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I have been working for a small software development company (team of 5 developers) for 11 months now, but I decided to hand in my notice 2 weeks ago due to personal reasons. Since then my workload has grown exponentially, so much so that I am now struggling to complete any work within the allotted time frames. Before I handed over my resignation my workload was high but manageable, but now it is out of hand.

I have tried speaking to senior members of staff, but with this being such a small company it is sometimes hard to be taken seriously as we all work together so closely. Is there anything I can do? Or should I just 'suck it up' for the next 2 weeks?

I want to leave the company on a positive note, as I do not want to burn any bridges.

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  • Has your work changed? (IE; are you doing hand-over of your old responsibilities?) Or do you feel they are just milking you for your last days of productivity?
    – Erik
    Aug 22, 2016 at 10:31
  • A small amount of my workload has become hand-overs, but the rest of the work has stayed the same, only the volume has increased.
    – somedisplayname
    Aug 22, 2016 at 10:34
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    What are they going to do fire you? Put in your normal hours and do what you can.
    – paparazzo
    Aug 22, 2016 at 10:47
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    Just do as much as you can within your contracted hours. Trying to rush things only leads to more mistakes anyway.
    – Matt Wilko
    Aug 22, 2016 at 10:51
  • If tasks come from more than one person, they individually might not realize your workload is increasing so much; could you give time estimates to the tasks they've assigned you and point out in writing that they've allocated (much) more than 2-weeks work?
    – TessellatingHeckler
    Aug 23, 2016 at 1:15

5 Answers 5

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Just because they've piled up stuff doesn't require that you suddenly become Superman in an effort to fix it all. Glide through your last two weeks. Take your lunch and breaks as before, and leave and go home on time.

When pressed, just smile and say you're doing your best. DON'T make any promises you can't keep because your employer may try to justify something stupid (like holding your check, or docking your pay) for stuff you agree to complete but cannot. Seems like you work for some real jerks.

Also, here in California, the employer has to have the final paycheck ready on or before the last day worked. See if something similar applies to you.

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You already have one foot out the door. Focus on where your career is heading, not where it has been.

Put in your time, work the same as you did before cheerfully, and don't let it worry you. You're just passing time for 2 weeks, so don't get passionate about anything.

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In your last two weeks you should work slow and steady and very careful, because if you make any mistakes, you won't be able to fix them. As a rule, you should never rush before you go on holiday. And after a holiday you come back to sort out any messes you left. When you quit, it's totally unreasonable to ask you to do a rush job.

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This is literally the opposite of everyone I know who has given a two weeks notice before. Very strange. Perhaps they're panicking and trying to get as much work out of you as possible? In my experience I've just seen people freak out about IP and immediately cut the person leaving out of everything that they can. I would just let your team know that you'll do the best you can but you can't be expected to become totally overloaded in this fashion. In all honesty, they should probably just be thankful that you haven't fully checked out yet.

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Tell the bosses that you won't be able to get all this done in 2 weeks, and how much you will be able to get done and ask them to prioritise the tasks. They might not be taking you seriously now (had a boss myself like that before, who would also answer to questions about the highest priority, "All of them!"), but in two weeks they will have to, so it would be better that the higher priority tasks are done. If they won't prioritise then it's not your fault.

I know you don't want to burn any bridges, but you need to balance that desire against your own sanity & dignity. If, as you say, the work has grown exponentially from an already heavy load (like doubled or more?), then there is no way you can get it done.

The two weeks will come and go and at the end of it you will be leaving. If you can get done in the time what a reasonable hard-worker could get done then they can't have any complaint, and if they still do complain then well they are being unreasonable and there's nothing you can do about it (it is they who are burning the bridges). You did all you could.

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