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The Description Dilemma

Job descriptions

Whether you’re responsible for writing them for others, or just for living up to yours (if you even have one), you probably have mixed feelings about them.

If you have one, and it happens to be clear, accurate, updated regularly, and used as part of your performance evaluation, you may want to continue reading just so you’ll know how lucky you are. For everyone else — and that’s about 95% of the working population — take heart: there are tips here to help you overcome several common job-description challenges.

Job descriptions often depict a utopian point of view. Especially when written as the first step in hiring someone new, they tend to reflect the hiring manager’s idyllic perspective on what she thinks she’d like. This puts the new hire (or newly promoted) in a difficult position when the expectations he formed in reading the job description don’t match what he’s being asked to do. And it creates challenges in the performance evaluation process, where the job description should form the basis for an employee’s annual goals.

Those who don’t have a job description at all (fairly typical in smaller organizations) face a different set of challenges. Your job requirements may grow, shrink, and metamorphose from one day to the next, depending on the needs of your manager. On Monday, you might find yourself wondering how to create boundaries around what’s reasonable for you to do. By Friday, you could be startled to discover someone else being asked to do something you thought was your responsibility. And it’s difficult to support your request for a raise or a promotion when you can’t point to responsibilities you’ve fulfilled as required by your role.

In short, no matter what level you’ve achieved within your organization, your job description — or lack of it — can be a significant roadblock to your ability to succeed, develop your career, and win recognition.

Here is a three-step process to help you overcome some of these challenges.

Write

Without reviewing whatever you may currently have in the way of a job description, take a moment to quickly write down what you do. Don’t spend a lot of time or go through a lot of analysis; this isn&squo;t about capturing every little detail. It is about understanding what aspects of your job are top priorities and therefore in the forefront of your mind.

Evaluate

Review what you wrote and assess the extent to which you:

1. Enjoy these components of your job.
2. Have the skills and knowledge you need to complete them effectively.
3. Have access to the resources (information, finances, equipment and tools, time, and people) you need.
4. Believe that you are doing them well.
5. Believe that others perceive your results as excellent.

How did you answer question #1? If you enjoy the key aspects of your job, you’re in luck. If you don’t, take some time now to think about where you want your career to go. It may seem like a harsh question, but if you don’t like your primary job responsibilities, are you really in the right job — or even the right career?

Act

Think about these suggestions as you decide what action you’ll take.

1. If your job description aligns with your actual day-to-day work and you enjoy yourself, there’s really nothing more for you to do. Just keep on having fun!
2. If, on the other hand, your job description doesn’t bear much resemblance to what you’re doing, it could be time for a meeting with your manager, especially if your actual duties carry significantly more responsibility than your job description suggests.
3. If you have no job description, consider the corporate culture. If yours just hasn’t bothered with job descriptions yet, think about meeting with your manager to review what you’ve written and verify that it meets his or her expectations. If, on the other hand, your company’s management has consciously chosen not to write job descriptions, your decision is more complicated. Suggestion #5 outlines an alternative.
4. Look also at your answers to questions 2 through 5 in the Evaluate step. What actions suggest themselves to you that will help these answers become more positive and help you become more effective?
5. You may feel there’s nothing to be gained by discussing your job description — or lack of it — with your manager. If that’s the case, all is not lost. Use what you’ve written — and develop it further — to help you create boundaries around what you consider to be the best use of your time.
   
   Many employees without job descriptions, as well as many with unrealistic or inadequate job descriptions, find themselves agreeing to do more and more and more — and feeling more and more and more resentful and taken advantage of. By creating your own accurate job description, even if you never discuss it with your manager, you create a guideline for yourself that anchors your decisions about what you will and will not agree — or volunteer — to do.

“I don’t know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody.” Bill Cosby, American comedian, actor, television producer, and activist, 1937-

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