Message #4625

[elleny]

Don't worry about her abilities and education.  It is obvious that your bosses are happy with you work, and value your opinion, or they would  not have considred your request for some help.  Take this opportunity to show what great supervisory skills you have.  I would suggest that you just take charge of the situation and handle it the way it has been given to you.  You have an assistant, have her assist you with your work.  



For the next couple of days, take her with you.  Show her how YOU like for things to get done.  When someone hands you something that you feel she can do (and if you haven't given her too much already) delegate it to her.  Hand her the file and say "Mary, will you please fax this to John in Atlanta" or "I need this to be typed up on letterhead by the end of the day."  



Schedule a meeting with her as an icebreaker.  The meeting should be very informal.  I would start the conversation with something like "First off, I wanted to let you know how happy I am to have you hear to help assist me in running this office.  (the key word here is assist) I just wanted to talk with you personally and find out from you a little about your past jobs and skills."  



From there just talk about her for a while.  Make sure you pay attention to what she is saying, and ask her questions to let her be aware that you are listening to what she is saying.  After about 10 minutes or so let her know that enthusiasticly that her skills will be a great assest to this company.  I would then go on to tell her about yourself.  Since this is your first admin position, draw on past work experince where you held some sort of supervisory role, or where you had a great responsibility.  I would then go on to your current company.  This part of the conversation should show a progression of responsibilty that will show her that advancement is possible and that hard work and responsiblitiy is appreciated by the company and especially by you.



Now, as for her taking on thing that you don't think she is ready for, I would find her somthing else to do and aproach her with something like "We (key word her is we) will work on that later.  Right now I need you to do this for me instead.  Then follow up on your word and both of you work on it together.  One word of caution here, make sure it is really a posiblity that she is not ready for it and that jelousy is not interfering in that opinion.  



Remember, this is a great opportunity to show your bosses that you can handle the responsiblity of Office Manager and  can manage the office not just assist it.  This means delegating work to other employees.  I've learned that if you fake confidence, it tends to sneak up on you and make you more confident.



Ellen (sorry for the length) in TX