How To Manage Too Much Work - The Good Problem

Many business owners would love to have too much work. In fact, of all the problems you could face such as lack of cash flow, employee issues, product issues etc; having too much work is pretty low on the list of problems to resolve but it is still a problem.

Firstly, the enormous pressure you can feel from having too much work, adds to your stress levels increasing anxiety and making work a chore. In addition to those, the possibility of letting customers down can weigh on you, further increasing stress.

The obvious action when you have too much work, is to work harder, to knuckle down and get to it. However, do too much and you can wear yourself out and make yourself ill. Even if you employ new people to lighten the load, it can take time for them to make a difference.

So What Do You Do?

The answer to the problem of too much work is to deal with the issue with a multi-pronged attack made up of the following:

Manage Customers Expectations – Most customers will wait if you explain the issues you are facing. It’s much better to explain upfront that there may be a delay rather than set unrealistic targets and fail to meet them. The former will increase your reputation, the latter will ruin it.
Track, Plan and Action – Create Task lists, date them and then tick off every action you complete. Tracking the work will mean you will deal with it methodically and by dating actions you will deal with the older items first.
Stop doing unnecessary work – If you find yourself doing things that could be done by someone else, then stop and get rid. Don’t get distracted by tasks that can be delegated and focus on the things that matter.
Embrace Growth – If you are too busy for a prolonged period, you are going to have to embrace growth and plan for it. Start by identifying where your bottle necks are and what your business is going to need to relieve these.
Outsource – Consider passing on some tasks to outside businesses. Analyse your system and find out what can be done by others. We have clients who require 3D visualisations for customer quotes; these are outsourced to a team in India. This gives them unlimited access to skilled team members at a fraction of the cost.
Manage your time efficiently –Make sure important tasks are done first and if things can be done in less than two minutes, then don’t put them off. Identify and delay the unimportant work. Make sure team members don’t waste your time by delegating tasks to you that they should be doing themselves.
Make Your Processes Lean – Systems and Processes are essential for any growing business, but making these Lean is equally important. Shaving off unnecessary steps in processes will save you time and money. Ask yourself “Is this step necessary for the final outcome?” when looking at your processes and you will begin to eliminate waste in them.