How to handle too much work without project engineers or coordinators
When headcount is locked and budgets are trimmed while project volume stays the same, everything funnels through a single manager who ends up working through evenings on clerical tasks. This prevents them from doing a quality job and leaves senior staff working 50-hour weeks just to put out fires.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
- 1working through the evening on the clerical side of things
- 2working on a laptop in the car while in between going from one site to another
- 3Pushing back project timelines and forcing stakeholders to prioritize existing tasks
- 4Blocking off dedicated project time on calendars
- 5Cutting out meaningless meetings
- 6Offering remote work flexibility
- 7Building utilization matrices to justify cutting low-priority work
- 8doing less and skipping nonessential tasks
- 9switching to a different grade level like elementary music
- 10leaving right after contracted hours
In their words
Unedited, most upvoted first, each linked to the thread it came from.
“Headcount is locked, budget is trimmed by 15%, but company growth targets and project volume stayed the exact same.”source ↗
“My senior engineers are working 50+ hour weeks just keeping lights on and putting out fires.”source ↗
“I can feel the morale slipping, and if my key people walk, we're in real trouble.”source ↗
“lately the workload seems like it continues to grow out of control.”source ↗
“We don't have any PEs or PCs, so pretty much everything goes through me.”source ↗
“I find myself working through the evening on the clerical side of everything.”source ↗
“it feels like I'm getting by but I'm not doing a great job, at least not as good of a job as I could be doing.”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 5How to work on low energy days without feeling guilty
- 2How to delegate repetitive tasks without giving too much system access
- 21Why is project management just doing admin and updating trackers?
- 7Why are teachers expected to be available 24/7?
- 8Doing senior IT work alone on helpdesk pay
- 7How to stop doing everything at once as property manager