On Facebook, someone posted about a conundrum where he was given too much work to do, informed his boss of the problem, told to just get it done, and then chastised for not getting everything done in a day. This was my response.
“You’re a tough situation. What I have done differently in your scenario above to make sure there is a clear gameplan before your boss walks away.
“It is appropriate to give your boss the initiative in setting priorities. If he doesn’t, then you need to propose a specific work plan. Such as “In the 11 hours we are allowed to work, I think I can get ABC done, which means that DEF may be pushed back till tomorrow, does that sound good?” Don’t let him leave without forcing him to give you a clear idea of your priorities.
“And I agree with the previous responder, it is also a really good thing to send your boss an email at the end of the day, “as discussed today, I did ABC, and started on D, unless you need something different, I should get D and E tomorrow. Here are the issues we are dealing with…” Such an email will preemptively deal with his question of “why?” and help him start prioritizing your tasks first thing tomorrow morning when he’s checking correspondence.
“You may also need to have a brutally frank conversation of this nature: “Ok, for me to complete ABCDEF all today, I need to cut corners. Are you ok with executing this work at below our typical company standards to get them all out the door?” Obviously there are some things you can’t fuck with (such as life safety) but most things can go Chevy vs Cadillac. And again, if there is flexible in quality, then that is a decision for your boss to make, so help him out by highlighting the available options to him.
“Ultimately it’s our job to give honest assessments of work progress to the guys upstairs, so they have the best info for doing their job in allocating team resources. And if they refuse to listen to reality, there is the final answer, dust off your resume.