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Yesterday our manager asked why we hadn’t been doing a certain regular task. One of our staff who left in the summer had 3 hours a week scheduled to do this, and was always raising the concern that this wasn’t nearly enough time to keep on top of it. After her departure we expected a new hiring but we didn’t get one. The rest of us are in a similar position with our tasks, never given enough time for the work. So of course we could barely touch the work she left behind. We absolutely raised the need for more staff on numerous occasions and even cited the figures that the task in question was at.

Of course when nothing happened we pretty much gave up and got on with our own work since it really is the manager’s job to assign everything.

Now the task is in a disgraceful state, and the manager came in yesterday saying that we don’t care and she doesn’t know why we haven’t done it. It’s blatantly obvious that we already have 5 hours worth of work to do in each 4 hour session so I was so incredulous I didn’t respond.

Should I respond? Should I write a doc with evidence of all the reminders we gave and then one showing all the work we’re currently submerged under? Or is there no point? The manager also says we don’t work as a team but I think we’re a pretty great team!

Edit: thank you everyone for your input, I really do appreciate it. I may have been unclear in my story, so just to clarify: this is one task of many that are regularly incomplete. We are doing the highest priority stuff each day and that keeps our heads above water but we first flagged the issue up a year ago (with the figures) and since then we have lost 2-3 people which have never been replaced. That’s a lot for a team of 7 who were once 10 and weren’t completing everything even back then.

The only way physically for me to do even a half hour of work thats not specifically assigned to me personally would be half an hour overtime. And I’m already working flat out, so I really don’t feel the kind of loyalty that would make me stretch my working week even further. The manager has never assigned this particular task to anyone since June, so I honestly do believe the fault is hers. If she assigns it to one of us she has to drop something that’s top priority to do so.

You said it yourself, "the manager’s job to assign everything". The "not enough time" aspect of this is her problem, not yours.

Ask your manager to set your priorities.

I haven't been doing X because I've been doing C&D. This normally takes me 40 hours. The rest of the team has been doing E,F,etc. X was clearly the lowest priority. X is maybe 10 hours a week to do right, it has about 100 hours of backlog built into it because it hasn't been a priority in a while. Do you want me to drop C or D to do X?

since it really is the manager’s job to assign everything.

You are correct that it is the manager's job to assign tasks, but at the same time you need to be proactive about tasks that are assigned to you. Rather than just giving up on your work because you don't have enough time you should reach out to your manager ( always keep a written trail ) with something like:

Hello boss, we have been assigned tasks A, B, C, and D. We won't have enough time to complete all of these tasks so how should these tasks be prioritized?

Also, it isn't enough to just send questions/reminders and then simply do nothing if there is no response, you have to follow up and figure out why there is no response and what you can do to get the proper response and be a more productive employee.

The manager also says we don’t work as a team but I think we’re a pretty great team!

I have to agree with your manager here, 3 hours per week, for a whole team, doesn't sound like much.
A well functioning team should be able handle such a small amount of extra work. It even seems like you intentionally failed at this task, which makes your teams attitude look even worse.

"We already told her we need more staff, now we can watch her burn."

Please don't get me wrong, I think the manager should hire more staff if there's a constant high workload.

But you as a team should also behave as responsible as possible towards your company. This includes working overtime or at least notifying your supervisor if you cannot meet a deadline and make sure she's fully aware of the consequences.

Have you ever told your manager that you cannot complete this task without additional staff? Because this is exactly what you should have told her months ago.

I think now it's time for some real talk. Apologize for how this came out and directly address the consequences of the current lack of staff.