How to build a productive and mutually beneficial relationship with your manager
Your manager is the single biggest factor in determining whether your working life is a joy or a misery. It is often said that people do not quit organisations, they quit bosses.
One of e-mail’s greatest benefits is that you can communicate quickly and easily with
just about anybody. However, one of its biggest challenges is that we think we can write quickly and easily without checking. As a result, our e-mail is often badly composed, too long or too brief, contains spelling and grammatical errors and even goes to the wrong person if we pressed the wrong button too quickly!
From heated discussions with your partner about whose turn it is to do the washing
up, to salary reviews with your employer the ability to negotiate is a skill relevant to most areas of our lives. Negotiation is the process of bargaining to reach a deal, but what makes a good negotiator? Often we are so closely involved in day-to-day negotiations that we can not see the wood for the trees.
Key skills of a good negotiator
We have probably answered the telephone hundreds, or even thousands, of times so far in our working lives and this may mean we have adopted many bad habits, even answering the telephone on "autopilot". (If you have ever answered your home telephone as if you were at work, you're on autopilot!) So review your behaviour against the following top ten tips, and resolve to change any of your inappropriate habits.
1. Breathe before you answer. This may sound obvious perhaps, but you'd be surprised at how many people answer their telephone in a rush and so create a negative first impression.
The secretarial role is constantly evolving and will continue to do so. Ratios are
changing fast, while technology and PC-literate managers are making in-roads into the traditional tasks of a secretary. Keeping up to date with technology is vital although it is probably the easy bit. The harder part is developing the role so that you are more valuable: this requires thought, determination and planning. So here are the top ten tips to help you do this: