PA and Secretary Community - Deskdemon.com

I have to say I find this topic somewhat bizarre.

http://www.deskdemon.com/dnet/userpage.php?page_id=458

By writing and publishing this article are we to assume the world still thinks we all sit outside our boss's office answering calls before he does?

Not so.

Very few of my roles have had this set up.  Most have been in open plan offices which is how my present company operates.  None of the PA's boss's have offices of their own, nor do we screen calls.  If someone wants to dial my boss's extension, they can.  It's an open door policy.

If we receive outside calls, they come via our main office number to security/reception and passed to the appropriate person, but our direct dial nos are not given out nor are they known.

I think we have moved on from this - the photograph in this article alone shows how old fashioned this is.  It is quite insulting to assume we all look like this.  The modern office no longer requires women to be suited and booted, let alone wear their hair in a bun or wear glasses on the bridge of their nose.

Disappointed DD.

Funny, my closed door office is outside of my boss's closed door office and I answer his calls. 

It is funny how we all have different situations.  I agree with what this article says.   My company would rather not have people be transferred to voicemail and if at all possible have real people screen calls and help the people (even the boss).   Just today the boss was giving a lecture to a semi new person about always trying to answer the phone and handle messages and only send someone to the voice mail after we try to help them or get some type of message.  We also have a preferred greeting we should try to use.  Good morning, company name, this is Alicia, how may I help you?  We also were told to never let someone (unless we know.. really know like a co worker, wife.. ) where they are.   This article is so my situation 100%.    But with that said, many of the companies I work with don't have anyone to answer phones, all calls went directly to a enter by last name or extension email box.

Screening calls is part of a secretary's job surely?  I find that usually this happens when boss is busy working on something and only wants to be disturbed if really necessary.  He will then divert his calls to my phone and I can then put through the urgent ones. 

On other occasions, when someone dials his direct number and he does not recognise the number, he will then push the divert button and I will answer it - prevents him picking up his phone to cold sales calls.

As for the picture, why take offence at it?  I would imagine it is only trying to represent an office environment - it doesn't look like me but does actually have a likeness to someone I work with  ;D

No, screening calls is not part of my job, my boss is located in another building so I cannot see who is at his desk or who is calling him.

My company is not set up that way.  Very often senior management takes calls on their mobiles as they are always on the go or out of the office on business.

If someone wants to speak to my boss they call him directly.  We work in a fast-moving environment so there is little time to waste and people are normally in meetings or at their desk.

As for the picture, who does it represent in the modern era?

Gee - this article may help someone who it does apply to and surely that is the point of such articles, is it not?

Screening may not be part of your job but again, I doubt if it was written with just you in mind so why get so critical of it?

As for the picture, not quite sure what you see is wrong with it, it is a lady on the phone wearing glasses, and as the article is about answering the phone, what else is there to say about it - why analyse it, just see it for what it is.   

 

Cathy,

This article and in particular the picture stood out like a sore thumb.  It is not a true representation of the office today, that is why I am critical, I thought you would have understood that. 

Very few PA's (if any) sit outside a boss's office screening calls.  Most of the boss's in my company sit right beside their PA's (or opposite them) and answer their own phones.  We have an open door policy, so people are readily available and easy accessible to help, attend meetings or get things done.

Currently my boss does not sit near me and has no plans to given his current programme workload, so this article is not a true representation of a typical company or the people that work there.

So many of you talk about modern technology yet this article represents something from the dark ages that no longer exists in the form it did many years ago.  It's false.

I screen calls for some bosses and many administrative assistants in my company are responsible for screening calls for their bosses. It was the same in some of the other companies in which I had worked. It may not be common at your company, but it's not uncommon in many businesses even today. One of my former bosses liked having me answer the phone for the "prestige" factor. Others do it to reduce distractions, eliminate sales calls, etc.

Just for info, 3 pics from the top stories on the home page, show women wearing glasses!

What's that all about?!  #stereotyping

Gee - where are you coming from?  I wear glasses and don't have a problem with women (or men for that reason) being shown in adverts in any shape or form wearing them....

Glasses are worn on a day to day basis by people from all walks of life - professional or otherwise. Why think they stereotype people - glasses are glasses and are, in my case, totally necessary for me to be able to see (as with quite a few secretaries in my building) .......... I find it quite an insult to be told that wearing glasses is not correct in pictures.

It's stereotyping and again false representation of what a PA looks like in 2012.

Where did I say it was not correct?

LOL I wear glasses too. That might be an interesting poll - how many do and don't wear glasses.

Indeed Marie.  But why assume all PA's look like this or that they all wear glasses, are suited with buns in their hair?

It's 2012 not the 1960s.

Just my 2p worth!  I much prefer drinking from them than having to wear them (even if they are transition glasses - I occasionally get asked if I am in cognito when I come indoors from having a cigarette break!).

As for stereotyping!  Gee. Chill.  I, like a lot of people I know, am a modern 21st century 'secretary' and because of the downright vicious strength of some air conditioning units I have to wear glasses because I suffer from very dry eyes which makes my eyes very sore!.  Doesn't make me a stereotyp - just another victim of modern air conditioned building convenience!

Yes but the picture is saying all PAs look like this and we don't.

It sticks out like s sore thumb.

Ok, cool down everyone or I will lock this thread, and this is not the way to start the New Year !!

I think these photos are generic and while they could maybe do with a refresh, they are what they are.  Think about what every photograph illustrating an 'office' story uses, whether in a newspaper, magazine, website, and you will find someone behind a desk, often at a PC, or using the phone.  Stereotyping too!  Nuff said.

Oh, and I wear contact lenses, and occasionally my specs, so I am another visually challenged secretary!

And I have a boss who will not answer his own phone, so I screen all his calls, but not his visitors, unless a member of staff tries to knock on the closed door (it's usually open) and interrupt when I know it's a confidential meeting or some such.

My boss and I had an agreement if she didn't answer the call by the third ring I would pick up and try to handle.  Of course there were times when she asked me to answer her phone to get a project completed and then times when I would get a shout out let it go to voice mail!  I sit outside her office (and wear glasses) so I know if she is in.  In my previous company no calls went to the directors or above unless they were screened, very few people had their direct numbers.  I think as someone else mentioned once managers reach a certain level there is a prestige factor in having calls screened however, that doesn't always relate to not taking or avoiding callers.  I found the article to be simplistic as this is basic training for an admin and usually a first day conversation with a boss. 

But it's not typical in companies where I have worked (and work now) where the set up is open plan across all buildings.

Times have changed, we have moved on from that kind of set up.  My company don't receive cold calls as most senior managers or directors take calls on their mobiles because they have given out their number and are easily contactable.  Our work doesn't come from cold calling.

It might be basic training if that's how companies operated in the past, but it's not typical nowadays.

I think it's still quite standard for assistants to answer phones for their boss.  I am not doing it in my current role, but in my prior position at the same company, I was asked to do it and did not consider it to be an archaic request.  The corporate switchboard actually transfers anyone who asks to speak to my boss to me (with the understanding that most people she'd really want to speak to would have her direct number,) and in most cases I'm able to resolve the reason for the other person's call so my boss doesn't have to.

I wouldn't consider the photo associated with the article to be stereotypical either - it just looks like a woman in an office to me.  Not necessarily the way I'd dress, but I do see some of my colleagues with their hair up, and we do often wear suits, so it's not unheard of.

I look at the article as a tool that might be useful to an entry-level person who might have limited experience with screening calls.  I don't expect everything I see professional websites to directly apply to my environment.

I sit in my own office directly outside my bosses office and screen his calls.  Some of his senior reports have his DDI or his mobile but most people call me to ascertain his availability.  Plus we are deluged with cold callers asking to speak to the most senior director so I act as gatekeeper. I can't think of a worse waste of my bosses time than field the cold callers I have to deal with, particularly those who think the CEO of a multi million pound company would be responsible for mobile phone contracts.

We don't have a switchboard.