I work for a non-profit of about 300 employees. There is one receptionist and an executive “team” which consists of an executive assistant, an admin assistant, and the receptionist. Recently, the exec team had decided to come up with a “reception backup team” consisting of myself and three other program assistants in addition to the admin assistant of the exec team. We all rotate backup for one full day (spread out during the week) and also rotate for backup on vacations, sick time, etc. Needless to say, I personally went kicking and screaming to do this backup, as we were not given any choice in the matter (and in fact, our supervisors got the email that it was being implemented, not us directly – I just happen to have a supervisor who treats me like an equal instead of just an admin support person…) and it’s fairly intrustive on my day as well as the other program assistants. Now we have a team meeting next week and one of the program assistants (who resents the backup even more than I do) is wanting to bring up this issue of rotation. She believes (and I and the rest of the PAs agree 100%) that it is the exec team’s job to take care of backup and not pull in other programs that have nothing to do with the admin running of the main office.
I’m looking for some ways to approach the meeting to bring this up without making it seem like we all just want it to go away. I’m looking for possible other options and also approaches on how to make it friendly and positive and team building.
The Team Doc Says…
Often when something is forced on us — whether it be business or personal — we have a tendency to rebel because we weren’t part of the discussion. That happens often in the corporate world.
Since there are many of you involved in this recent change, why not brainstorm some alternative solutions and come up with a couple to present to the leadership? Don’t just go complaining to them that this new solution doesn’t work because it will probably fall on deaf ears. Come up with a thoughtful solution that benefits everyone — and adds value to the company.
You may have a good chance of getting this changed if you approach it as “part of the solution” rather than “part of the problem.”
Best regards,
Denise O’Berry
aka ‘Team Doc’
About Denise O'Berry
There are several paths you can take. Please don’t overlook the obvious one which is complying with your executive teams work assignment decision. Depending on how you play this..noncompliance may be considered as insubordination.
Jake — You’re right. That is always an option. I fear with the current angst over the issue that unless there is some communication over the issue, the organization will be suffering severe morale issues soon. Not a good thing.