Summary

The article discusses strategies for women to avoid non-promotable office tasks and focus on career-advancing work.

Abstract

The article "How To Avoid Doing The Office Housework" addresses the issue of women taking on a disproportionate amount of non-core, administrative tasks in the workplace, which can hinder their career progression. It emphasizes the importance of women being selective about the tasks they take on, ensuring they align with their career goals and contribute to their professional development. The author provides examples of typical office housework, such as kitchen duties, social committee responsibilities, and administrative tasks, and offers practical advice on how to balance being a team player with pursuing career advancement. The article encourages women to be aware of societal conditioning that may lead them to take on too much 'housework' at work and to actively seek out and engage in core business activities that are more likely to lead to promotions.

Opinions

The author acknowledges that women often face unconscious and conscious bias in the workplace, which, combined with a larger share of domestic responsibilities, can leave them at a disadvantage.
The article suggests that women should be cautious about volunteering for tasks that do not contribute to their career advancement, such as organizing social events or taking on excessive administrative duties.
It is highlighted that women are conditioned by society to be helpful and please others, which can lead to them being overburdened with non-promotable tasks at work.
The author points out that men may not contribute equally to these non-core tasks, and it is often women who end up doing more than their fair share.
The article encourages women to actively manage their participation in office housework, ensuring they are also involved in core project work that is critical for career progression.
The author recommends that women should seek experience in core projects and roles that are typically valued during promotion interviews, rather than spending time on tasks that do not lead to career growth.
The article advises women to be strategic about their involvement in committees and other activities, considering the potential for networking and showcasing their skills, especially if they are in junior positions.
It is suggested that women should not always be the ones to volunteer for additional tasks and should ensure that workload distribution is fair and equitable.
The author emphasizes the importance of being liked and accepted at work but cautions against being a doormat and compromising one's career by taking on too much non-essential work.
The article concludes by encouraging women to focus on activities that will lead to promotions, such as developing leadership skills and gaining experience in roles they aspire to.

Diversity & Inclusion

How To Avoid Doing The Office Housework

Do the work that looks good on your CV instead

In the working environment, women have drawn the short straw. There is unconscious bias, and let’s face it, some conscious bias to contend with. Women also do a larger share of the housework at home, take time off to care for children when they are young, and take a larger role in caring for elderly parents. This leaves less energy for paid work.

Also, some of us don’t look the part. As a five-foot-tall red-head with big boobs (calm down boys and girls), I don’t look like the stereotypical businesswoman we see in the media. My addiction to science fiction & fantasy, love of inappropriate jokes, and extrovert personality, don’t help either. Neither do my screen savers of David Tennant, my beloved tenth Doctor.

Given all of the above, women are not operating on a level playing field with men. It’s easy to sabotage ourselves by taking on too much office housework. I’ve done it myself throughout my career without thinking about it because it didn’t occur to me that I had a choice. I want something better for you.

So what does office housework mean? It means doing anything that keeps you away from doing core business activities. Why does it matter? It matters because when you interview for promotion, experience of core projects trumps hours of washing-up. Studies show that women are far more likely than men to agree or volunteer for non-promotable tasks, which benefit the organization, but do not lead to career progression.

Here are some examples:

The Kitchen Roster

At my last job in NZ, all the office staff had to be on a kitchen roster. We had to put the dishes in the dishwasher, then put them away later, and wipe down the benches. Everyone in the office was on the roster. But guess what? Some people did more than their share. I’m not suggesting that it was just the men who didn’t do their share, but some people didn’t do as much. And others did nothing. The people who did far more than their share were invariably women.

What you can do Do no more than your share. If you have done your bit, stop and let someone else do it. or point out that the roster is not working. You are not at work to do washing-up while others work on their careers.

The Social Committee

Being on a social committee can be fun but also sucks up an awful of time. If you are an extrovert, like me, and like meetings and outings, especially meetings to plan outings, think twice. Could your time be spent better on advancing your career? I can only speak from my own experience, but mostly it’s the women in the office who volunteer to plan staff outings and keep the social wheels of the office oiled.

What you can do Evaluate whether it’s worth doing this sort of committee work. It may pay off by enabling you to network. It may just be a waste of time. It may be fun. Think about the investment of time and how you are portraying yourself within the organization. This goes for other committees too, for example, the Health & Safety committee. If you are a junior, it might be worth volunteering to get to know how the business works and showcase your skills by leading a project. If you are more senior, unless you are the project sponsor, it’s probably just taking up your time.

Team Outings

Every year at my work there was a Christmas team lunch and usually I organized it. Last year I didn’t. In our Monday team meeting, someone asked what we do as a team for Christmas. “Wendy normally organizes the team lunch,” said someone. “Tell you what,” I responded. “How about the boys organize it this year?” And they did. We spent the afternoon shooting zombies with VR helmets on — it was great fun and different from anything I would have planned.

What you can do Avoid being the organizer for all of your team’s outings. Make sure everyone takes a turn. If your manager asks you to do it too often, suggest that it’s not an effective use of your time, and that someone else can take a turn. This also goes for birthday and morning teas, lunches, and other social activities.

Admin Tasks

Women can take on too much of the admin work and not enough core project work. Society conditions us to be helpful, please others and be nice. Sometimes we take this too far. Remember that impressions matter.

In my role, I managed leadership training and ordered the lunches for the training days. Occasionally, someone would ask me to organize their project lunches because they thought I ordered all the lunches.

If you are busy taking the minutes in a meeting, you may not be thinking about your contribution. If you are typing up minutes, you are not practicing more demanding parts of your role.

What you can do When attending project or team meetings, make sure you are not always the person tasked with booking the room, setting up and tidying the room, organizing the lunch, taking notes, and sending out the minutes. Make sure that you are doing your share of the core project work and not the admin tasks that no-one else wants to do. There’s a fine line between getting ahead because you are willing to do the unpleasant stuff, and being everyone else’s secretary.

The Call to Action

In every office where I have worked, there are occasional calls to action. The Christmas lunch or International Disability Day morning tea needs to be set-up. The stationary cupboard has to be moved to a different location. The filing has fallen behind (OK, this one shows my age), or the kitchen needs to be packed-up over the weekend so the office can be sprayed for bugs. An email is sent out, asking for volunteers. To be helpful, women respond in their droves.

What you can do You can still be helpful and do your share but don’t always volunteer for everything. If your manager makes it clear that your team is expected to muck in, just make sure that everyone is doing the mucking in, not just you. If you notice a discrepancy in who is doing the work, bring it to the attention of your manager.

Reception

If you still have a receptionist in your office, whoever that person is needs holidays, gets sick, and goes to lunch. It usually falls to the more junior employees to cover reception on a roster basis. In my younger days, I was always asked to cover because of my ‘bubbly personality’. In the 80’s it was unheard of for a junior male to be asked to cover reception. Things have moved on but it still pays to keep a beady eye on who is doing what.

What you can do If it’s part of your role to cover reception, do it with grace. Just make sure you don’t volunteer too much and are not compromising your career by doing more than is fair.

Final thoughts

The overarching theme here is to do your share without becoming the office maid. We all want to be liked and accepted, but don’t be a doormat. Look at what you are doing and make sure it is not to the detriment of work that may earn you a promotion.

If you want to put a laser focus on what will earn you a promotion, ask for the position descriptions of the roles you aspire to, and talk to your manager about how you can gain the experience you need.

Good luck.

I write about leadership & training, and I’ve designed The New Leader’s Starter Kit to help leaders better communicate with their teams. Get your free copy here.

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