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Dear Ms. Skinner:
In a recent survey conducted by Professional Secretaries International, 68 percent of the 2,000 secretarial respondents reported difficulty in working with their bosses as the number-one cause of job dissatisfaction. Here’s how the secretaries most frequently defined those difficulties with regard to their bosses: constantly changing priorities, inadequate instructions, unwillingness to delegate, and lack of time-management skills.
I’d like to submit a 2,000-word article entitled “What Your Secretary Would Like to Tell You,” detailing these secretary-boss difficulties. My basic approach will be how-tos for the boss:
• Suggestions for communicating priorities to subordinates through daily two-minute, stand-up meetings
• Four steps to giving adequate instructions and verifying that the instructions are understood
• Two reasons bosses don’t delegate and how to overcome those hang-ups
• Twenty time-wasters where the secretary is directly affected and tips for improvement
This article will be based on information from boss-secretary interviews done as a follow-up to a recent survey at our company, where I am training manager for the pipeline division. I have developed and taught supervisory-skills courses for the past 10 years at Hewitt International and QRT Associates. My other publishing credits include articles in Training and Development Journal and a management-skills column in our company newsletter.
Would you be interested in seeing the article? I could complete it in about three weeks from your go-ahead. A self-addressed, stamped envelope is enclosed for your convenience in replying.
Sincerely,
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