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Subject:Re: secretary's day From:Marilynne Smith <marilyns -at- QUALCOMM -dot- COM> Date:Wed, 22 Apr 1998 11:39:46 -0700
I was going to just lurk on this issue. My solution to being asked to do
secretarial work is to take that work to the right person for the task and
to inform the owner of the work that I had forwarded it for him or her.
The work gets done and a subtle (or not so subtle) message is delivered.
There are times when it seems correct to just do the work. I take my clue
from the men. If they think it's proper to do some typing for someone
else, I'll help too.
Marilynne <no one would dare send me a secretary's day card>
----------------------------------------------
At 11:30 AM -0600 4/22/98, Jill Burgchardt wrote:
>John Gilger wrote:
>
> Who cares whether someone thinks you are a secretary?
>
>Actually, there's an important issue here that isn't about egos. If others
>perceive your job as something other than what it is (secretary, longshoreman,
>whatever), their attitude usually includes an expectation that you'll do that
>job IN ADDITION TO your real job. That's a very real problem.
>
>Since sending my post about encountering the "secretary" situation 12
>years ago,
>I've received several offline notes from people who are facing problems
>with job
>perceptions/expectations. Honestly, I wouldn't care a bit about title if the
>pay were good and I had time to do my REAL job--you know, the one my job
>evaluation is based on.
>
>Knowing now, what I didn't know then, here's my advice. Arm yourself with a
>good project plan. Use it and make sure managers see what you need to do and
>what impacts your doing it. This approach avoids all the controversy and
>helps
>you focus on your job, not someone else's.
>
>Jill Burgchardt
>jburgcha -at- pestilence -dot- itc -dot- nrcs -dot- usda -dot- gov
>
~!~ ~!~ ~!~ ~!~ ~!~ ~!~ ~!~ ~!~ ~!~ ~!~ ~!~ ~!~ ~!~
Marilynne Smith marilyns -at- qualcomm -dot- com
Sr. Technical Writer (619) 651-6664
QUALCOMM AE-203B
"We'll have the whole world talking"
