The Management Tip of the Day from Harvard Business Review

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July 9, 2018 How to Say No to Office Housework No one likes "office housework" — low-importance tasks such as ordering lunch and taking notes in meetings. But research shows that certain groups of people, including women and people of color, are more likely to be assigned this kind of work, and that taking it on can hurt their careers. When faced with office housework, what should you do? First, have a prepared answer about how your time would be better spent: "I was hired to do X, and this new task would take away time from completing X well." For on-the-spot requests like ordering lunch, you might say, "I really need to be present during that meeting, as it's critical to what I'm working on." When you say no to housework, offer to do something higher-value instead. And if you can't say no, make sure that people are aware of the extra work you're doing and that you at least get credit for it. Adapted from "Women of Color Get Asked to Do More 'Office Housework.' Here's How They Can Say No," by Ruchika Tulshyan

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