Question: “I feel that I am being ignored because of my age. I am a young employee who recently attained a position in which I have to interact with top-level managers. When I request information from them, I find it difficult to get responses. I believe they are not taking me seriously. How should I handle this?” — Young & Frustrated
“Don’t think your boss is getting overwhelmed with praise,” says Quint Studer, CEO of Studer Group and author of Straight A Leadership: Alignment, Action, Accountability. “Bosses hear what’s wrong all the time. Very rarely do they hear what’s right.”
How far would you go to help your boss? Would you call in a bomb threat? That’s what one admin did in an attempt to delay a flight out of Miami International Airport—so her boss wouldn’t miss it. It’s an extreme example, to be sure. But most of us have felt tempted, at some point, to go overboard to help a manager we’re loyal to.
Lee’s immediate supervisor left the organization, so now she reports to a higher-level director. In their meetings, the director seems distracted and bored, even though Lee takes extra time to prepare. “My preparation is usually met with a very brief response or a push off to another manager,” she says. “What can I do to make our meetings more engaging?”
Liz Jazwiec, author of Eat That Cookie!: Make Workplace Positivity Pay Off, is a big believer in workplace gratitude. Not just the kind that passes from boss to employee, but from employee to employee and to their bosses. Jazwiec offers these tips for hardwiring workplace gratitude from the ground up:
An administrative assistant recently posted this dilemma on our
Admin Pro Forum: “I know my office co-worker chats on Facebook most of the day … and now I have proof. Do I say something to the co-worker, or do I bring it up to the boss? I am usually not a tattletale, but there are times when I am overwhelmed with work and I know she’s chatting on Facebook and not getting her work done.” Forum readers weighed in with advice:
It’s 4:30 p.m., and one of your bosses has finally given you the documents you expected to receive that morning—the documents you need in order to wrap up a task by the 5:30 p.m. deadline. This is your biggest pet peeve—receiving things late (and without warning), but being expected to complete the task on time. What to do?
Projected starting salaries for administrative professionals could see a decrease by an average of 2.2% in 2010. The good news: If you’re good at adapting to unexpected situations and able to quickly learn new skills, you’re the sort of person who will still thrive.
Hold a shorter, more effective meeting by remembering the three purposes for having a meeting in the first place: to inform, to gather input or to ask for approval … Read faster using this technique developed by reading expert J. Michael Bennett: rhythmic perusal … Try this remedy for a foul-mouthed boss …
Fortunately, most admins have strong partnerships with their managers or see ways to build that bond. But some admins are still struggling through their relationships with lousy bosses. Is the solution to quit? Not with unemployment rates above 10%. Here’s another option: Negotiate with your boss, the way the FBI negotiates during a hostage situation.
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