When to Take On Tasks That Are Outside of Your Job Description

Leaders and members should be wary of adding more change to a rapidly changing situation.

In a turbulent environment with intense volatility, uncertainty, workload, and urgency, it’s important for both leaders and members to stay in their respective lanes and maintain the expected flow of information. In these settings, things are changing so fast that by the time an individual switches back to their assigned tasks, they’ve lost situation awareness and contributed to the chaos and confusion.

As teams are increasingly working in more fluid and interconnected multiteam arrangements, it’s common for leaders and members to be tempted to manage the other teams that influence their input or output. 

But it’s unlikely that a team leader will have a detailed enough understanding of the precise situation another team is facing to jump in and immediately lead effectively. It’s even less likely that a member will have sufficient knowledge of both teams’ situations and be able to manage the change in information flows (like who gives directions or who needs to be updated).