How to ask your boss for more responsibility
With many employees undergoing or about to prepare for
their mid-year reviews or appraisals, it’s an opportune time
to review your career progression and implement actions that set you up for success.
One strategy that can be highly beneficial is increasing or expanding your scope when it
comes to duties, tasks, accountabilities, and even the role. But whether you’re chasing a
salary increase, promotion, title change, or you’re proactively seeking opportunities to
upskill, asking your boss for more job responsibilities can be a tricky task.
On the one hand, you want to prepare for the next stage of your career.
But, on the other hand, you need to make sure you are still meeting
expectations within your current scope of work, as the last thing you
want to do is inadvertently increase your workload to a point where it’s no longer manageable.
Be very clear on the responsibilities you want to take on
Before you speak to anyone in your organisation, you must be
crystal clear on the skills you want to develop or the areas where
you’d like to gain more experience. Without this, you risk taking
on tasks and investing time in projects that won’t help you reach your end goal.
If you’re looking to take on a new promotion, look at the skills and
responsibilities of your co-workers who currently hold those roles.
This will help you get an idea of what you’ll need to upskill in. From
there, you can start to identify exactly where you should focus your
extra time and effort to help you move up in your career.
Alternatively, suppose you’re looking for a pay rise. In that case,
you’ll need to identify where you can add value for the company to
justify a salary increase. Again, focus on projects or tasks that can
help the business save on time or increase profitability.
Look for opportunities to make an impact
More responsibility can be a good thing, but you need to
demonstrate how your extra projects or tasks will add value
to your company. Once you’ve listed out the responsibilities
you potentially want to take on, go through and carefully
evaluate these benefits for the business. Then, pick and
choose the ones that you believe will deliver the most tangible impact.
This will help you put together a strong business case for your manager.
If you’re working on a project, remember to come with a clear timeline,
objectives, and KPIs, so your manager is clear on the investment and the outcome.
If it’s an ongoing role, try to evaluate how it can impact the business over time.
For example, if it’s productivity-related, you could set an expected amount of hours saved per month.
Arm yourself with new skills
It is a bit of a ‘chicken or egg’ scenario. Do you take
on more responsibilities to learn new skills, or do you take
on more responsibilities because you’ve learnt new skills?
Ideally, you will continually learn in your role. However,
it can never hurt to gain additional skills on the side and
bolster your argument for taking on more advanced or complex tasks at work.
Look for development opportunities – online courses, books and training modules
– that you can take advantage of to ready yourself for when those new responsibilities
come your way. And don’t forget to let your boss know about those newly acquired skills when the time is right.
Come with a plan and options
Your boss’ KPIs are linked with yours, so be prepared
for questions around how you will be able to manage your
current workload and performance with added responsibilities.
One of the best ways to get them on board with the idea is to present
a plan detailing how you will free up time to take on more work – will
you delegate some tasks to someone else? Or can you improve your productivity by streamlining processes?
By demonstrating that you have considered handling your existing scope and extra projects,
you will reassure your boss that your new tasks won’t impact your current role.
But be prepared for some pushback. If this is the case, listen to your manager’s
concerns and note them down, then come back with solutions in a follow-up meeting.
Choose your timing and words wisely
Suppose your boss is stressed out or you’re approaching a busy
period at work. In that case, it could be more difficult for the
company to consider letting you take on more responsibility. While
there is never the “perfect time” to ask your manager for additional
tasks, timing can significantly influence a successful outcome.
There are some great opportunities to discuss a step up in responsibilities.
For example, at your mid-year or end-of-year review, during less busy times in
the year or ahead of a company restructure or staff leaving the business.
On top of this, how you talk to your boss can have a significant impact: try
to frame it as discussing ideas to improve your department, or taking some
of the workloads off your manager’s shoulders, rather than saying, “I want
to gain more experience” or “I need this for a promotion”.