Skip to content

Category: Managing the Boss

7 questions to better admin-exec rapport

In your relationship with your boss, who sets the tone for the relationship? Your boss? Test your assumption. You probably have more power than you think to shape the way you work together. Ask yourself these seven questions to improve your relationship:

Victim of a bait-and-switch job?

Diane started out as an administrative assistant at her current company, then applied as a client services coordinator. The good news is she got the job. The bad news is her admin tasks didn’t disappear. What should she do?

What’s fair to expect of an admin?

Is it wrong for the boss to ask an assistant to handle his water bill? Should a boss’s personal tasks be part of an administrative pro’s duties? Our readers weighed in on the topic, revealing a range of opinions on what’s fair to expect of an admin.

Standing up to the bully boss

After 20 years of being a secretary, writes one administrative professional, she knows how to do the necessary work. That hasn’t kept her current supervisor or her supervisor’s boss—both women—from berating and intimidating her. The admin asks, “How can I learn to stand up for myself in a professional manner?”