Chain of Command

Admin Gal has noticed that as people climb the corporate ladder, the rarefied air can sometimes go to people's head.  As the titles of Managers, District Managers, Director etc. start getting attached to names,  individuals can forget that they still must report to someone.

Frankly?  When your boss says a meeting must take place, you shouldn't push back.  You should say - Yes, sir/ma'am!  Just because you sit in a management position, doesn't mean you don't have a chain of command you fall into.

When you say 'NO' to your boss enough times.  Your boss will say 'No, we don't need you working here anymore.'

A Word to the Wise

Dear Sales Person, Employee, and/or Person in General,

Administrative Assistants around the world are not creatures who sit around doing nothing.  We are productive members of any business environment.  We contribute to ongoing projects, we maintain office order, calendar cohesion, document management, personnel moral, in addition to a myriad of other tasks and projects that are assigned to our functions.

Copying our supervisors on an email about a task that is not priority will not miraculously cause it to surface to the top of the list.  Flagging any correspondence with ‘HIGH PRIORITY’ only indicates your own sense of inflated ego.

To the sales people in specific, if an admin tells you their boss will not be meeting with you now or in the future – that is the truth.  Sending the boss an email with available dates and times and copying the admin is the epitome of classlessness.  Be prepared to be shut down.

We work with our bosses to prioritize our projects and tasks to benefit them, not for someone who is not in our organizational structure.  While the persistence and ingenuity can be admired, the audacity can only be considered appalling.

A word to the wise, flagging, prioritizing, or copying our supervisors/bosses with your projects and tasks only makes us annoyed.

Sincerely,

The Admins

While the Cat's Away

Well gentle reader, the cat is out of the office.  Does that mean that I, the mouse, have license to merrily play? To scamper about without a care in the world? To (gasp) slack off?

Only in my dreams!  When my boss is out of the office work related or on vacation, I find that my time is filled with people who perceive that I have a void in my life that they would like to fill.  For example:

Manager Minion (3 levels below my boss):  Oh look the boss’s admin is without guidance and leadership let me fill that void for her! (Placing a large amount of their workload on my desk for me to do)

Savvy Admin:  While I appreciate your attempt to make sure that I have enough to occupy myself while the boss is away, let me tell you what I have to do first before I can even consider your pile. (I proceed to educate them in my job)

Manager Minion (taking back the pile of work): Oh I did not realize that you did more than leap to his beck and call.

Savvy Admin (smiling benignly):  Yes, I do have a number of other responsibilities, but I would be happy to speak to your manager about your workload since you seem to need help with it.

Manager Minion (beating a hasty retreat): That won’t be necessary!

I find working with the boss remote strife with its own challenges.  It’s harder to judge moods and needs during the day. Knowing what meetings have been successfully completed is next to impossible. 

But, that being said, it is nice to have some down time.  So when the cat is away, this mouse will breath deep and catch up.