QUICK TIP: BE CAREFUL ABOUT FOLLOWING WHAT WHITES ON YOUR JOB ARE DOING

Let’s face it—there are often different standards for employees depending on their race or some other classification. I have been criticized and have seen others criticized for doing what was standard office procedure. For example, White staff working on a project could skip several unnecessary steps in procedures on a project and that was perfectly acceptable. However, African Americans staff that skipped the same unnecessary steps were reminded of “the process” and the “expectation” that they follow all procedures going forward. All the while, White staff continued to perform the work—quicker—because they were not held to the same standard. As a result, the White staff appeared to be more productive. You can’t always do what the Romans do, even in Rome. So, perform your job as efficiently as possible and per all of the guidelines or instructions. If someone ever says you can skip steps in a procedure, ask to get that in writing. Trust me, if something goes wrong, it will be attributed to whatever steps you skipped in the process and no one will admit giving you the green light to streamline the process by deleting steps.