I apologize for being disengaged - we had a little family issue that has dominated my time for the last day or so. All is well.
Joyce - thank you for your thoughts. A good secretary is someone to be cherished and empowered. If something really disasterous happens (like deleting an important recurring calendar event) that is what backups are for and is a learning opportunity. If it happens again I start looking for a new secretary.
For me there is no "personal calendar" and "work calendar." There is only calendar. I might have a business dinner at 7p one evening. I might have a trip with flights on Sunday. If I have a doctor's appointment Tuesday morning my secretary needs to know so s/he doesn't schedule me for something else. I remember an instance when I got a critical call to the Agency Director's office - my secretary stuck her head in my office to tell, tell me everything she had pried out of the Director's aide, and promised to call my dentist to reschedule the appointment I had. Bless her. She was great. This is NOT personal services. This is delegating responsibility together with all the requisite knowledge and authority to do a good job.
Nick - your story is funny. Having a good secretary requires being a good boss which means paying attention and doing what you are told. Someone once told me that when you first start working there is only one rule: "don't surprise your boss." Everything else derives from that. As a manager there are two rules: "don't surprise your boss" and "don't surprise the people who work for you." Everything else follows. *grin*
I will take a moment to talk about the word "secretary." I've had a number in my career. Depending on the employer and the person they had all kinds of titles including secretary, personal assistant, administrative assistant, aide, and probably more that I don't remember. Early in our relationship we would have a discussion about what a secretary means to me - a trusted assistant, a partner, an advocate with staff, a source of information, a surrogate, an escort for visitors, and much more. I can do my own typing thank you very much but my job often has me away from my desk and someone that catches the phone and manages my time for me is precious. At one point I had a horrid commute and I would walk out the door at the end of the day with two note cards - a call list for the trip home and one for the trip to work in the morning. That bought me two to two-and-a-half more productive hours. Today calendar entries with phone numbers would make that even more efficient. Oh - my secretaries often made darn good money and were worth every penny.
dave
Annapolis MD
Posted by: dskolnick@gmail.com
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