Manager’s workload is loads less than mine - resentful

[plumbus39]

Im swamped at work at the moment for various reasons. My boss (top level of management in the company) has a reputation for delegating everything that is possible, and would rather not touch anything that could be considered “operational”. Over the time I’ve been in the job more and more things have transferred to me.

Career development has been really good as a result but due to the high workload over the last few months I’m feeling a bit resentful. Their calendar doesn’t have much in it and I’m finding that if I need to speak to them towards the end of the day they are offline, which I know is because they’ve gone to the gym/an exercise class/a social thing. It’s become an office joke. In the meantime, I’m rushing around trying to get bits of work done before picking up the kids.

On top of this, there are some issues in various areas out of my control that need dealing with at a more senior level than me. I (and others) have strongly expressed concerns about the future impact but nothing seems to be done about it, and the fallout will probably become my job to sort in the future.

There’s a potential promotion in the pipeline but I don’t really feel like I want it any more as I worry it will be an excuse to pile more stuff on to me that they don’t want responsibility for.

Any thoughts on the situation? Overall it’s a good place to work and it IS flexible as long as the work gets done. I’m just very cheesed off at the moment and don’t know how to change the dynamic. It feels like the difference between mine and their workload feels too extreme?

I’m really sorry you’re going through this. Aside from the career development and promotion side of things, your situation sounds very similar to how I felt five years ago. Unfortunately, I’ve just posted here myself asking for work related advice.If I could offer one piece of guidance, it would be to set the healthy boundaries I failed to set for myself, this isnt an easy task (as I say I failed and am on worse position). Also, I'd suggest trying to avoid comparisons between yourself and others, concentrate on what you have the ability to influence.

Well it sounds like you need to take a leaf from your manager’s book and delegate a lot more yourself!

Suppose for a minute you did get promoted - what does your succession plan look like? You should have someone waiting in the wings who is ready to sub in for you.

You either delegate some work downwards, or for tricky stuff needing his input you refer it back upwards. This is where emails are good, as you generate a trail of evidence. Email with attachments as relevant, explaining exactly what the issue is and what decision you need him to make.
If he phones or uses Teams, email back to 'confirm the conversation'.

there are some issues in various areas out of my control that need dealing with at a more senior level than me. I (and others) have strongly expressed concerns about the future impact but nothing seems to be done about it, and the fallout will probably become my job to sort in the future.

Don't "borrow trouble" as the old saying goes. If something is not your job, it is not your job. Don't waste energy trying to stave off future impacts if it is not your job to be concerned.
When it all goes tits up, ask yourself if it is really your job to sort it?
If it really is, but you don't have time, you go back up the chain to your manager asking what he wants you to prioritise and what he can take off you to give to someone else.
If there is no-one else, you just keep him in the loop with updates of how long things are taking. You cannot do more than a days work in a day, so stuff will just have to wait.

Delegation at the moment is tricky as we’ve got some people shortages at a busy time of year. It should improve once everyone’s back but don’t want to stress others out asking them to do more at the moment. Worry is that this level of work becomes the norm.

I like the saying “don’t borrow trouble”! Issue is that it’s not currently my problem, broadly speaking it’s a project I’m not managing that hasn’t delivered what it should. The lack of delivery means that others will be left to pick up the pieces and do what the project should have done.

I guess at the end of the day it’s about boundaries. You’re right, I probably just need to be brutally honest about what is possible and what isn’t.

Put it in writing in an email.
state you can’t do it all
stick to it
suggest they pick up some of if instead
I’ve been there

Why are @Reptilesthatiswhattheyare posts being removed? I literally just read them, refreshed and they’re all deleted. They weren’t breaking any talk guidelines 😵‍💫.

My mistake was to do more & more of my manager’s role thinking it would impress him and show I was ready for promotion. In hindsight, I should have realised he was never going anywhere as he had a fairly easy time of it and was paid handsomely as he had no issue with taking all of the glory (with one paper I wrote, he literally changed the date to the date he reviewed it and changed my initials to his initials!). So I’d suggest sticking to your job, not taking development opportunities unless they will actually lead to development and see what you can delegate down yourself.
Also, bear in mind, that a manager should always have some capacity as, if they are too busy from an operational perspective on a day to day basis, they don’t have the headspace to do the thinking and nor are they available to step in in a crisis. In my case, as the years went by, my boss gave him more & more time for this sort of thing as I was more capable of dealing with the crises so many of them didn’t absorb his time in the way they perhaps could or should have time.