Episode 115 | "What Would You Like Me to Deprioritize in Order to Get That Done?"

Question

Hey Work Wives, it's Kayla. I'm from Webster Groves. It's outside St. Louis. I need advice if I'm being reasonable or to be told that I need to suck it up if I'm being unreasonable.

I was hired at my company seven months ago as an executive assistant, supporting the two owners of the company and the head of HR.

However, over the last seven months, I'm now working on two large, time sensitive projects on top of my regular duties. And my direct supervisor, the head of HR, keeps throwing other things at me by CCing me on emails and saying, "She'd be happy to help with that." He keeps giving me assignments and tasks and not understanding why my regular work or larger projects aren't getting done. And I don't feel like I could just do like a 'reply-all' and say, "Actually, I'm super busy this week. Sorry."

I don't know how to address this without seeming lazy or entitled, but I am becoming more and more stressed trying to get everything done, and I feel like I'm coming off as incompetent when I don't have the status updates my boss is looking for.

Summary

Got a dotted line reporting situation? Cross-functional stakeholders who don’t follow process to make requests? A manager who doesn’t defend your time and priorities? It’s time to learn Vanessa’s favorite question: “What would you like me to deprioritize in order to get that done?”

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