I work in a team of 10 colleagues. We work using a shared inbox and each pick up tasks that come in to then work on independently. When we pick up a task, we tag ourselves on the task we're working on so others know not to start on it. A couple of colleagues tag themselves on several tasks at once. It then means the tasks sit there in the inbox and have been 'claimed' and sit there for hours as they then don't get started until they've finished with their current task. Sometimes I can see that a colleague is working on something that will take 8+ hours and they've also tagged themselves onto several other things. The issue is then sometimes I finish my work and there's nothing I can pick up as it's all been tagged so I then have to go messaging around to see what's been started and what hasn't and if there's something I can take from one of my colleagues. It's such a waste of time. We have billability targets so time spent chasing people is time I then have to try and make up in order to meet my targets.
There's certain tasks I've been told by my manager to prioritise so I can get signed off on them, and it's impacting that too as they're the kind of tasks that get picked up first. It's two colleagues in particular who will pick up things minutes after they've been emailed in without allowing anyone else a chance and even though they'll not be ready to start on something new for a while yet.
I get that my colleagues like to maybe have their day planned out by picking out several tasks at once and think they're being proactive and organised but I'm finding it frustrating.
Do you think this is something I should bring up with my manager or should I be doing the same and tagging myself on things as soon as they're emailed in? When I have tried to mention to my manager about picking up a couple of small (<1 hour) tasks at once he's always told me to do one task at a time and then see what's come in before starting the next in case anything more urgent has come in, so it seems he prefers a one at a time approach...