Asking for Work as an Associate

A common thing I work with associates on - especially newer associates? They hate asking for work, but also get anxious when they are slow. 

Let’s talk about the first piece. Resolving it often solves for the second piece.

The dislike of having to ask for work is usually created by thoughts like: 

▫️I shouldn’t have to ask. 

▫️I don’t want to bother anyone.

▫️I’m going to end up getting too much work.

▫️If I have to ask, then that means I’m not good at this.

Those thoughts are SUPER unhelpful. 

It is inevitable that you will be low on work at some point in your career. That’s the nature of our jobs. Sometimes it’s busy. Sometimes it’s slow. Sometimes you hit that magic sweet spot in between. 

It’s also your job to meet your hours if there’s work available.

So what do you do? A few options:

Don’t make the ask and continue to fret about the lack of work OR make the ask super uncomfortable after fretting over it unnecessarily. This is probably what you’re doing now.

Or, my preference:

Get curious. Start changing the way you are thinking. 

And then make the decision about whether to ask, how to ask, and who to ask from a cleaner place. 

First, figure out why making the ask is uncomfortable for you? What are you making the ask mean? 

Second, once you know what’s happening in your brain, open up your perspective. 

For example, if you think you shouldn’t have to ask or you don’t want to bother anyone or that it means something about you if you have to ask—what would change for you if someone expressly told you when you started that one requirement of the job was that you had to ask for work? Just part of the job description. Something everyone would expect from you. 

You can decide that it is part of your job regardless of whether anyone has told you it is and channel that same energy you would have if it was an explicit part of your job description.

Another perspective shift. What would change for you if you believed partners actually love it when you ask them for work? (Spoiler alert: We do. It shows you’re invested and taking initiative, and it can save us the trouble of having to figure out who has capacity. At worst, we might feel a little guilty because we don’t have work to give you. If you work with someone who gets annoyed when you tell them you have time to help, you might want to reconsider who you’re working for.)

Then, once you’ve started shifting your perspective and turning down the dial on the discomfort, you can approach the ask from a cleaner place. Here are some good questions for you to start with:

Do I actually want or need work right now?

If so, how much capacity do I have? When?

Who do I want to ask?

How many people do I want to ask right now? 

Do I want to stagger my asks? How? 

How do I want to message the ask? 

How do I want to convey the ask? In person? Via email? DM? Phone?

It still might be a little be uncomfortable, especially at first. That’s okay. Those old thoughts are still there. 

The more you ask, the easier it gets. Until there comes a point where you don’t even think twice about making the ask, who you ask, or how to ask. 

A ❤️ note to you: Being an associate can feel really uncomfortable all the time. It’s easy to spend a lot of time overthinking pretty much everything. That gets in the way of you enjoying your experience. That gets in the way of you being even better than you already are. I can help. Send me an email (jenn@jenndealcoaching.com) to hear more or sign up for a call with me at jenndealcoaching.as.me/consult.