Developmental Stage Theory of Asking for More Work

Recently a parent was telling me about a time he was coaching his young adult son to ask for more work when he'd finished a task. Parents of autistic young adults often tell me of the time they discovered that their child didn't understand that one is expected to stay busy in the workplace, and "standing around" or inaction is frowned upon. Asking for more work is a basic employment skill I have taught scores of young people, and learning it seems to be fundamental.

However, not all asking-for-more-work is the same. If asking for more work when you've completed all of your assigned tasks is a virtue, how you ask can determine whether or not you will get promoted, get a raise, get more hours, or otherwise enjoy the favor of your manager. Indeed, asking for more work can keep you from getting fired, but how you ask can also keep you from getting promoted.

The problem with this task is that it is intensely social, and requires a relatively sophisticated understanding of how the work world operates. One can simply follow directions and ask for more work, but knowing how and under what conditions to ask for more work requires savvy. Indeed, one can ask for more work wrongly, I have discovered. One way I like to make sense of someone's social sophistication and progress in this area is to assign so-called developmental stages to a task where development of the skills of the next stage are based on mastery of the previous stage. We do this with walking and talking, so why not with asking for more work? Here's my best attempt so far to put this process of asking for more work in a developmental stage model.

I'M DONE WITH MY WORK...

Stage 1: so I stare at the wall (I'm not a worker).

This is the stage where people are at risk of getting fired. Not working while at work is universally bad. Most people know to hide their not-working. We have a lot of words for this behavior including my favorite from my early working years: slacking. I admit that when I was a young professional and had run out of work, I would walk around with a folder full of copy paper so I looked like I had something to do. Simply roaming around (I was very bored) would have gotten me fired.

Stage 2: so I ask my boss, "Is there anything else you need me to do?" (I'm a reluctant worker)

This is better than slacking, but not much better. The answer to this question is an obvious "yes" so it's even risky to ask. My dad used to tell me that there's always something else to do. That's the nature of work. God forbid that your manager has already answered this question, especially if it was recently where he or she said, "If you're ever looking for something to do, you can always..." Getting stuck in this stage often results in people not getting promotions or more hours. Dead end stage = dead end job.

Stage 3: so I ask, "What's the next assignment?" (I am here to work).

This marks progress because there is an acknowledgment that there is always something else to do. And, you're deferring to your manager to direct you. However, managers like to see that people require less and less management over time (workers are actually being trained), so the manager might be annoyed that you cannot figure this out on your own.

Stage 4: so I say, "Here's what I was thinking I could do, what do you think?" (I know how to work).

This is huge progress because it shows your manager your ability to reason, but also a desire to defer to (i.e., check-in) authority. This builds trust and gives your manager good information about how you're developing and progressing as a worker.

Stage 5: so I find something else to do (I know how to fill my time).

The key with work is that there are things to do and resources to get those things done. "Time" is the x resource which the worker needs to deal with to self-manage. We work faster or slower, achieve more with lower quality or less with higher quality, or otherwise manage our time for the benefit of the company we work for and the fulfillment of our contract. My guess is that most workers do not master this final stage, autistic or not. I suspect most workers will depend on being managed to be successful, and that's perfectly fine. I did, however, want to describe this final stage though because I've managed people who can use their time well. They are extremely effective workers, and while they work for you, they make you look really good.

Consequently, tracking the development of the understanding of social, interactive, and interpersonal demands of any specific social situation can follow a very similar developmental course. For instance, I have mapped success with managing a roommate onto this developmental stage theory.