What to think about before making a big ask from your direct reports

As a supervisor, you have some ability to dictate what your direct reports work on. The requests you make should typically fit their job description, though most descriptions have a catchall “other duties as assigned” attached, which is likely to cover you. That said, the jobs you give someone generally have a particular expectation of the skills required, the hours to be worked, and the stress level associated with the tasks. If you’re going to ask someone to do something that far exceeds th...