NoelHeikkinen.com

Other Duties as Assigned

Oct 20, 2008 Print This Post

I just read a great post on TonyMorganLive.com about job descriptions and one particular line in almost all of them:

It’s the line after all the specific responsibilities of the role that indicates you are also responsible for “other duties as assigned.” Jake asked the question, “When you see that in your job description, does it fire you up or piss you off?”

I hope it fires you up. If it does, it’s an indication that you absolutely love the mission and vision of your organization. It means you have complete trust for your leaders. It means you know sometimes you get to do something that’s outside the ordinary that’s going to add value to your team.

On the other hand if that part of your job description pisses you off, you should do yourself and your organization a favor and resign. If you can’t do whatever may be required to fulfill the mission and vision of your organization and love it, you’re probably in the wrong organization.

That really stuck me because we have some amazing people on staff at Riv who excel so much at the “other duties as assigned.”

One of them is Kristie, our Creative Director. I can’t even begin to describe the number of tasks that have fallen onto her plate in this category, especially as we have put up our new building. In addition to her normal duties (which are essential on a weekly basis), she basically coordinated all the interior design of the building, all the signage, the new “corridor gallery” and tons more.

Then there is Jim (our facilities / handyman guy). It really doesn’t matter what has to be done, he does it. In addition to those things people ask him to do, he seems to always have his radar up for things that need to be done so he can do them.

Paul, one of the pastors who has been around Riv since the beginning back in 1977 is the king of this. In a lot ways, he serves as the “Riv safety net.” There are always more things to do around these parts than anyone can imagine and so often, Paul quietly takes care of them. He does a ton of our counseling and oversees more ministries than anyone else. I’d list the other stuff he does, but I can’t because I don’t know half of what he does to keep us moving.

There are many other staffers who live in this world of “other duties as assigned” as well and I just don’t have time to type out all of their stories. However, there is one more category of staffer that blows my mind in this arena: the volunteers.

So many of our volunteers are ready at the drop of the hat to do whatever needs to be done. I would start listing people, but since we have literally hundreds of volunteers I just want to throw out a huge “thank you.” You guys (and gals) rock. Seriously. It’s amazing how things get done.