Your manager has just come by your desk and handed you a task. You know you can’t do it the way he laid out with the resources you have. Should you go back and tell your manager, “No, I can’t do this”? Although you may be tempted, this is neither prudent nor productive. This doesn’t mean you need to suffer in silence and then fail to deliver. You should, instead, have an honest conversation with your manager. And this is a conversation you need to prepare for. Giving your manager pushback on tasking is okay within limits.
What is preventing you from completing the task?
First, why can’t you accomplish the task? Is it lack of training, resources, time, or what? If you haven’t found any reason you cannot accomplish the task, pushing back is pointless. Say, instead, there isn’t enough time allotted for the task. For you to do this task, you need another week or someone to assist you with the project. You have now found something that your manager can address. He can give you more time, additional help, change the scope of the task, or he can remove the task, which may require him to pushback on his manager.
Frame your pushback honestly.
Your conversation will take place in the form of “what,” “so what,” and “now what.” You have already identified the “what”: insufficient time allotted with the resources available. Now determine the “so what.” Why does it matter? In our example, it matters because the task won’t get done on time. More precisely, you won’t do it on time to the standard required without additional resources or halting work on other projects. We have three possible solutions here. First, your manager can give you additional time. Second, your manager can give you more resources (additional people, money, etc.). Finally, your manager can prioritize your work, letting you know which ones are okay to halt while work continues on the most important projects.
Offer a recommendation
Do not simply bring the problem to your manager. Whenever possible, also bring a solution and your recommendation. Your manager already has enough to do without you bringing problems and expecting him to magically fix them. Bring a recommended solution (and some alternatives) and help your manager out. Now he will be able to see that you have done your homework and saved him the trouble. In our example you would say, “manager, I can’t complete the project on time and do all my other priorities. I know this is important to you and the organization. So, I recommend that our intern, Bill, be assigned to the project and that I put the new org chart on hold while I work on this project. Alternatively, I can do it alone, but I will also need to place project X on hold and hold project Y at risk in the event of any delays.”
You will probably not get an answer at this point. But you will have opened up the conversation. We recommend you are prepared to schedule a time on your manager’s calendar to discuss the issue. Email is good for providing background and keying up the topic. But it is a poor medium for prolonged discussion on a topic of this type.