How do young women professionals manage their secretaries...

[Anonymous]

I either set a deadline/timeline in my initial e-mail ask. If I sense she has a lot on her plate, I ask what other projects she is working on, tell her where to prioritize mine among her other work (I collaborate with all the others assigning her things, so I can do confidently do this without stepping on toes) and follow-up with her to see if she has questions if it's a longer term project. This seems to work great, and we get along really well. I also keep her in the loop on things I am working on and make sure she is kept as part of the team. I've had awful admins and know how crucial good administrative support can be!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have no idea if this will work for you, but for me, what worked was to make my admin part of my "team." Meaning, filling her in on what the case/contract/issue was about, and then when there was something I needed her to do, explaining how that task fit into the project. For example, if I'm working on drafting/revising a contract, telling her what the contract is about and who it's between, and when I needed her to type in my handwritten edits, telling her "hey, remember that contract that I told you about? I made some edits and they need to get back to so-and-so by x time...will you please type them in in redline for me?"

Admin from 11:17 here... YES! Context is so important to effective support. Also, by talking with her about the larger issues, you are showing that you assume she has the intelligence to follow. Too many managers act as if they think this stuff will go over our heads, so they break it down into small, simple, "manageable" tasks, without sharing the larger picture.

Okay well my admin isn't bright enough to provide effective support, and she's not a self starter, and she's slow.

[Anonymous]

"Legal Secretary" is kind of a term of art in the legal world. Most of the legal secretaries I know bristle when they are referred to as "admins" or "assistants." Legal Secretary implies in-depth knowledge of court filings and the legal process that a regular admin doesn't have a clue about.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"Legal Secretary" is kind of a term of art in the legal world. Most of the legal secretaries I know bristle when they are referred to as "admins" or "assistants." Legal Secretary implies in-depth knowledge of court filings and the legal process that a regular admin doesn't have a clue about.

ITA with this. I will also note that I believe that the day of the truly capable legal secretary is over. That institution was based on the discriminatory policies of the past, where extremely intelligent and capable women were relegated to secretarial positions at law firms. Now, anyone who is truly capable of being a good legal secretary is almost certainly practicing law herself instead. This is a societal advance, but it makes it very difficult to find good secretaries.

[Anonymous]

I don't doubt that it could be, in part, a gender issue. My DH gets way more attention and assistance from his gov secretary than his female, same-level counterparts. When I was in the gov, my secretary (whom I shared with two others) would fall all over herself for men but be okay, at best, with women. In my law firm, I find that some of the secretaries are way more responsive to the men (same level associates included) and some aren't. Depends on the person. But, I agree generally with not being too best-friendly, explaining the background and importance of a work assignment, and making sure to utilize all the skills and knowledge they have built up over the years that I don't remotely have.

My current secretary isn't all that great. She can't write without a typo, she has a hard time with directions, and she doesn't do complex tasks. But, she does have her strengths and I try to use them. In this year's review, I recommended that she attend some writing/grammar courses that the firm offers. Heck, I know that I could benefit from a good course! Anyway, it'll help her career if she could improve her basic skill set.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is tricky.

Speaking as an admin myself, I absolutely understand the tendency to let things slide. I don't, because I'm a grown-up and a professional, but when you know that the task is make-work or laziness on the part of the requestor, or when you know that the memo you painstakingly research and write is never going to be read by anyone, it's hard to stay motivated.

My suggestion is to stop condescending, first of all. Stop "acting nice", and "buttering up". Think of the admins as respected professionals, ones you might know something you don't. We tend to stay in our positions for way longer than the folks "above" us, and we amass institutional knowledge and relationships that you'll never touch. Use that, and let it be known that you value it.

Next, find out if the admin in your department has a special area of interest, and make sure that all work in that area, even if you'd normally do it yourself, gets sent her way. Perhaps she really excels at event planning. Let her do all of it, and let it be known that it's because she does it better than you could. Then, once you've communicated all the requirements and made sure that she's clear on the assignment, back off. Resist the urge to micromanage. Find the happy medium between overbearing/ controlling, and total neglect (which leads to boredom, which kills productivity in the long run).

I won't pretend that I've never seen the types who give all admins a bad name-- often older ladies who think their seniority grants them pre-retirement. But don't start by assuming you have one of those. If you're her manager, it behooves you to get to know her and her strengths, such that EVERYONE can do his or her best work.

I know that someone will respond "I'm the boss! I have important things to do! It's not my job to coddle the secretary!" Just remember, management is a two-way street. A poorly managed admin will automatically fail at her job, no matter how much she wants to succeed. It's the nature of the position, and it's very, very trying.

And what would that be?

My boss gets pretty upset when he catches me (or my colleagues) doing any task he considers administrative in nature, as he often points out that it is not cost effective to have a $300/hr employee doing their own expense reports. (as an example).

[Anonymous]

Girls aren't socialized to be leaders in this culture.

[Anonymous]

I also don't think it is an issue of gender - right now, our good AA does a good job for everyone, and our slacker AAs are a problem for everyone. This generally has been my experience.

[Anonymous]

Most of the women in my office suck up to MEN, including the cleaning staff and the guards.

[Anonymous]

It doesn't seem to occur to anyone that perhaps the men just treat the admins better. That's certainly been my experience. My female bosses have been prickly and standoffish and quick to one-up. The men I've worked for have been more willing to mentor, warmer and friendlier, etc. The female security guard rarely looks up from her phone. Her male counterpart is attentive and friendly. And so on. Given some of the responses here, perhaps some of the women would benefit from emulating their male colleagues.

[Anonymous]

Your response is so stereotypic pp. NO, many men do not treat their assistants better. Many men scream and stamp to get what they want. Women tend to be more afraid of those men and respond out of fear. Are you for real?

[Anonymous]

Big law admin here. I agree with basically everything that the other admin chiming in a couple times said. It's important to treat your assistant like she's part of your team, rather than like "the help" if you want her to be responsive to your needs. I've worked for a lot of people in my firm, but the two attorneys I work with now are by far the best. They go out of their way to make me feel included and valuable. I don't think that you need to be overly nice to your assistant. If you don't connect personally, that's okay. Professional courtesy is fine too.

I also would caution you against the mindset of "But she ignores my assignments in favor of other assignments" unless you know exactly what the parameters of the other assignments are. I work for a partner and an associate and I often get assignments with conflicting deadlines and priority levels from them. If two projects are due at the same time and have the same level of urgency (filings, for example, to different agencies), I usually do the partner's assignment myself and get help from the paralegal or the assistant of one of the other attorneys on the case for the associate's assignment. At the end of the day, I like and respect the associate I work for, but BOTH of us work for the partner. That said, I have run into that situation exactly twice in the 4 years I've been with these two, and both times I was in constant communication with the associate about the status of his project.

[Anonymous]

"It's important to treat your assistant like she's part of your team, rather than like "the help" if you want her to be responsive to your needs. "

Do men give a rat's ass about this team shit with female subordinates?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Your response is so stereotypic pp. NO, many men do not treat their assistants better. Many men scream and stamp to get what they want. Women tend to be more afraid of those men and respond out of fear. Are you for real?

Please re-read my post. I say that IN MY EXPERIENCE men treat the admins better. The men I'VE WORKED FOR have been better managers and nicer people than the women I'VE WORKED FOR. There is no stereotyping. Just a suggestion that the women whining about how men get better results from the admins should perhaps examine their own behavior. I'm seeing lots of bad advice here about how to be an effective manager. It's coming from women. And yes, just pinched myself, and I am indeed "for real".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"It's important to treat your assistant like she's part of your team, rather than like "the help" if you want her to be responsive to your needs. "

Do men give a rat's ass about this team shit with female subordinates?

Some do, some don't. I'm the PP you're quoting. Both the attorneys I, the female subordinate, work for are male, and the "team shit" is pretty important to both of them - with the admin staff, the paralegals, the other attorneys, etc.

But I understand the point you're making. I just don't think that the OP is doing anything to fix the problematic gendered behavior in office situations by being fake friendly to her assistant.