Am I being unreasonable.........

[mlm668]

This morning, a visitor from a federal agency stopped in and asked to speak to my #1 boss.  He said he was in the area and taking a chance he might be available.  Well, first I had to ask who he was (info wasn't volunteered) because I don't give out any info about boss unless I know who I'm dealing with.  Then I explained that boss wasn't in, he was out of the office at a meeting, not sure when he'd return.  Then this visitor asked me if there was any way I could contact him and see when he would be returning.  Ok, fine, but then I asked what it was about.  The man didn't want to say.  So I let him know that unless I knew what the reason for the request was, I couldn't interrupt my boss's meeting, but I would glad to let him know he had stopped by when he called in/returned.  My line of thought was "why should I interrupt boss #1's meeting with the owner of bonding company for this guy if it is something boss #3, who was in, could handle".  AAAUUUGGGHHHH!!!!!  Fortunately, my boss called in and when I explained what was going on was able to speak to him on the phone and take care of it.



Its my job to make sure that my bosses (all 4 of them) are not bothered unneccesarily.  I remained polite the whole time I was talking to this man even though I was steadily getting ticked off.  Why do visitors, callers, etc. insist on being so pushy about speaking or seeing someone without providing the admin any information about the reason for the visit/call?  The first question I get when I announce an unknown visitor or caller is who are they and what do they want.  I get a lot of phone calls from people who start interrogating me about where someone is when I say they aren't in but sound offended when I ask who they are before providing any information.  Do they honestly think that because a person is answering the phone they are stupid???    I am good at my job.  I can recognize voices and even chat a little with some of our regular vendors.  I feel that adds a personal touch and helps keep the relationships between the companies on a good level.  But by no means does the fact that I am the receptionist mean I am unintelligent and can be snookered into giving info out to someone who doesn't need to know.  



Does anyone else run into this problem?



 

[susan1234]

Overall it sounds like you are making a very good  effort to protect your bosses' valuable time. I think it might be better to say your boss is unavailable before asking the callers who they are. This way it doesn't sound like they are being screened.





Susan

[execsec]

I agree with Susan1234.  By saying your boss is not available or even by saying he's away from his desk is an accurate statement (if he's in China or if he's standing in his office, he's "away from his desk") and it really isn't the caller's business as to where your boss is.  As for the visitor asking me to call and see when the boss would return, I would have told him that the boss was unreachable (or "out of pocket")for several hours but would be calling in for messages and I would tell the boss when he called in that a visitor stopped by. Then I would proceed to get the visitor's information to give the boss and it would be up to the boss to decide whether he wanted to "visit" or not.

[radaro]

Good advice on all fronts.  Like you, I don't interupt my bosses in a meeting unless the building is on fire or if they tell me they are waiting for a specific interuption.

[lioness70]

No, I think it comes with the territory.  If people want to "push" their agenda on your bosses, they want to do it ASAP.  Some of them don't like dealing with "gatekeepers," and I don't mean to use that term negatively, nor am I defendng these oafs, because they KNOW they will be turned away.



The worst people I had to deal with as a receptionist were salespeople.  One almost had me in tears becase he was so relentless.  I knew he was a salesperson because he wouldn't tell me why he was calling, no matter how many times I asked, said "he's in a meeting," etc.  It took me maybe 15 minutes to get him off the phone.



I even think they have seminars for salespeople on how to get past assistants.  Heck, in this book I bought on freelance writing, it had a section on how to get past assistants.  But, to be fair, the book DOES acknowledge that a lot of Big Cheeses (like your bosses) don't have enough time during the day and only want essential calls to get through.



The only answer is, even though it might wear you out some days, is to do just what you did, keep at them until you find out what they're after.  If only they knew what stress they put on secretaries/AAs/receptionists everywhere...but when they have their agenda to push, I don't think they care WHO they knock over to get it to be heard...



 

[radaro]

My personal "favourite" is when they pretend that they are a close personal friend of the boss.  "Oh yeah, Bob will want to speak to me.  Just tell him it's Bubba calling".  



At least with my boss, his friends understand that he can't drop everything and will let me take a message.

[countrigal]

I don't care who calls for bossie, I always answer the same way when asked if bossie is available:  "Let me see if he's in the office.  May I tell him who's calling?"  Then I ask him if he wants to talk to so-and-so.  He has a door out of his office that I can't see so he does escape often without my being aware, so I'm never really lying when I say this.  If he's not there, or doesn't want to be there, I say "Ms/Mr Blank, I'm sorry, but he stepped away from his desk without my knowledge (or he's unavailable at this time).  May I know what this is regarding and I can ask him to return your call when he comes back/is free? (or "would you prefer to leave a voice mail for him?" if they don't seem willing to let me know what it's regarding.)  Most of the time I get them to leave a message this way and then I can say "Oh, you know so-and-so is working on this.  Would you like me to connect you to them?  That way you won't have to wait on his call."  Other times I'm even able to handle it now that we've addressed the issue of bossie not being here and what the problem was, so bossie doesn't always get his messages.  Since bossie knows that this is how I handle the calls, unless he is expecting a call there are a lot of times he's "not available" when he's sitting in his office.



Hey, there's more than one way to skin a cat!  I'll do whatever I have to in order to get the information needed.    

[mlm668]

I am very careful about how I interrupt my boss for.  I think what ticked me off the most was that I said he wasn't there and the guy started "interrogating" me about where he was without volunteering who he was.  I have no problem helping those who say this is "so and so" is boss available and I always like the ones who say, well maybe you can help me when I tell boss is out.  Gives me the perfect opening to determine if boss needs to be bothered or not or if someone else can help.



I can always detect the salespeople when they call.  I wonder if they realize that I can hear every other person in their "bullpen" in the background when they call.  Doesn't matter if boss is standing right beside me, he isn't there when I hear that noise.    

[energizer]

No, you're not being unreasonable, you're being professional.  You're doing your job as your boss expects you to do it, and that is what counts.



The advice you've received here in this post is excellent.  When I'm faced with the "pushy" caller, I try to remain calm and tell him/her that it really isn't possible for them to speak with my boss right now, but that I would be more than happy to relay their message.



As far as the caller/visitor not being willing to tell you what the call is about, I like CG's suggestion.  I have to admit that I've never thought to offer to put callers into boss's voice mail when they prefer not to give me the information.  That's an excellent way out of a potentially sticky situation.  That way, boss can choose to delete the message and not call the person back, or for future reference can alert me to the fact that he doesn't want calls from that person put through.



As I'm thinking about it, that would probably be a workable solution to the drop-in visitor who wants to see the boss without an appointment.  Just tell him "I'm sorry, but Mr. Smith is not available right now.  If you'd like, you can leave a message on his voice mail."  Then, access boss's number in the voice mail system and hand the phone to the visitor.  Problem solved.  Thanks CG!



After all is said and done, it's our professionalism in handling situations like this that make us stand out in our boss's estimation.  Whatever you do, keep your cool.



Energizer  

[laundryhater]

Maybe, in this case, because it was a representative from a Federal Agency; he couldn't give you any more information due to confidentiality laws. If he was being audited on taxes or owes back child support or is having an employee investigated for fraud or something like that, the agent cannot tell you what it is concerning. However, he should have had the courtesy to tell you something to that effect like, "I'm sorry I'm here on official government business and cannot divulge that information. I can only speak with boss #1 about this." Then you could have asked for the man's business card (good proof that he is who he says he is) and tell him you will make sure bossie gets the message that he stopped by and to call him.



If the visitor is representing a business, I try to get a business card from them. This serves as proof of who they are; I don't have to write a message (just hand bossie the card); if it's a salesman the cards sometimes state what products they are trying to sell and that will give bossie enough information that he can decide to call or not to call (if not inteested in that product). If you know it's a salesman ask for a free brochure/catalog so bossie can make an informed decision (and makes salesman think he will be a sale and he is more willing to go away happy).