Activity – tiarawalz – The Center for Junior Officers

tiarawalz replied to the topic Overloaded (January 2018 JO Jam) in the forum Junior Officer 6 years, 10 months ago
1. How do you communicate the impact of overload to higher? Frank discussion. Quantify your points- why it’s too much, and develop a potential plan to address them. It is important to be transparent with your senior leaders. BUT- you must be truthful in your analysis and prioritization of tasks. You can’t just complain that you’re stressed. Overload needs to be quantifiable. For example- I don’t have ___ hours to complete ____ tasks. If I want to complete this task WELL, I need to complete ____ later on. This does take careful analysis because a lot of what we do can be delegated. And it’s important to recognize that stress is a feeling and not a fact. Ensure you have delegated tasks to your staff and Soldiers where applicable. Be organized and tackle the most important issues first. Get the job done. If you really feel that balls are about to be dropped because of how much is on your plate, it is important to get higher involved. Truly knowing your Commander’s intent and having a good relationship with him (or whoever your boss is) enables you to prioritize your tasks and know what can possibly be tabled for later.
2. How do you avoid passing on a similar burden? Teach subordinates time management. Develop a professional development program where you can teach your unit skills on managing their time and also delegating where necessary. Create a safe environment for staff/soldiers to come to you and communicate when they’re overloaded (but be sure they’re considering what I mentioned in Q1). Transparency, communication, and sharing the workload are keys to success. We may not always see that our staff are overloaded and its important for them to be able to point it out to us- for the sake of the mission and work culture.
3. Techniques for getting the most out of available training time to meet the demand?
- Don’t multitask. If it’s Sergeant’s Time Training, do what’s on the schedule for the day. Don’t get sidetracked and do good, quality training. Same with a meeting. Stay on task and focused. Make a list for each day and ensure completion of the list. Staying organized is extremely helpful when everyone’s so busy.
- Ensure everyone’s job responsibilities are clear, drawn out, and well defined. Everyone has a piece of the mission. The more work you do on the front end as a Leader in organizing your unit means that everyone knows their role in the unit. They focus on their specific tasks and help wherever else it is needed.
- Establish expectations and determine objectives. This is why counseling is so important.
- Delegate where necessary. Empower your staff/soldiers to do things you don’t’ have to do.
- Reassess quarterly to ensure all of the above is still on task. Modify where needed.
- Draw the line for communication from your subordinates. Do you need to be included on every situation? Possibly not. Utilize your NCOs and Officers in the chain of command.