. . . since my secretary post continues to be a hot topic. First, for clarification, I am in a mid-sized firm. We have 15-20 attorneys and probably 25-30 support staffers.
I spoke with the office manager yesterday. I told her that I wanted to be clear on what was to be expected from my secretary and other support staff and who I should be asking to do what. I told her that I didn't want to report anyone or cause trouble, but that there were some things that my secretary seemed reluctant to do and that I wanted to make sure that I wasn't out of line in asking her to do these things.
The OM responded that the secretary is responsible for any task that I need her to do that is not billable (or personal--but I have never seen anyone give a secretary a personal task at my firm). If it is something that can be handled by the file clerks or service center, then it is her job to distribute these tasks and ensure that they are completed. But there is nothing that she is not supposed to do.
I made clear that I preferred to handle things for now, and the OM was in agreement. She said that she would step in later, if I needed her to.
At this point, my plan is to be much firmer with my secretary when asking her to do tasks and I will deal with any issues when they occur. I think that confronting her with a list of screw-ups from the last couple of weeks is just going to generate hostility. I should have called her on them immediately.
As for the evaluation--well I'm not going to say anything negative because I just don't think that's fair since I haven't said anything to her before.
3 comments:
A little harder for the personal tasks to slip in with a firm that size. As it gets bigger (and the firm is spread over more floors), it's easier. More anonymity, less accountability. Or maybe my firm was made up of jerks. Also a possibility. :)
It sounds like you had a productive conversation with the OM. Perhaps your strategy is one that would work best with your secretary. As long as you aren't harboring resentment as a result of her past mistakes that you show in future interactions with her... thus causing her to be defensive... and the situation to escalate.
If it was me, I'd want to be (gently) given a general run-down of the issues you've been having... maybe start the conversation with "how have you been doing lately? have you been feeling overwhelmed?" And you could also talk about the evaluation, and let her know it'll be positive. That should certainly diffuse any hostility.
Ditto what Firefly said. I don't think it's too late to try to start over on the right foot and let her know that you're on to her. Better to discuss it when you aren't under the gun to get a project done and more likely to over-react. Just my two cents, but your plan could work well too.
I think you handled the situation perfectly. Bravo! Maybe if she gets a good raise after evaluations, she'll feel more inclined to be helpful.
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