Sharing the dull work: fair, rotated and seen.
Every team has work nobody wants. Resentment grows in what is unspoken about it. The dull work is fine when it is named, shared and thanked.
Name it out loud, rotate it on a visible list, thank whoever has it, and ask quarterly whether it could stop.
The returns log, the stock count, the minute-taking, the cover for the early shift. In most teams it lands on whoever is most reliable or least likely to object, and stays there. Nobody says anything. Then the reliable person leaves, and the exit questionnaire says they felt taken for granted.
Name it, rotate it, thank it
- At a team meeting, name the dull work for what it is. “Nobody likes the returns log.” Saying it out loud takes the sting out.
- Rotate it monthly, on a list everyone can see. Include yourself where you can.
- Thank whoever has it this month by name, in front of the team. Every month.
- Once a quarter, ask whether any of it could stop. Some of it can.
When it cannot rotate
Some dull work needs a skill or a role. Then the fairness is in the acknowledgement and the trade: the person who carries it gets first call on the interesting work, and everyone knows that is the deal.
Write it down
The rota, where the team can see it. Fair is a pattern people can check.
The clearest thirty minutes in your week.
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