Changes occur in the workplace daily and supervisors are responsible for distributing the work equitably. Effective workload management is critical to supporting the psychological wellness of an employee. In addition, the University strives to promote psychological well-being and to prevent psychological harm while supporting employees in prioritizing their own health and wellness. 

Workload management is part of the 13 workplace factors in the National Standard for Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace. To identify whether workload is a risk factor within your sector, ask yourself these questions:

• Is the amount of work expected of each of your employees reasonable for their position?
• Can your employees come to you and discuss their personal workload (including demands, level of control, etc.)?
• Do your employees have the equipment, resources, and time needed to do their jobs successfully?
• Is the work environment free from unnecessary interruptions and disruptions?
• Do they have control over how their tasks and responsibilities are prioritized?

You can lead a collaborative conversation about workload challenges by viewing these discussions from three different perspectives: employee, team, or manager. The following step-by-step guide is helpful for both managers and employees.

When preparing for a collaborative conversation, remember these four key approaches:

1. Actively listen to views and concerns
2. Work to be solution-oriented, solution-driven
3. Agree on reasonable expectations
4. Identify any barriers to success

• What are the workload concerns and why does this situation exist? What background information could help understand the situation?
• Are the current job demands and expectations clear? Have they evolved over time?
• What other information about the situation would be helpful?
• Who else is impacted by the current situation? Who else could contribute to finding a solution or navigating these barriers?
• What additional resources and support would be useful?
• What could be useful suggestions for improvement?
• Are we set up for success? How often should we re-visit our practices?

Based on the information collected, determine feasible actions to address the issues that affect workload challenges. Appendix A will offer workload strategies and additional resources. Feel free to use these options, or add and adjust options as needed.
 

It is important to monitor the actions you are implementing to ensure they are as effective as possible. 

Establish how you will monitor the actions and be:  

• Clear: establish targets/measures/benchmarks that are measurable and that are understood by everyone involved.
• Practical: find easy-to-implement and cost-effective actions. Start with quick wins and build from there. 
• Flexible: adapt the actions to your workplace. Be innovative and creative! If necessary, adjust as you go. 
• Enthusiastic: champion continuous improvement.   

Measurements can be both quantitative and qualitative. Here are some examples: 

Qualitative: 

• Gather feedback: ask specific questions about the changes you have implemented and their impacts.
• Survey emotions: notice changes in morale at all levels. 

Quantitative:  

• Survey employee productivity and compare to previous periods. 
• Measure employee turn-over and retention over time.