Recently I presented a two-day course for administrative professionals in the Chicago area. We discussed this particular topic at great length. Here’s a quck summary of what we generally agreed are the best approaches to this challenging issue:
1. Let them fight over you.
It doesn’t matter whether you have two bosses who work together or you report to people who work 3000 miles apart. When it comes to determining the order of work you must set up boundaries that force them to choose priorities.
There’s no other answer, although the approaches you use to get them to agree can vary a great deal. Perhaps you set up an email priority list that goes to both for review four times a day, or you phone both at 7:30 am or drop by both offices at the start of the day.
Of course this doesn’t apply if you report to several people, but only one does your performance review. In that case you work for one person, with a subset of people who you also report to. Then there’s no stress over whose work gets priority.
2. Keep everyone informed.
This builds on the first answer, but sometimes bosses seem pushy or demanding because they genuinely don’t know the other work you’re doing. Determine the best way to get information to your bosses, in other words the way they’ll most comfortably and quickly read the information. By keeping the information flowing you minimize the stress of having to explain why you’re too busy to do a certain task.
3. Know the personality styles of all people you report to.
Now this might seem pretty obvious, but remember you can work for a Type A individual who really thinks her work is the most important work being done in he company, and at the same time report to a very calm Type B individual who forgets to mention the urgency of legitimate deadlines.
Learn if they react, exaggerate, tend to understate or what characteristics they usually display. As you learn to read between the lines and continue to communicate with them you start to get a clear picture of whose priorities are truly urgent and whose priorities can wait.
With these 3 simple concepts you’ll have a lot more control over your time at the office. You’ll also increase your productivity and improve your work relationships.
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