# How do I tell a new boss: "That's not part of my job"? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 22, 2006, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-tell-a-new-boss-thats-not-part-of-my-job/361759 "2006-06-22T19:42:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![zuma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9c0ed/32.png) [@zuma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zuma)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2006, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-tell-a-new-boss-thats-not-part-of-my-job/361759/41 "2006-06-26T14:26:02Z")
About 3 million high school girls would kill for your job. go to the damn meetins with him, it is now your job. Secretaries all over the world go to meetings with their bosses. If you get paid hourly, you get paid. If you are on salary and feel that after-hours meetings are extra, negotiate. Good secretaries are hard to find. ---
**Author:** ![Lady\_of\_the\_Lake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e19adc/32.png) [@Lady\_of\_the\_Lake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lady_of_the_Lake)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2006, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-tell-a-new-boss-thats-not-part-of-my-job/361759/42 "2006-06-26T15:02:03Z")
> [@zuma](#): > > About 3 million high school girls would kill for your job. go to the damn meetins with him, it is now your job. Secretaries all over the world go to meetings with their bosses. > > If you get paid hourly, you get paid. If you are on salary and feel that after-hours meetings are extra, negotiate. Good secretaries are hard to find. Umm…I take it you haven’t read the whole thread? The meetings are taking her away from work that she _should_ be doing as she’s hourly and all. And…_About 3 million high school girls would kill for your job._ Yeah…and high school girls are capable of her job right off the bat? Can they at least graduate first? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bc8723/32.png) [@Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fish)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2006, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-tell-a-new-boss-thats-not-part-of-my-job/361759/43 "2006-06-26T22:38:12Z")
> [@Bites When Provoked](#): > > That’s an excellent idea! When something really ISN’T in your job description, and it’s taking away from your general duties, the best thing to do is probably to at least go along with it in good faith (because you never know what’s hidden in ‘other duties as required’) but definitely be clear with your other bosses that if you’re doing X, you can’t physically also do Y. > > The way \*\*Fish \*\*has phrased it is ideal. Thanks for the vote of confidence. Not to toot my own horn, but what I like best about my own suggestion is that it entirely ignores the idea of “it’s not my job.” You just have to communicate why you’re unable to do projects for them (or why you need overtime to get them done). The bosses are free to tell you that it **is** in fact your job; or they can decide it isn’t; or they can hire someone else to assist. They decide, and you get to appear as if you’re not making any judgement on the “not my job” idea at all. ---
**Author:** ![Kozmik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8dc957/32.png) [@Kozmik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kozmik)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2006, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-tell-a-new-boss-thats-not-part-of-my-job/361759/44 "2006-06-30T19:54:30Z")
Depending on the circumstances, one good tactic is to say this: “I think that you would do a better job at that than me.” Convince your boss that this is the case without suggesting that you are not capable of performing the job well. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2006, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-tell-a-new-boss-thats-not-part-of-my-job/361759/45 "2006-07-01T00:32:01Z")
> [@Kozmik](#): > > Depending on the circumstances, one good tactic is to say this: > “I think that you would do a better job at that than me.” Convince your boss that this is the case without suggesting that you are not capable of performing the job well. “I know I can do this better than you. That’s why I’m the boss. I have other things to do however so please continue cleaning the deep-fryer like I asked.” ---
**Author:** ![MaddyStrut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dbc845/32.png) [@MaddyStrut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaddyStrut)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2006, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-tell-a-new-boss-thats-not-part-of-my-job/361759/46 "2006-07-01T01:07:02Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > It does irk me though. I’ve been here almost five years and I see him making many of the same mistakes new employees do - chase minor events thinking they’ll make big money, etc. He is wooing people who have time and time again promised things and failed to deliver. And he’s been told this by the bigwigs - certainly not me - and yet he ocntinues. Others have given you good suggestions about prioritizing work, so I won’t get into that. However, this bit really jumped out at me. I think you’re missing an opportunity. If you see your boss making typical newbie mistakes, you have a chance to help him out. No, you don’t go in and tell him there’s a better way to do things (that would just make him defensive), but you can help steer him in the right direction. Something like “you know, client XYZ has consistently performed better for us than client ABC. Would you consider spending time visiting ABC instead of XYZ? I can help you get up to speed on XYZ’s expectations and make sure you’re prepared.” Helping your boss avoid making mistakes will get you a lot further than just doing your assigned responsibilities. ---
**Author:** ![Kozmik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8dc957/32.png) [@Kozmik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kozmik)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2006, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-tell-a-new-boss-thats-not-part-of-my-job/361759/47 "2006-07-01T03:10:20Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > “I know I can do this better than you. That’s why I’m the boss. I have other things to do however so please continue cleaning the deep-fryer like I asked.” Bad analogy. **Anaamika** is talking about her boss wanting her to meet with clients. One argument she can make is that, by the very nature of higher position in the company, he can see things from a higher perspective and thus can speak from the big picture. ---
**Author:** ![threemae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5f9b8f/32.png) [@threemae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/threemae)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2006, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-tell-a-new-boss-thats-not-part-of-my-job/361759/48 "2006-07-01T04:41:56Z")
> [@Kozmik](#): > > Depending on the circumstances, one good tactic is to say this: > “I think that you would do a better job at that than me.” Convince your boss that this is the case without suggesting that you are not capable of performing the job well. Another sure fire piece of advice for success in the corporate world or life in general, I suppose. Convince others of your incompetence so that you won’t be asked to do so much. Excellent plan, **Kozmik**. ---
**Author:** ![Bites\_When\_Provoked](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bites_when_provoked/32/18073_2.png) [@Bites\_When\_Provoked](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bites_When_Provoked)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2006, 10:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-tell-a-new-boss-thats-not-part-of-my-job/361759/49 "2006-07-03T10:19:55Z")
> [@Kozmik](#): > > Depending on the circumstances, one good tactic is to say this: > “I think that you would do a better job at that than me.” Convince your boss that this is the case without suggesting that you are not capable of performing the job well. Perhaps in other industries this might be a decent tactic, I don’t know - but in a business admin role you’re almost guaranteed to get one of the following responses. **1a. 'Cut Down To Size’** Response: “Your job is just to take minutes. You can manage _that_, surely?” OR **1b. 'I didn’t know you were an idiot.'** Response: “Oh. I thought that was something you could help me with. I’ll find someone else”. Result: From now on you won’t be given any other opportunities, because you’ve declared yourself incapable of taking on responsibility. Essentially you’ve primed yourself for task demotion - when allotting out tasks, you’ll get overlooked for the interesting ones because obviously you’re not skilled enough to handle anything more challenging. The boss might be doing this to be vindictive, but it’s also possible they’ll do it because they genuinely like you and don’t want to stress you by forcing you to do anything you aren’t capable of - and you’ve just made it clear that they can’t assume you’re capable of anything. **2. 'Did you just tell me how to do my job?'** Response: “How about you leave those kinds of decisions up to me?” Result: Manager now thinks you think you can tell him what to do. Manager will now consider you with latent hostility, which may not affect your day-to-day relations with him/her at all… the first you’ll know about it is when you need him/her to stand up for you and, inexplicably, it doesn’t happen. **3. 'Your Faction with Manager has Just Decreased.'** Response: _curt_ “I see.” Result: Manager will now complain to upper management, HR, and anyone who’ll listen that you’re lazy and ‘not a team player’. … I’ve seen managers do every single one of these - though not to me, fortunately. Managers come into each other’s offices and talk frankly, so as a PA I’ve seen a lot of what goes on behind the scenes. It really makes my appreciate the fact that I have a really good boss at the moment … though I still wouldn’t want to push my luck by saying “I think you’d be much better at that than me” when she asked me to do something. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2006, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-tell-a-new-boss-thats-not-part-of-my-job/361759/50 "2006-07-03T13:54:32Z")
Two things seem to drive my bosses nuts… Staffers who don’t do what the boss believes is their job (and, as we’ve discussed, if the boss thinks its your job, there had better be a good reason why its not). Staffers who think they should tell other people what their job is. When the two are combined in a single person, its a severely career limiting move. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-tell-a-new-boss-thats-not-part-of-my-job/361759.md?page=2)