T.I.P.S. - To Improve Pay and Success
Women and Detailed Tasks
How often are we delegated or volunteer for these duties? There is no question that such multi-tasking, detail-oriented work is often performed more efficiently by women. Men and women alike turn to women almost instinctively to accomplish such things. We may very well enjoy it and take pride in it. But what are the men thinking about while we are performing the finite tasks? In this case, as in most others, the final decisions rested in the hands of men. Their focus was on the results of this conference. Were the speakers enlightening and inspiring to the attendees? Could the attendees leave with new direction and skills? How could this all be measured in terms of increased productivity? What is the focus of these hard-working women? Is there enough potato salad? While we may be appreciated by our male colleagues, are we perceived as having the same focus? Whose focus is considered "more important?" What does that mean to our status and our pay level? I’m not suggesting that women refuse to take on these tasks in business. The results of such a boycott could be catastrophic. But, we cannot place the process above the result. We must maintain our focus even as we are mired in the details. In addition, our focus on results must be apparent to those around us. Awareness is the first step. Small adjustments make a big difference.
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This site is for working women everywhere, to help improve their
success, pay, and self-confidence.
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Yesterday I had the opportunity to interact with some people preparing
for a large conference. Several hundred men and women will attend,
and this group was making the preparations. It was hard to ignore
the fact that every person in the preparation phase was a woman.
Setting up booths and tables, coordinating meals, name tags, registration,
picking up the speakers at the airport, was all in the hands of
women.