Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:From the thread title I thought you were planning on having sex on the conference table or something.

That explains the views:responses ratio. Folks are more interested in sensational stuff versus actually being helpful and providing advice.

Well, yes, of course. Does that surprise you?

Anonymous wrote:From the thread title I thought you were planning on having sex on the conference table or something.

That explains the views:responses ratio. Folks are more interested in sensational stuff versus actually being helpful and providing advice.

From the thread title I thought you were planning on having sex on the conference table or something.

OP, I wouldn't have the discussion until you're ready and able to spin it positively. Don't let on that you're unhappy, go in as someone proactive, imaginative, ready to help the team. As others have stated, go in with suggestions on what you could take on, but also be open to suggestions on what you can do. And don't expect things to change overnight - it takes work to give others work, and to get others up to speed on new tasks, so if the people you support are really busy they may not be able to give something new to you right away even if they want to.

Ladder-climber here (started as an admin, worked my way up to management). Great advice by the system admin, mine is similar. Love the scanning ideas; many companies have files and files of stuff they could easily digitize but just don't do it.

What about that closet of office supplies - is it organized and inventoried? What about those files that need re-labeling because they are handwritten and barely legible? What about those old binders of random stuff that no one's sure is in it? When's the last time someone cleaned/organized the kitchen cabinets? One of the things that will really be good, if you are interested in a promotion one day, is to create a 'job manual' so that if someone takes over your job, they have instructions, templates, forms, etc. all organized and easy to find.

Are there any processes that aren't documented? A lot of companies are required to document processes but it takes so much time that no one wants to do it or it gets half-started and is never finished.

Can you offer to take notes at meetings or track your boss's action items? Heck I'd extend into personal errands if it was remotely within my job description. At least getting your boss's car inspected takes a few hours of the day away.

Not to mention, the accounting dept is REALLY busy this time of year, and they can always use help with tax prep. Or HR might be doing their annual performance evaluations and might need help with that.

Really, don't hesitate to let your boss know that you're willing to take on more work. Also, become friendly with other people who might need help, and even if you do need more handholding (as a PP mentioned), there are some people who are happy to train others (I am one of those people). It does, of course, take initiative from you, to keep track of the task(s) and continue to work on them, ask questions, set up meetings to review status, etc.

When nothing else fails, read your organizations policies/procedures/etc. to familiarize yourself with them.

I own a business with around 20 people (clearly not as large as where you work). I would love an employee to tell me that. There are always some projects that could use getting done. Fantastic way to show independence, initiative and make yourself invaluable.

After you've finished with your work, walk around your work place or if you are limited by department, around your department. Look for the people that are busiest. Try to determine if there is something that you can do that will help them out. I've seen an admin go by a financial person's desk and take a huge folder of purchase orders and file them in a certain order so that when the financial person had to work on that bit of accounting they didn't have to sort or sift through the pile to find everything. Or take a pile of things that need to be scanned and scan them, and change the name of files to something meaningful, and burn all the files onto a CD and give it back to the person. Then, they can copy it to their computer all done and ready to go. Sometimes the tedious tasks that they need done you don't know how to do. If that's the case, Google is your friend. It's amazing what things are documented on-line. Sometimes once you help them once or twice, if you do a good job, then when they are really swamped again, they'll remember you and call you to do something. I am a system administrator. I'm the person that people come to with anything having to do with computers or office equipment when it doesn't work and they need to get it fixed. It's basically my job to figure out how to keep everything running on the network. If I don't know, I look it up and teach myself how to fix it. Also random things get assigned to me because no one else knows how to do them. Like the copier machine. I've become the defacto copier repairman so that everyone comes to me before they call it in for servicing. I learned where all of the doors, rollers, and parts work to unjam paper. No one else was administering the voicemail and phone systems. So, I downloaded the manuals for our phone system on-line and have become the voicemail administrator. As one of those busy people, for the people who show initiative and some common sense and the ability to follow directions well and learn without having to ask me twice how to do the same thing, I'll take the time to teach that person how to do something that needs to be done regularly and they can take that over for me. Be that person.

OP here. Thanks for the feedback.

I appreciate the advice to look for more work to do....but honestly, there isn't more to do! One of the main issues is that I finish my work very quickly. I would KILL for a position that kept me constantly busy. As it stands now, I feel terribly unproductive and like a waste of space. I frequently feel embarrassed and depressed when I realize I've done nothing all day. What type of example am I setting for my children when I do so little career-wise?

I don't want to give up too many details, but I support a few key people at my company. They aren't high-maintenance, so the things I do for them are very routine and happen monthly (expenses). We have many departments within the organization and there is no opportunity to branch out and help other depts. I've tried this tactic many times.

Perhaps I'm missing something. For those with assistants (or who have been assistants), what would be the "extra tasks" that go above and beyond?

Back when I was an admin. assistant, I always asked for more work. Everyone loved this. I got to work on tons of different stuff. While I was never compensated at that job, it gave me more to put on my resume and helped with the next job.

Studies have shown that a job with too little to do is actually more stressful than a job with too much.

Good luck, OP. When you approach your boss, bring some concrete suggestions with you. A list of tasks you'd like to do, a list of your current skills or skills you'd like to develop.

OP, I'd recommend going to your boss with specific ideas or proposals of what else you can do. Or consider using the opportunity to network like mad and move on from this job. I have an assistant who probably could web surf all day long, partially because I'm bad at delegating but partially because he seems to need a lot of handholding to get through anything but a really straightforward task. And he has an MA! I would love it if he initiated ideas and projects that would be helpful to our work, and the longer he stays just doing the bare minimum and overperforming simple tasks but underperforming everywhere else, the less impressed I am with him. I'm not implying this is your story at all, but I wanted to give you the other side of the picture. Your boss may be thrilled if you come up with some new projects/tasks - or the lack of work may be a subtle way of encouraging you to move on from a job you've outgrown. Good luck!

Don't do it. WHy not just offer to help people out on projects. Then, you will build a reputation and maybe get promoted, or create a body of work so that you can get a better job somewhere else.

I probably make way less money than you and I am slammed and expected to do MBA-level work. I can't leave my job b/c I am pregnant.

Soul-sucking
That's all that matters here. stop wasting your time, either They will fire you or actually dish out some real work to you
Good luck!

Going to (tactfully) tell my boss that I don't have enough work to do. I've had it. I'm an admin asst. I recently took an almost 2 week vacation and the day I returned, I had NO work to do. The folks I support are busy and don't have time to dish out work...and really I don't think there's much to dish out. The routine work that I do happens monthly and only takes me 1-2 days to finish. So that leaves me with approx 28 days of nothingness. There's no opportunity to help out in other areas, because when a gap appears, they just hire someone to fill the role (thus creating yet another bored person because the workload did not require a FT employee).

I'm so fed up. I'm smart, a college graduate and can do so much more. I know the economy sucks and I should be grateful for a job, but it's truly soul-sucking to have nothing to do at work. Why bother having me come in if I'm just going to web surf all day? I can do that from home.

If they fire me for actually wanting to do more challenging work, then I guess that let's me know this isn't the company for me anyway.