“We’d love you to take this on alongside your day job…”
I’ve received this invitation many times throughout my career, as I’m sure many of you have too. These “side-of-desk” or “plus-one” roles, responsibilities we take on beyond our official job description, can shape our careers in profound ways. Sometimes they’re transformative and key to securing that next promotion or role move, but sometimes they’re energy-depleting, thankless diversions, and often they can fall somewhere in between.
Earlier in my career I think I was often so happy to be asked or concerned about the ramifications of saying no that I used to very quickly default to a yes. As I grew into leadership and was combining career with growing family, I learned to give these opportunities much more thoughtful evaluation and take a more measured approach to their potential return on my investment of time and energy.
One of my most successful side projects was leading a programme to involve a wider group of people, beyond just leadership, in initiatives that would spearhead future growth. This project aligned perfectly with the goals of my leadership, gave many participants opportunities to demonstrate the breadth of their skills, and sparked innovations that were eventually adopted more broadly across the company. It really enabled me to demonstrate my more strategic skillset.
But I’ve also taken on opportunities that taught me hard lessons. I once championed an initiative focused on encouraging greater collaboration and knowledge sharing between regions. Despite believing strongly in its importance, it wasn’t easy to prove success or to align that with scorecard metrics that senior leaders were focused on. I had to course-correct by negotiating some changes to the global employee survey so the initiatives could be more directly linked to areas that were of focus such as employee belonging and satisfaction metrics, connecting it to those officially valued outcomes.
Why do we say yes?
In my experience and conversations with many leaders and aspiring leaders that I’ve coached, the motivations typically include:
⭐ Recognition – Being asked feels like acknowledgement of your capabilities
⭐ Career advancement – Hoping it positions you favourably for promotion or a new role
⭐ Genuine interest – It aligns with something you’re passionate about
⭐ Obligation – Feeling you can’t say no (especially if asked by a senior leader)
⭐ Extended networks – It can be a great way to expand your company network
The opportunity cost calculation
The real challenge with these additional roles isn’t just about having enough time – it’s about opportunity cost. Every hour spent on a side-of-desk project is an hour not spent elsewhere. During my COO role, I was invited to join the global leadership development programme and had to make the conscious decision to put most of my ‘spare time’ into this rather than spreading myself too thinly across multiple initiatives. Had I not, I wouldn’t have made the most of that opportunity, or I would have tipped into an unsustainable workload position.
Over time, I developed my own informal framework for evaluating these opportunities considering:
⭐ Time impact – How much of my limited time will this truly require?
⭐ Interest and enjoyment – Do I care enough about this and will it energise me?
⭐ Impact potential – Can I make a meaningful difference?
⭐ Recognition value – Will this contribution be genuinely valued?
⭐ Alignment with objectives – Does this connect to officially recognised goals?
Making it work in practice
Some of my most meaningful side projects were initiatives we ran as part of our women’s ERG. These aligned deeply with my passions, but with many good ideas and limited time and budget, making priority calls about what would most influence attraction, retention or progression became essential.
To manage additional responsibilities effectively, I learned to:
⭐ Establish purpose and structure – Ensuring meetings had clear agendas, goals, and actions that were regularly reviewed – sometimes in areas where there was a lot of passion or interest, some of that discipline could get lost and result in reduced impact
⭐ Focus on measurable objectives – Having an early eye for quantitative metrics that would demonstrate success and also help to maintain momentum and interest (and often funding!) for subsequent phases and longer term initiatives
⭐ Secure executive sponsorship – Finding senior leaders who could provide meaningful input and qualitative feedback that would also help in performance discussions to recognise all those involved
Finding your strategic balance
Side-of-desk roles can be brilliant opportunities to demonstrate your potential, follow your passions, and grow your network beyond your immediate team. The key is making careful, intentional choices about which opportunities to pursue and how to manage them effectively. With the right approach, these additional responsibilities can become powerful catalysts for your career growth rather than sources of overload and burnout. The art of the strategic ‘yes’ isn’t about saying no more often, it’s about saying yes more thoughtfully to the opportunities that truly align with your goals and values.