One of my directs has been putting in an excessive amount of overtime for our department - 55-60 hours/week where the norm is about 43 hrs/week. She's salaried, so it's not costing us more when she does this... but it does set up a frustrating dynamic where she's routinely sending emails at midnight, or monitoring overnight system jobs that I've specifically said are not her responsibility, or telling my boss how overworked she is.
My boss is aware that she's doing this to herself, and the previous manager had also told her repeatedly to leave at a decent hour and not take responsibility for others' work - no luck. Now that she's on my team, I have given her feedback on focusing on her tasks and letting teammates handle their own. So far, it seems that she just can't resist staying late to make sure things are "done the right way," though I have no problem with the rest of the team's performance.
Have you faced this kind of issue with your team? At this point, I want her to give up this excessive work, but even more so, I would like her to stop complaining about it!
Thanks for your time.
Giving feedback on her
Giving feedback on her behaviour of monitoring others' tasks (it could affect others' job satisfaction and team morale) and management's concern about burnout in her position hasn't seemed to work. Do you have O3s? What does she bring to those sessions?
Scott Delinger
DiSC: 5137
Thanks, Scott. We've been
Thanks, Scott. We've been having weekly O3s for about 2 months - she generally focuses on the work she's doing, and her concerns about the work that's been assigned to other team members. When I ask for specific instances of things falling through the cracks or being done incorrectly, she can't think of any - she's "just worried" or "wants to keep an eye on it."
She's a hard worker and a great technical asset to the team, and you're right - her second-guessing is starting to affect team morale. Maybe I need to give more positive feedback on the items she's completing appropriately, continue to give corrective feedback around taking other's work, and ignore her (self-inflicted) complaining for a while.
Keeping an eye on the other
Keeping an eye on the other staff members' tasks would part of your job? If so, let her know you are managing those projects/tasks just as you are hers, and that your other directs have O3s with you as well. Give positive feedback on her completion of HER work, and if necessary, give negative feedback on what's beginning to be seen as meddling/interfering.
Scott Delinger
DiSC: 5137
Have you asked her to propose a solution?
Sounds like she's pretty competent at her job -- have you considered asking her to recommend solutions to the problem of being overworked (or perceived problems with others' work)?
Interesting idea - turn it around
Buhlerar, I haven't done that. Worth a try, though, so thanks for offering it. And yes, Scott, it's my job to keep an eye on things - in time, I hope she's able to relax a bit and trust my judgment. Thanks for your suggestions.