When to take on tasks that are outside of your job description
Document Type
Blog
Publication Date
2021
Publication Title
Harvard Business Review
Abstract
The phrase “stay in your lane” is commonly used to affirm the importance of doing your assigned tasks and only your assigned tasks. If you see an important task that needs to be done that isn’t your responsibility, should you do it? Before you decide whether to switch lanes, consider the authors’ research, based on observations and recordings of first responders completing mass-casualty incident simulations. They’ve identified three essential lessons to consider. First, be mindful of the environment. Second, beware of crossing team boundaries. Finally, remember to update your team and leaders. You don’t necessarily need to stay in your lane — just be sure to merge both out of your lane and back in appropriately.
Keywords
Tasks; Leader; Manage
Disciplines
Educational Psychology | Strategic Management Policy
Repository Citation
Tannenbaum, S.,
Bartels, A.,
Park, S.,
Fenters, V. W.,
Luciano, M.
(2021).
When to take on tasks that are outside of your job description.
Harvard Business Review