“It’s not my job” and “I’ll try my best”
Never say these things in business, and while you’re at it try and get these phrases and variations of them out of your life.
“It’s not my job” or sometimes referred to as “That’s not my responsibility” or “I can’t help with that”.
Situation: Someone has come to you with a task or a request or a favour in the workplace. Your response is “That’s not my responsibility” Fair enough, everyone has a job description and it does not state that this particular task and it is indeed not your ‘responsibility’. Surely the person approaching you knows this? Maybe they do, maybe they don’t either way you have something to offer. And if you have something to offer then it sure as hell is your responsibility. This person didn’t approach you for no good reason, maybe they recognise you as the experienced member of the company who can offer some advice, maybe you have the ability to fast track the process by providing invaluable information of the process before they approach the person who’s job it actually is. Every time I hear this phrase or a variation of it I cringe. It’s okay sometimes to do things outside of the realm of your job description, you may even learn something…
“I’ll try my best” or “I’ll see if I can get that done for you”.
If someone comes to you with a request and you say this, then you’re quite frankly offering nothing, except doubt in the requesters mind, not just doubt in your ability to fulfil the request but doubt in your ability to prioritise your time or effectively do your job. So if you really can’t prioritise the request and you are so productive (not busy) that it just doesn’t fit in then offer a reason. Show the requester the list of projects you have and where their project fits in. This is effective because you don’t have to offer a time, especially if the projects above this one has an unpredictable timeline. However, there is no circumstance where you can’t offer a timeline, as long as any delays in that timeline are provided to the requester prior to the previously produced timeline. You’ll find that people aren’t rarely fussed by delays as long as valid reasons are provided with timely communication.
The Point:
Most frustrations in the office and in life are communication related. Don’t give open ended and vague statements like “I’ll try my best” or That’s not my job”. Provide value, provide assurance that you know what you’re doing or at least finding our who does.