Discussion on:

Three things a manager never wants to hear you say

4. "Can I have a raise?"
5. "Can I have a day off?"

"Thats not in my job description"

There's a lot of people out there who know enough to make themselves really dangerous. They know enough to reboot a server; but not when it is necessary or desireable to do so. They may know how to wire a wall socket, but not what the local codes are for it, or even the safety precautions to take before doing so.

What it comes down to is that if it's not on your job description, and you haven't been trained, keep your hands off unless it's a life or death situation and you don;t have any other choices.

I'm not sure what the original poster meant, but my thinking when I hear this is usually, the staff I'm asking to do the assignment is looking for a way to get out of doing work.

Usually, I'm making the assignment that falls into the catch-all category of job descriptions - "...and any other duties commensurate with this level of responsibility."

..... expects staff to do things that really are not in the job description, except in dire cases when a good manager will phrase the request in such a way that makes it clear that (s)he knows (s)he is asking for something above and beyond

I know that I haven't been trained in certain things and do not like to dabble in them when they are way over my head, however my boss likes the idea of FREE labor and insists that I am just trying to be lazy or get more money out of him. Although they won't train me or pay me.

Whenever I turn down something, I dont use the excuse that it is not in my job description, but that I am not qualified for it. Then I give reasons as to why I may not be the right person for the task at hand.
If there are any legal or safety reasons for this, they will look elsewhere.

Especially in this job market, you don't say no to your boss. Unless of course it's illegal or unsafe.

...the land of the free, where workers don't have any rights? Yeah, thought so.

- There's been a accident.
- We need to call the police.
- There is a police officer at reception.

"Don't tell me...you're in the US aren't you?
...the land of the free, where workers don't have any rights? Yeah, thought so."

Pretty much, yeah. Especially when there's at least 30 desperate people willing to fill your job at half the pay and no questions asked. "Land of the free"? Feh.

Our union says they can't even have the "and other duties" type line. Not that it doesn't get slipped in. But the line won't be upheld.

I don't like to utter the phrase "I can't do this." Often you just haven't been properly trained.

It's just with a poor manager "other duties as assigned" means you can be tasked with anything, from making coffee to shoveling the snow off the driveway.

The only thing I can think to avoid this is the 10% rule. If it's out-of-bounds of my responsibilities, but less than than 48 minutes of my day or 4 hours of my week, I'll do it.

Otherwise it's, "Sorry, but I am not really the best person for this job. Joe and Susie are both really good at that. Let's ask them."

everything looks like a nail?

We had a CFO/CIO (two functions that should NEVER be combined) who wanted the Oracle DBA to fix her Blackberry whenever she had a problem with it. Why? Because she did not want to place a call to the Help desk and wait for a tech to walk across the street from the other building.

my boss is originally from Finance and when he gets marketing function as national sales manage, this starts our problem.

In a one-person IT department, you're always tasked with things that aren't "in the job description". You make do and figure it out. You don't tell them "I'm not qualified" - they already know that.

If you never learn to do things that are out of your job description then you can probably be assured of never moving out of your job. Learn to do things in the job that is a step above yours and someday that will be your job.

As good ol' Robert Kiyosaki says, "Don't take a job for what you can earn, take a job for what you can LEARN."

Sooner or later your additional expertise will pay off.

I'm in the same situation with a 100 computer - 6 server environment in a orthopedic clinic. Vacations are a real mixed bag in a one-person department as I'm sure your aware. The "not in my job description" wouldn't cut it here either. Fortunately, I'm well paid as I hope you are.

Just because a person is in IT doesn't mean they know everything about anything electronic or that's connected to a computer.

I'm not an AV expert. I don't know a lot about Apple. I'm too busy for MySpace, Facebook and Twitter (I actually think they're a HUGE waste of time and are one more thing to dumb people down).

People don't listen either as, right after I make the comments above, they continue asking me questions like I never said it.

EMD

I understand where you are coming from, you explain, they repeat the question. Although on the lighter side not all users are idiots.
I always try to get a feel for a persons intelligence and IT level before explaining.

I will say this facebook and other website are not necessarily a bad thing or a waste of time, it has allowed me to keep in contact with people I would otherwise lose contact with.

I will add one thing; you need to know when to say yes and when to say no to your boss (not necessarily easy in every case)

Thats not in my job description" could be a warning shot to you as a manager that its not covered by workers comp and "If I get hurt doing this I'll come back on you, not the company."

As an IT worker, I can think of few things that I would be/have been asked to do that would not be covered by worker's comp. Sure I have been asked to use software I have never been trained on, or work on systems I have zero experience on, but never something that would not be covered by worker's comp.

Except for that little statement that says: "Other tasks as assigned."

That one always got me. In essence they could be assigning you to be a Java programmer even if you've never touched it. (It happened to me!)

No one ever said managers had to be smart.

Yeah but if you already have experience in other types of oop you would still be able to pull it off in a short amount of time

I agree wholeheartedly. I work in a company that is evenly split between union and non-union IT staff. It is amazing what the union folks can get away with refusing to do, while the non-union people are often reminded "we're all on the same team, you should be willing to do whatever is asked of you."

1 - She faces the other direction
2 - Percodan
3 - Vicodin
4 - Roofies

just hanging your head, chuckling, and walking away like our boss did.

"Same way as she does yours"

?

The other day I told my doctor I wanted a vasectomy.

He said 'with a face like yours, you don't need one!'


I get no peace at home, either. I told my son 'some day, you might have kids of your own.'

He said 'some day, you might, too!'

-- Rodney Dangerfield

im sick
or my mom's cousin's stepbrother's daughter is getting married

I am telling you politely that I do not want to work for you or your company any longer. My sisters niece will feel fine after I go somewhere else to work. This is a good way to accomplish this as the company/boss gains knowledge of your intentions SOME of them will make it a personal issue and fire you (create a reason). There you peasant-thanks for the good work you have done and wish you all the best while you are trying to advance your career! I say, "Same to you!"

They clearly don't know how to speak...

May I have a raise would the correct way of saying it.

Also, if one of my guys has been putting in 18 hour days because there are only 4 in my group and we are overloaded, then I have no problem with "may I have a day off"?

You should tell them to leave earlier. Long days like that aren't productive. They're harmful to the employee.

You don't have an effective employee making well-reasoned choices when they are panicked and sleep-deprived.

However, many managers believe they are getting more out of employees by over-working them because it does work - right up until the employee's health, life, and mental condition crash. At that point of course your problem is that you have a weak and lazy employee.

My boss and supervisor thought I was crazy when they would not provide the tools I needed to do my job as the sole support of the IBM Mainframe running Payroll/Personnel and Budget/Finance. So they sent me to my psychiatrist to determine whether I was fit for duty or not and here is my psychiatrist's response:

"Based upon today's interview I can find no clear and compelling evidence of a mental health condition which places him at risk while on the job or places those within his work environment at risk in any way. That is not to say that he did not experience significant psychological distress earlier this year as the result of a mismatch between his high level of concern about various imminent catastrophies within the counties' information technology system and his ability to solve or address those issues. He clearly identified problems but felt hamstrung by the system itself and its perceived inability to provide him with th4e tools which he needed in order to do his job."

In other words, he put the blame squarely on the County IT Management. It wasn't too long after that they were forced to provide the tools I needed to do my job and pay for the [expired] software utilities need to keep running production.

But old habits die hard and they have fallen into the same patterns as before.

I guess it's time for another trip to my psychiatrist, so he can explain how crazy management is.

I'd say the worst thing a manager doesn't want to hear is that they are crazy and have a certified psychiatrist telling them it.

I've told staff to take a day off. They initially refused. I inisted and reiterated that it wasn't a request. They had been putting in alot of OT, and they were truly burnt and beligerent.

I've also said much the same to someone who was sick. I didn't want the whole team sick, and they looked very bad.

As to can I have a raise...well I get that all the time, and if a manager isn't prepared for that question, they should find another career.

I rarely turn down requests for days off.

James

I (a software engineer) have a tendency to say "Interesting!" when a problem arises to which the solution isn't obvious. A previous manager came to dread hearing me say "Interesting" because he then knew that the job was likely to take longer to complete. It also brings to mind what I heard is a Chinese curse, "May you live in interesting times".

i usually mutter "weird" when a routine task doesn't work the way it should be and that's when my boss starts to get concerned : )

That was Spock's comment when some situation couldn't be solved by logic. It was also what meant the crew was in trouble--again.

In the real world, this is where the best people need to come together to come up with a solution to the "interesting" problem.

I think you mean - fascinating.

The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not 'Eureka!' (I've found it!), but 'That's funny...' -Isaac Asimov. ...

my personal definition of INTERESTING is that most people use the word so as to delay a logical response. Using VERY in concert with interesting means "I don't have a clue".

Like most IT people, I hate admitting that I don't know the solution to everything. So when I am presented with a problem that I'm not sure where to start, I resort to, "Hmmm, I shall have to do some research", or "I will have to look into this"...

Either of those phrases and they know the solution won't be as quick as they would like!

I'd rather know reasoning behind things and I'm sure my boss will rather know it's the right answer than jumping feet first into the wrong solution.

Perhaps this is a massive gap of culture between north america and UK?

-AS