What to do when colleagues and managers assign me tasks during lunch break?

Question

I’m looking for some advice. I work in a very busy office. It can be very stressful and extremely fast-paced.

I’ve noticed that during my tea break or lunch break I have other staff, mostly managers or superiors coming in to our common room (some times for their own break) and assigning me tasks to do. The problems with this are:

1. I don’t have my computer or even paper and pen with me, and if I forget then a few days down the line no-one’s going to remember the circumstances in which I was asked, just that I forgot to do something.

2. This isn’t true of the tea break but the lunch break is unpaid time.. so it’s my own time.

Due to the breaks being so short I really do need to use the common room because it’s close by. I would also be perceived as avoiding people or having a strange attitude if I was to ‘hide away’ somewhere during my breaks. Also the amenities are there.

Should I bring this up at the next staff meeting or does it sound very petty? If I should bring it up, how would I approach it in a respectful way?

Answer 1

I usually solve these issues on spot and/or in one-to-one settings, as it is not that big of a deal to be solved or/and to be brought up on a bigger scale.

When they approach you in your lunch break, say something like this:

Sure, not problem. Could you please email (or hipchat? slack?) that to me after lunch so that I do not forget about it?

As pointed out in the comments, and if your company follows some issue tracking process, you would want to bring that up as:

Could you please edit/create the story(card, ticket.. etc), add task X and tag me so I can follow up later?

Answer 2

If you are entitled to breaks your are entitled to breaks its as simple as that.

I don't know where you are from by in Canada we are entitled to a certain amount of break time. These break times are not defined, but we are allotted a certain amount of break time. The first thing I would do is take a look at when you are taking your break. Could this all be fixed by just moving it ahead or behind a bit?

If not, just politely tell the person "I am on break right now, but I'll get to it as soon as my break is finished" If its a simple task, just remember to do it. If there is important details then also request they send you an email with all of the details. It should be as simple as that. If that doesn't work, you need to talk to someone in HR or something to that affect.

Answer 3

I think you should mention it in a staff meeting. You should not have to worry about work during your break and it will benefit the company if you are able to record the request properly. If you are worried about how it looks on you then just explain how it has a negative impact on being able to remember tasks.