If you Google “communicating,” the top five items that appear are:
- Open Meeting
- Emails
- One on One
- Use Presentations
- Communication via Training
“The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.”
— George Bernard Shaw
There are many ways of keeping your assistant in the loop, but I’m not referring to the tools used to communicate as much as what is communicated. It’s been my experience that most people in an organization believe they communicate well because they:
- have an ‘open-door policy,’
- send out regular emails, and/or
- hold regular meetings.
Those are all well and good; however, they don’t always address the day-to-day things that make a job easier. According to a 2014 survey by About.com, poor communication was the number two reason people don’t like their jobs.
It’s harder for colleagues to be proactive if they don’t have line of sight on the overall picture, even for something as familiar as travel. Booking flights and hotels is easy. Knowing the reason for travel and who you’re meeting can impact the itinerary and allows your admin professional to prepare meeting material, liaise with local colleagues and prepare location-specific information.
Keeping colleagues in the loop is as easy as holding casual, focussed discussions that are collaborative. Put aside time each day to ensure your administrative professional has a fuller picture of your priorities and don’t forget to listen also – discussions go both ways.