story arc to make sense to them. By considering her boss' perspective, she could clearly understand the political stresses her boss was up against, which gave her more context to show how she could best support her.?

She acknowledged the political pressures her boss faced and used this context to demonstrate how she could be a supportive ally. They made a plan to keep lines of communication open and how the workplace dynamics, AKA workplace politics, would play against them. Simply having this discussion and speaking openly about the associated workplace politics created a willingness to be vulnerable.?

Voice Your Needs

My client needed more than just resources. She required additional time and understanding from her boss while she navigated the complexities of merging the teams. Without a complete understanding of the challenges ahead, she asked for a dedicated weekly meeting to discuss the evolving needs of her newly combined team. This alignment was crucial, as her boss was pressured to avoid missing a beat politically.

After the meeting, my client felt like a new person. She meticulously documented all the details and took extra time to capture her boss's thoughts by lifting even the specific words her boss used to illustrate her points. This meticulous approach is essential when conversing into the future, as our memory can sometimes blur the facts with subjectivity.

Note: You might wonder why she didn't anchor the idea of added compensation. She did this as a part of setting boundaries. She didn't demand it immediately but agreed with her boss on dates for negotiations for the increase in compensation related to these increases in responsibilities. I will have to detail those steps in a future post.

Now, it's your turn to navigate difficult conversations.

What conversations must you have, and how will you prepare for and negotiate them effectively?

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