Communication with boss

[susans]

How do you and your boss communicate (email, voice mail, text messaging, face to face meetings, etc.) most often?

[spitfire78]

face to face. Her office is right across a very small hallway from mine.  We can even roll our chairs back from our desk and call across to each other!  We are in and out of each others offices all day long.  And all I need to do if I need sit-down time with her is to tell her that.  We then pick a time that is good for both of us and shut the door.

Thank goodness we get along as well as we do, living in each other's pockets as we do.  I imagine it could be a problem if my boss was a pain because I would never be away from her!

[gee4]

It varies.  My 2 Directors don't really require personal assistance.  I usually try and see them at least twice a day.  However since I am on a different floor I also communicate via phone and email.  Very often when I pop down to see them they have others in their office as it's an open door policy.  Neither are interested in scheduling regular meetings with me.

As for the Chairman he is usually only in the office 2-3 days a week at most.  When he does call in, it could be for anything from 5 mins to a couple of hours, depending on his workload and diary commitments.  I communicate with him via phone and text, but he's a difficult one as he is busy with other committees and outside bodies.

That said I find the latter easier to work with for some reason.

[peaches2160]

When he is in the office, we have regular scheduled 30 min to 1 hour meetings weekly to review action items and priorities.  We talk throughout the day regarding issues as my office is next to his with a door connecting.  When he is  in meetings we e-mail since he always has his blackberry or laptop.  When he is traveling we use e-mail and cell phone.  We don't text or instant message, as these other methods seem to work well for us.

We have found the weekly meetings are very important in order to stay on top of things and stay in sync.

[itsme_calista]

My boss is only in the office one day a week so most of the communication is done via telephone or email.  He has his blackberry with him most of the time, so if I can't get him by phone I'll send him an email that he can pick up.

When he is in the office we do sit down for 10 minutes and run through what needs doing, but it's rarely a long list.

Callie

[queenbean]

Whenever he's in the office we have a 10 min face to face catch up first thing.  He's on the move a lot, though, so we touch base throughout the day by phone, text or email that he picks up as he goes.  Works really well for us.

QB

[raindance]

Our offices are right next to each other, and the space between us is relatively small, so we can talk whenever we wish.  Occasionally, we will have a formal face-to-face meeting.  If she's out of the office, then we use email and telephone.  

[officepa]

My boss is out of the office 80% of the time and mobile phone contact seems to work well for us.  Frustrating at times tho especially when I need him to look at a document for his advice and end up trying to read it all or explain it on the phone (usually manage to catch him when he is driving so he is talking hands free and this can be a pain when he says "hold on, just going to overtake something but hang on!"  but if he was in the office it would be a 2 minute jobby.  I often save all his messages up or things I want to ask him and send him an email which he will read via Blackberry and then come back to me.

[laurafmcdermott]

Strangely enough, email--even though my cube is directly outside her office.  She has many conference calls during they day and will send me emails during them.  We also talk face-to-face, formally once a week for 30 minutes, and then whenever the mood or task strikes her.

[misslynn]

My boss is traveling constantly, I can go 3-4 weeks at a time without seeing him, so we communicate mostly on our cell phones. For little reminders or quick notes, I send him text messages.

[geminigirl]

My boss is right next door to me so if she's around, I'll pop my head around her door and she'll do the same.  With summer coming up (yeah, what summer, I know!) she'll be travelling abroad so then it will be mainly by email.

[movinonup]

2 bosses to communicate with, and they both travel a lot.

The director seems to prefer e-mail, and usually answers my requests right away.  We call each other now and then, but it's usually a very short conversation.

The manager also responds to e-mail questions, but could talk on the phone all day.  He just loves doing that.  Me, not so much.  In fact, when there is a report for him to review via the phone, I just cringe.  I'm sitting there, trying to answer e-mails and handle in-person requests, but he wants me to read a full report to him so he can edit it over the phone.  The reports are compiled on Monday from a variety of contributors, and they must be approved and e-mailed to Germany by Tuesday.  So there's really no choice but to review it on the phone, especially if he's traveling by car.  



Movinonup