My boss asks me to do annoying admin tasks, please tell me if I need to get over this/what to do

[Anonymous]

And why won't OP post her age? That is telling. Young and spoiled.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Omg. Just print that stupid stuff. While not a fed I am an SVP and do Admin work all the time for my EVP. We are a team and this is how we are more efficient and function better.

+1. you already printed out the calendar. just make a copy of it for him. and going forward, print out 2. and start pushing some more administrative tasks down to your staff.
if he were asking you to organize ALL of his materials, it would be a different story.
being organized and helping my bosses is PART of what helped me rise to upper management- basically being a reliable, organized, knowledgeable resource

me again. are you a millennial? I notice from my staff that many of them think certain tasks are beneath them or that I should do it myself, or that it's someone else's job. I basically work those people out of my firm through low raises and menial tasks. The people who help me and go above and beyond are who I give the more interesting work to, and give the 10% raises and promotions. Attitude is over 50% of the job

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just how old are you? When you boss tells you to do something, you do it. You know there is a little something called yearly evaluation which he/she will write for you? Please tell us how old are you? I really want to know if this is generational thing. I am mid 40s and it would never occur to me to complain about being told what to do, with the exception if I was told to clean his toiler and I am clearly not the maid.

Sorry no. If you're not an admin, you don't have to do admin tasks. In the federal government there are next to no admins. You shouldn't have to get your boss coffee because they asks for it.

I hope you are never on my team. I am very senior in my area, and have no issue doing "admin" tasks like printing documents where it would assist those who I report to, such as when speed and reliability is required. I don't view any work as "beneath me" if it advances the mission. Perhaps you should reflect on your attitude a bit?

[Anonymous]

Can't you just xerox your print-offs? That will take you 30 seconds.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Omg. Just print that stupid stuff. While not a fed I am an SVP and do Admin work all the time for my EVP. We are a team and this is how we are more efficient and function better.

+1. you already printed out the calendar. just make a copy of it for him. and going forward, print out 2. and start pushing some more administrative tasks down to your staff.
if he were asking you to organize ALL of his materials, it would be a different story.
being organized and helping my bosses is PART of what helped me rise to upper management- basically being a reliable, organized, knowledgeable resource

Op back again. We are both 40. He is male, I am female. I don't THINK it's a gender thing. I think it's just his poor time management. We don't have admin (just the big boss has admin, and the new guy is the admin for the deputy big boss). (No xerox bc we don't have a color copier btw). My subordinates don't do my admin. They have job responsibilities that are clear and specific. Maybe if we have a big project they will stuff envelopes or something, but they know in advance they'll be supporting. Or if there is something UNEXPECTED that comes up, like "The big boss needs you right away!" I could see myself asking for help from them for something that pops up. But I can't imagine mismanaging my own time such that I am unprepared for a regularly occuring weekly meeting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Omg. Just print that stupid stuff. While not a fed I am an SVP and do Admin work all the time for my EVP. We are a team and this is how we are more efficient and function better.

+1. you already printed out the calendar. just make a copy of it for him. and going forward, print out 2. and start pushing some more administrative tasks down to your staff.
if he were asking you to organize ALL of his materials, it would be a different story.
being organized and helping my bosses is PART of what helped me rise to upper management- basically being a reliable, organized, knowledgeable resource

Op back again. We are both 40. He is male, I am female. I don't THINK it's a gender thing. I think it's just his poor time management. We don't have admin (just the big boss has admin, and the new guy is the admin for the deputy big boss). (No xerox bc we don't have a color copier btw). My subordinates don't do my admin. They have job responsibilities that are clear and specific. Maybe if we have a big project they will stuff envelopes or something, but they know in advance they'll be supporting. Or if there is something UNEXPECTED that comes up, like "The big boss needs you right away!" I could see myself asking for help from them for something that pops up. But I can't imagine mismanaging my own time such that I am unprepared for a regularly occuring weekly meeting.

Here's the thing - you ARE unprepared for a regularly occurring weekly meeting. One of YOUR jobs is to make HIS job easier. I would say the same thing if your roles were switched. Ask him a day or two in advance what needs to be done for the meeting. This is called managing up. Learn to do it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Omg. Just print that stupid stuff. While not a fed I am an SVP and do Admin work all the time for my EVP. We are a team and this is how we are more efficient and function better.

+1. you already printed out the calendar. just make a copy of it for him. and going forward, print out 2. and start pushing some more administrative tasks down to your staff.
if he were asking you to organize ALL of his materials, it would be a different story.
being organized and helping my bosses is PART of what helped me rise to upper management- basically being a reliable, organized, knowledgeable resource

Op back again. We are both 40. He is male, I am female. I don't THINK it's a gender thing. I think it's just his poor time management. We don't have admin (just the big boss has admin, and the new guy is the admin for the deputy big boss). (No xerox bc we don't have a color copier btw). My subordinates don't do my admin. They have job responsibilities that are clear and specific. Maybe if we have a big project they will stuff envelopes or something, but they know in advance they'll be supporting. Or if there is something UNEXPECTED that comes up, like "The big boss needs you right away!" I could see myself asking for help from them for something that pops up. But I can't imagine mismanaging my own time such that I am unprepared for a regularly occuring weekly meeting.

Here's the thing - you ARE unprepared for a regularly occurring weekly meeting. One of YOUR jobs is to make HIS job easier. I would say the same thing if your roles were switched. Ask him a day or two in advance what needs to be done for the meeting. This is called managing up. Learn to do it.

+1. Print TWO of everything you are taking to this regular. occurring. weekly. meeting. Just do it.

[Anonymous]

Call me crazy but when I am someone's subordinate and they ask me to do something I do not say no. "That's not my job" is not in my vocabulary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Omg. Just print that stupid stuff. While not a fed I am an SVP and do Admin work all the time for my EVP. We are a team and this is how we are more efficient and function better.

+1. you already printed out the calendar. just make a copy of it for him. and going forward, print out 2. and start pushing some more administrative tasks down to your staff.
if he were asking you to organize ALL of his materials, it would be a different story.
being organized and helping my bosses is PART of what helped me rise to upper management- basically being a reliable, organized, knowledgeable resource

Op back again. We are both 40. He is male, I am female. I don't THINK it's a gender thing. I think it's just his poor time management. We don't have admin (just the big boss has admin, and the new guy is the admin for the deputy big boss). (No xerox bc we don't have a color copier btw). My subordinates don't do my admin. They have job responsibilities that are clear and specific. Maybe if we have a big project they will stuff envelopes or something, but they know in advance they'll be supporting. Or if there is something UNEXPECTED that comes up, like "The big boss needs you right away!" I could see myself asking for help from them for something that pops up. But I can't imagine mismanaging my own time such that I am unprepared for a regularly occuring weekly meeting.

Here's the thing - you ARE unprepared for a regularly occurring weekly meeting. One of YOUR jobs is to make HIS job easier. I would say the same thing if your roles were switched. Ask him a day or two in advance what needs to be done for the meeting. This is called managing up. Learn to do it.

+1. Print TWO of everything you are taking to this regular. occurring. weekly. meeting. Just do it.

Yes. He is a man baby... you need to take care of him.

Good Lord Women!

No. Next time he asks you to print his calendar assign it to one of the men that work for him. That won't last long.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Call me crazy but when I am someone's subordinate and they ask me to do something I do not say no. "That's not my job" is not in my vocabulary.

Then be prepared to be a doormat and to never get promotions.

[Anonymous]

FWIW, I think I was offered a great job a few years ago because I said I would be willing to do such "menial" work. The interviewer asked me about my willingness to step up and help out and I gave an example of a situation where I had to help stuff folders all night for an event. She seemed impressed I didn't turn my nose up at the job and was willing to help the team finish a lousy task they had no one else to assist with.

[Anonymous]

I find it unbelievable that some of you think it's ok for op to do admin work when she isn't an admin.

But what I really don't understand is why companies don't even hire admins in the first place. Oh, no. They would rather have someone who is making double what an admin makes do all the admin work and annoy her in the process.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Omg. Just print that stupid stuff. While not a fed I am an SVP and do Admin work all the time for my EVP. We are a team and this is how we are more efficient and function better.

+1. you already printed out the calendar. just make a copy of it for him. and going forward, print out 2. and start pushing some more administrative tasks down to your staff.
if he were asking you to organize ALL of his materials, it would be a different story.
being organized and helping my bosses is PART of what helped me rise to upper management- basically being a reliable, organized, knowledgeable resource

Op back again. We are both 40. He is male, I am female. I don't THINK it's a gender thing. I think it's just his poor time management. We don't have admin (just the big boss has admin, and the new guy is the admin for the deputy big boss). (No xerox bc we don't have a color copier btw). My subordinates don't do my admin. They have job responsibilities that are clear and specific. Maybe if we have a big project they will stuff envelopes or something, but they know in advance they'll be supporting. Or if there is something UNEXPECTED that comes up, like "The big boss needs you right away!" I could see myself asking for help from them for something that pops up. But I can't imagine mismanaging my own time such that I am unprepared for a regularly occuring weekly meeting.

Here's the thing - you ARE unprepared for a regularly occurring weekly meeting. One of YOUR jobs is to make HIS job easier. I would say the same thing if your roles were switched. Ask him a day or two in advance what needs to be done for the meeting. This is called managing up. Learn to do it.

+1. Print TWO of everything you are taking to this regular. occurring. weekly. meeting. Just do it.

Yes. He is a man baby... you need to take care of him.

Good Lord Women!

No. Next time he asks you to print his calendar assign it to one of the men that work for him. That won't last long.

NO. No - I am a woman and I work for a woman. Unlike OP, I work in a corporate environment and when something needs to get done, we DO IT. This attitude is why I left government work. I am considerate of all of my teammates - the ones above and below me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Call me crazy but when I am someone's subordinate and they ask me to do something I do not say no. "That's not my job" is not in my vocabulary.

Then be prepared to be a doormat and to never get promotions.

This is not how the works. Like a pp, I continually get 5-6% raises per year, in addition to bonuses and stellar reviews. I'm not going to get your coffee, but I will print calendars if you need me to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Call me crazy but when I am someone's subordinate and they ask me to do something I do not say no. "That's not my job" is not in my vocabulary.

Then be prepared to be a doormat and to never get promotions.

This is not how the works. Like a pp, I continually get 5-6% raises per year, in addition to bonuses and stellar reviews. I'm not going to get your coffee, but I will print calendars if you need me to.

Guess what? The men make more than you do - and they're not taking over their bosses' admin work.