If someone tries to assign them to you anyway, in many cases you can push back. And keep in mind that while it’s easy to feel that volunteering for support tasks will demonstrate you’re cooperative and a team player (or that not volunteering for them will make you look insufficiently conscientious), if you look around, you’ll see that lots of people are valued without ever doing those tasks. If the need is that urgent, someone else can step up. Even if you wouldn’t mind doing some of those things, and even if the need feels urgent, don’t volunteer for them. Don’t volunteer to take notes, don’t volunteer to get coffee for the meeting, don’t volunteer to cover for the admins when they’re out. So how do you do that? First and foremost, don’t volunteer for those admin tasks, ever. If you’re careful not to fall into the same pattern at the new job, it’s likely to get easier over time to stay out of it, since you won’t be burdened with having been the go-to person for the admin work previously. That means that resolving to deal with this now as you’re changing jobs is good timing. Some of it, though, comes from women stepping up when we shouldn’t - because we’re conscientious, because we’ve been socialized to be helpful, and because it’s just plain awkward to say, “No, I’m not going to do that.” (To be clear, this isn’t the case for every woman plenty who are assigned this kind of work aren’t stepping up to volunteer for it.)Īnd as you point out, once you start doing it, it can be hard to stop because you become the person with the track record of doing it well, and who has all the background info from last time, and whom people are now used to turning to. It’s super-common for people to turn to women when those tasks need to be done, regardless of their actual jobs, and even when there are men available in the same or similar roles. Most of it is sexism - women are still disproportionately the default choice for taking notes at meetings, ordering lunch, organizing team events, and, yes, providing coverage for admin staff. This is such a thing for many women, still. I know that this issue will continue to come up as long as I stay in this industry. I don’t mind doing my fair share, but I also want to focus my time and effort on my actual job. In this most recent job, though, this wasn’t an option. I still have to be involved and invest my time, but at least I’m not stuck with the majority of the work.
#Admin tiers super player professional#
How do I respectfully decline requests for admin support when they’re coming from my superiors (as opposed to my peers)? One work-around that I’ve found so far is delegating the work to someone more junior under the guise of professional development. At the end of the day, I’m being hired for my technical background and expertise … not to be a glorified administrative assistant.
#Admin tiers super player how to#
In my previous roles, I didn’t feel like I could say anything because I wasn’t senior enough, but now that I am, I don’t know how to put my foot down and say “respectfully, no.” I’m about to start looking for a new position and I want to make sure that I don’t fall into the same pattern and that I set the right tone for the whole experience. I do such a great job at these menial tasks that I become the point person for admin work. Having reflected on my previous work experiences, I realize that this is a pattern for me.
And of course now that I’m an expert at those tasks, any time our admin is out - you guessed it - I have to fill in for her. In hindsight, I realize that I was assigned the most demanding, time-consuming, and asinine tasks. This went on for a few months until we were finally able to find a replacement. Being new and a people pleaser, I of course stepped up to the plate and took on the extra work with a smile.
My (female) manager’s manager proceeded to divvy up her responsibilities among me and the other managers on my tier. Then, a few months after I started, our department admin unexpectedly resigned. I felt like I had finally accomplished something. I started a new role last year that was a significant step up in both seniority and pay. I’m eight years into my career path, upper-middle management, with an advanced degree in a technical specialty. However, in my experience, these tasks seem to be disproportionately allocated to women. I work in a field where it’s pretty standard to take on some administrative work in addition to our core responsibilities. How do I decline taking on tasks outside of my immediate roles and responsibilities without coming off as insubordinate or not a team player?
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