One of the departments under my care at work was left without the leading finance people. This put the department in a bad spot, since financial obligations were not getting done. So the main manager (a VIP) stepped in to help with finance.

By doing so, this manager who already works crazy hours dealing with their department, has now effectively added another job and a half to their plate. The workload became impossible. The solution was to hire more people, and fast.

Usually when everything works, the manager takes care of the person they’re hiring. This means creating several tickets for IT-related tasks: an account needs to be created, computers (often both a laptop and a desktop) need to be purchased and set up, permissions for shared drives need to be granted, etc. There are also non-IT tickets, such as preparing the physical office space and granting access to door locks with the ID card, as well as HR-related items, etc.

However, since the direct managers are gone, the role of following up with tickets falls upon the already impossibly busy VIP, who obviously doesn’t have the time to handle the additional workload, so they end up delegating these tasks to HR (since they start the hiring process) and possibly freshly-hired people. These people do not have experience with the workflow and don’t know what tickets to create or how. They are often left guessing, which can make things worse. This is where I come in. I need to look at the process as a whole, identify where the problems are, and address them, at least when they relate to IT.

But my co-workers and I (the other managers in my role) are swamped. We each have several departments like the above to take care of, each with several VIPs who require assistance across different areas. Each one of us already helps with several IT projects in each department, anything from helping with creating a new site in a new building with everything IT that comes with it (construction, costs, equipment, and a lot of meetings) to helping out with refreshing computer inventories, to assisting with listserv issues. The team is too small, with several members in the process of transitioning to different roles, which means they essentially work more than one role at once.

Since the department mentioned above was onboarding several individuals on very short notice (a few days), I’ve spent too much time doing some of these tasks myself to help expedite the process. Time that I had to take away from other projects and departments (as well as my personal time, as working into the evening became a regular habit). So I asked for help, and I was offered the help, for which I am grateful.

But help, which comes with good intentions and good people, does not come with the needed skills and experience. I now needed to explain, teach, document, and follow up with people who help me to ensure things get done. This requires exactly the kind of time and attention I don’t have enough time for to begin with. At this point, things are actually worse: since I’ve asked for help, I’m expected to hand over tasks (tickets) I need help with, the same tickets that are either not getting created to begin with, or contain issues that need to be corrected. I’m also expected to meet deadlines better now that I have the help. I was better off before asking for help.

This is why I don’t want to ask for help anymore. It makes things worse.

The problem is always the process. You need a very specific, detailed process to prevent issues later, but this complex process means only a few people can go through it. So people work around the process, which in turn puts more pressure because the right people are not informed in time, and urgent emails and chat constantly interrupt work.

Sometimes this works. Sometimes things are temporary: the pressure lasts only a few weeks, and then everyone goes out to get cold beers. But everyone wants a vacation when the dust settles, and the mess never gets cleaned up. You know what’s more resilient than a process that fails once? A process that fails three times. Five times. Eventually, you lose sight of the problem. You just do things because “that’s how it is,” so you don’t want to mess with it because you have other new more pressing issues. After all, if it ain’t broken…

But it is. We just forgot. And who wants to kick this rusty can of worms? We don’t have the time right now. We have other emergencies. And it’s not just your own brain that is resisting; it’s everyone else who is in the dumpster fire with you. Everyone wants to get everything done, so eventually nothing does.

The solution is counterproductive.

You have to slow down instead of going faster. You need to identify who to delegate tasks to, explain procedures, and refuse to take on any more work. No one wants to be the slow one, the weaker link, the one who says “I can’t.” Maybe try “I can’t, but I know who can, and I’m figuring this out with them.”

The person who comes to you won’t care. They’d put the responsibility on you, no matter how you delegate it. That’s fine, because once they hand that responsibility over, it’s yours to handle as you see fit, which includes delegating. Don’t ask them for permission: they practically gave it to you with the responsibility. If a process involves other people, it can’t just be you by definition - which is why you shouldn’t own the entire process, or attempt to. This goes for blame as well. They say there’s no I in a team; it applies to blame as well.

This is a process in itself, so do it in parts. Dedicate a small part of the day to delegating, with all that it entails. Then a bit more. Then a bit more. It will become easier with time. You will do it faster, with less internal conflict and less friction from others, because they’ll also get used to it. You might not be that magical person who knows everything anymore, but guess what - it also means you’re not that magical person who needs to do everything either.

Goodluck.