By Harold
Taylor
Some managers fail to consider how their behavior impacts their staff member’s effectiveness on the job. Poor time management practices reverberate throughout the organization. If you are obeying these ten tongue-in-cheek commandments from an administrative assistant, you could be in trouble.
1. When you give me a time-sensitive assignment, leave it until the last minute. I love the adrenalin rush of an unrealistic deadline.
2. Interrupt me every few minutes to ask how a project is going. I hate the feeling of neglect that trust can produce.
3. When you leave the office, don’t tell me where you're going or how long you’ll be gone. Not knowing stimulates my creativity when others ask.
4. Don’t share the company’s mission statement and goals with me. I love the challenge of prioritizing jobs without knowing how they relate to overall objectives.
5. Don’t put deadline dates on any assignments you give me to do. Not knowing their relative importance allows me to hone my psychic skills.
6. Give me things to do just before quitting time. I am always looking for excuses to work late.
7. If I do a good job, keep it a secret. If word gets out it could mean a raise or heaven forbid, a promotion. And I love everything just the way it is.
8. Search for minor errors in any documents that I create. (The ones that normal people would never notice.) It doesn’t matter that they are simply for internal discussion purposes or not. Everyone appreciates a perfectionist. And constant criticism keeps me humble.
9. If I make an obvious mistake, be sure to criticize me in public. I’d hate to have my fellow workers think I’m perfect.
10. Keep interrupting me throughout the day with trivial chitchat. Those constant breaks in my concentration are stress relieving and keep me from finishing projects too quickly.
Your administrative assistant is the key to your success as a manager. But he/she is probably already the dumping ground for a myriad of tasks and victim of countless interruptions. The desperate salesperson fighting to get through to the boss, the harried employee looking for a copy of a misplaced memo, a courier dropping off a package and wanting a signature, the irate customer, convinced he had ordered something different than he received. Your assistant sits precariously in the line of firehe/she is probably already the dumping ground for a myriad of tasks and victim of countless interruptions. The desperate salesperson fighting to get through to the boss, the harried employee looking for a copy of a misplaced memo, a courier dropping off a package and wanting a signature, the irate customer, convinced he had ordered something different than he received. Your assistant sits precariously in the line of firehe/she is probably already the dumping ground for a myriad of tasks and victim of countless interruptions. The desperate salesperson fighting to get through to the boss, the harried employee looking for a copy of a misplaced memo, a courier dropping off a package and wanting a signature, the irate customer, convinced he had ordered something different than he received. Your assistant sits precariously in the line of fire
Don't be a perfectionist. While it's important that such things as client proposals be top quality, remember that by spending unnecessary time on a task, other high pay-off activities may be short-changed.
Communicate. The more your assistant knows, the more he or she will be able to help you. A knowledgeable assistant can save you hours each week by providing information to callers and visitors without having to disturb you. When you attend a conference or take a vacation, spend some time briefing your assistant on matters that are likely to occur during your absence.
Above all, set a good example and show respect for your assistant's time. Plan your day. Accumulate the non-urgent requests to eliminate constant interruptions Keep a folder to house assignments of lesser importance for later review. Place realistic deadlines on all tasks that you assign. Respect your assistant’s time as well as your own.
Some managers fail to consider how their behavior impacts their staff member’s effectiveness on the job. Poor time management practices reverberate throughout the organization. If you are obeying these ten tongue-in-cheek commandments from an administrative assistant, you could be in trouble.
1. When you give me a time-sensitive assignment, leave it until the last minute. I love the adrenalin rush of an unrealistic deadline.
2. Interrupt me every few minutes to ask how a project is going. I hate the feeling of neglect that trust can produce.
3. When you leave the office, don’t tell me where you're going or how long you’ll be gone. Not knowing stimulates my creativity when others ask.
4. Don’t share the company’s mission statement and goals with me. I love the challenge of prioritizing jobs without knowing how they relate to overall objectives.
5. Don’t put deadline dates on any assignments you give me to do. Not knowing their relative importance allows me to hone my psychic skills.
6. Give me things to do just before quitting time. I am always looking for excuses to work late.
7. If I do a good job, keep it a secret. If word gets out it could mean a raise or heaven forbid, a promotion. And I love everything just the way it is.
8. Search for minor errors in any documents that I create. (The ones that normal people would never notice.) It doesn’t matter that they are simply for internal discussion purposes or not. Everyone appreciates a perfectionist. And constant criticism keeps me humble.
9. If I make an obvious mistake, be sure to criticize me in public. I’d hate to have my fellow workers think I’m perfect.
10. Keep interrupting me throughout the day with trivial chitchat. Those constant breaks in my concentration are stress relieving and keep me from finishing projects too quickly.
Your administrative assistant is the key to your success as a manager. But he/she is probably already the dumping ground for a myriad of tasks and victim of countless interruptions. The desperate salesperson fighting to get through to the boss, the harried employee looking for a copy of a misplaced memo, a courier dropping off a package and wanting a signature, the irate customer, convinced he had ordered something different than he received. Your assistant sits precariously in the line of firehe/she is probably already the dumping ground for a myriad of tasks and victim of countless interruptions. The desperate salesperson fighting to get through to the boss, the harried employee looking for a copy of a misplaced memo, a courier dropping off a package and wanting a signature, the irate customer, convinced he had ordered something different than he received. Your assistant sits precariously in the line of firehe/she is probably already the dumping ground for a myriad of tasks and victim of countless interruptions. The desperate salesperson fighting to get through to the boss, the harried employee looking for a copy of a misplaced memo, a courier dropping off a package and wanting a signature, the irate customer, convinced he had ordered something different than he received. Your assistant sits precariously in the line of fire
Don't be a perfectionist. While it's important that such things as client proposals be top quality, remember that by spending unnecessary time on a task, other high pay-off activities may be short-changed.
Communicate. The more your assistant knows, the more he or she will be able to help you. A knowledgeable assistant can save you hours each week by providing information to callers and visitors without having to disturb you. When you attend a conference or take a vacation, spend some time briefing your assistant on matters that are likely to occur during your absence.
Above all, set a good example and show respect for your assistant's time. Plan your day. Accumulate the non-urgent requests to eliminate constant interruptions Keep a folder to house assignments of lesser importance for later review. Place realistic deadlines on all tasks that you assign. Respect your assistant’s time as well as your own.
George Torok Host of Business in Motion Business Speaker
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