How work overload affects performance

*This is a review of a previously published article. See link to the original article at the end of this review.

A study in Harvard Business School Working Knowledge reports that overloaded employees may perform ineffectively in the long run even though they may work more hours and short-term output may improve. In these circumstances, employees tend to focus on completing the easier tasks first, at the expense of the more difficult ones.  By working longer they complete work more quickly but in addition to the negative effect on long-term productivity, quality in the short run may decline

By completing work assignments employees feel good about their accomplishments and about having made progress. Both of these feelings increase their motivation to work harder, so they choose to complete more work by choosing the easier assignments. This also helps relieve the stress caused by work overload.  The potential decline in long-term productivity may be related to learning.  Learning comes from experience, and better experience is likely to accrue from the performance of difficult work rather than easier work.  The resulting deficiency in learning may lead to a long run decline in productivity.

Management may assume that when a work schedule is created, the tasks will be completed. But where employees have discretion in performing their work that may not be the case.

How Management Should Deal With The Work Overload Problem 

1. Management should establish instructions to employees about how to use their discretion in selecting work to be completed.
2. Management could, alternatively, educate employees about the tendency to choose easier tasks, and the effects that may have on employees’ long- term growth and its effects on the company.

1. More difficult work can sometimes be divided into smaller components that can be done more quickly.
2. Difficult tasks should be evaluated with regard to the selection of the employees to whom they should be assigned.
3. All of this may involve a degree of experimentation on which management approaches to the overload problem are most effective. 

* Task Selection and Workload: A Focus on Completing Easy Tasks Hurts Long-Term Performance https://hbswk.hbs.edu/Pages/browse.aspx?HBSTopic=Management