Processes and Procedures

[diamondlady]

To chime in here, I do a newsletter for the pumpkin club I'm in and to protect the growers to some degree, I always send out the newsletter in bcc format.  I see I am one of few that do it this way, as I'm a member of other clubs and they don't.  I guess to some degree it would bother me to have my email information out there for who knows who to see, but you can't be too confidential in the business world.

Diamondlady
Peer Moderator

[gee4]

Diamond Lady,  before the IQPS branch in Belfast was closed down, members used to get emailed regarding meetings and events.  Some of the email addresses were work and some were personal.  I pointed out several times that members do not need to see the email addresses of others and suggested they be listed under Bcc.

[diamondlady]

Gee, I was told by the club operators to do it this way to protect some of the members confidentiality and I had no problem doing so, so just carried it forward with everyone's email.  They seem to have no problem with that. And in this case, most of the time, if you asked for their email, they would provide it to you.  I just don't like seeing emails with hundreds of accounts for all to view and use at their discretion.  Sometimes it's a dangerous thing, guess I'm being too protective.

Diamondlady
Peer Moderator

[gee4]

No you are right to be protective, I am the same.

I guess this morning's email didn't need to be sent under Bcc but sometimes that's just the way I work if I am mailing a lot of people.

I think some companies are still in the dark ages and I am finding when the "newbie" comes along, people get thrown by our approach.

[diamondlady]

Takes people time to figure how you work too.  Give them time to adjust.

Diamondlady
Peer Moderator

[raindance]

You could always try the approach that a colleague of mine in a previous job had.  She was a very scary secretary - the old-fashioned type that left school at 15 or 16, did a "shorthand and typing" course, and grafted her way up the secretarial ladder.  Some director tried to order her about one day and her response was "Do I try to tell you how to do your job?"  No response.  Then she chipped in with her body-blow, "Then don't tell me how to do mine!"  

Not particularly courteous, professional or friendly, but he never messed with her again.  

[gee4]

Mmm well I guess I don't want to end up out on my ear but I will bear it in mind for future use should I require it.

Never a truer word spoken.

[raindance]

As a comedian once said "It's the way you tell 'em", Gee, and that particular colleague always used a bit of humour to take the sting out of difficult things.  

You seem to be very forceful and unafraid of addressing issues.  A true professional - even someone who works at a junior level in a company - is never subservient.  Just because someone is your manager or senior to you does not mean that you have to take whatever dirt is dumped on you.  In my experience, a person can always set ground rules if need be, but always courteously and professionally.  

[gee4]

Rain you are right, but I guess over the years having been treated as "only the secretary" for example and trying to prove my worth is difficult when people have the attitude that you are at their beck and call.

That is why I get so frustrated when a job promises so much yet does not fulfil its promise.

The manager who spoke to me yesterday about how I composed my email was in a meeting with my boss and other managers.  I went into the room to deliver some forms and was not about to reply to him in front of others that I hardly know.  But don't worry, it is filed and noted!

It was obvious they had been talking about me and the email but to address the issue in front of everyone, I felt was a little out of place.

[raindance]

In such a case, I would turn the tables on that person.  You either let it go and wait for him to say something to you or you do something about it.  If I were in your position, I would wait a day or two and then approach that person and say that you couldn't help overhearing such-and-such a conversation, you wondered whether it was about you and whether he would like to discuss the matter with you.  That gives him an opportunity to say something and you a chance to say your piece about how you want to provide a good service etc etc.

Naturally, I don't know all the details or circumstances, but what you did doesn't sound like a hanging offence or anything for dismissal.  Mistakes happen from time to time.  And procedures and styles for correspondence vary a great deal.  

I'm sure you will take a great deal away from this experience. My own view is that names in a "To" list (whether in an email or a hard copy memo) means that the communication is addressed directly "to" those people and they have to act on it; names in a "cc" list means that they have to note it but not necessarily do anything about it.  You may disagree, but the simple truth is that people do get offended about the smallest details in business.  Petty, yes, but that's human nature, and none of us is perfect.

[gee4]

Well the saga continues.  Bossie had his passport photos returned and I have been asked once he gets new pics to go again to the post office and fast track it.

I have flagged the issue again with my agency and again with HR as Friday after work (12 noon) is my own time and this Friday I have things planned.

I am not sure if he is chancing his arm or is oblivious to the implications involved, but I am not being used while I am in a temporary contract.  I am extremely angry that this issue has not be resolved.  What were HR thinking or doing prior to me starting here?  Did no one think of the does and don'ts of a person hired in a temp to perm position?

Just about to have my first (yes!) cuppa of the morning and I have been here since before 8am!

IS IT FRIDAY YET?

[raindance]

Gee,

Maybe the post requirements have changed since the last incumbent and they haven't appreciated that.  Maybe that company doesn't actually need someone at your level, if all that is being offered is little things.  It is possible that they have a PA because they think they ought to have one - which isn't a good way of running a business.  "I'm a manager now and I need a PA because PAs are what managers have".  None of that makes good business sense.  

If you have time on your hands, maybe you could read through past correspondence and files and get a good handle on that company.  And work out whether after six months you really want to be there.  

In my own post, I know that if my predecessor (who left some 11 years ago - I have been here nearly ten years) came back, she wouldn't have a clue how to do this job because the nature of the work, and the level at which the work is done, has altered so much.  Maybe a similar change has happened to your current post.  Companies don't always do the rational thing when a post becomes vacant, i.e. consider whether the job is actually required and what the job really should be.

[gee4]

Rain I couldn't agree more.

Personally (and this is only from an admin perspective, which I am), I would have gone about the whole recruitment process for this role in very different way.

I think it's exactly as you say...having a PA because it's the done thing.  I am glad I have flagged the issues I have come across because no one else has realised they might become issues for someone in this role.

As most of you know having temped before I can quickly ascertain if something is right or not.  I guess I will have a lot of thinking to do over the Christmas and New Year period.