It’s not like Im a super busy person but I often receive about 100-200 emails daily, its really good to only read the important ones and stop wasting time skipping the unimportant ones.

The key here is to find someone that can act on his/her own knowledge, for example if she received an bill by emal she can simply keep records of it and ask me for the green light to pay and thats it. I dont have to login, put my info, pay, confirm payment, etc. They have all that information with them and if you trust them it’ll work.

If you keep a copy of the messages, it’s very easy to follow up with the boss every few hours to ask if he’s returned those calls or not. One admin professional who has a blog calls herself the Paid, Professional Nag. I think it’s an appropos title for someone in our line of work. Sometimes we have to play the boss’s conscience to keep him on his toes when he wants to avoid a particular duty.

It’s possible that he isn’t avoiding returning the call, but just forgets them in the press of other duties. Whether that’s the case or not (we can be generous and give him the benefit of the doubt), your reminders can help spur him to get those calls made. This is especially easy with a new boss, because if you start it from the beginning, he won’t see it as a change in behavior. If he (or she) asks why you ask, just tell him that you like to keep track that messages are handled, just in case there’s any questions later. And, of course, in a school system you like to have accountability, so he’d probably consider it a good idea anyway.

Good luck at the new school.

I am up for another job at a school. What do I do if this happens again?

As for uninvited visitors, my usual reply (which is the same for callers) is that the boss is “unavailable at the moment”. I ask them what they are there for and if someone else can assist them. Of course, if the boss has an open door policy, it’s harder if they can just stick their head in the door and see you at your desk working.

I’ve always tried to keep work periods sacrosanct for my boss. Managers spend so much time in meetings that they must have some uninterrupted time during the day to get work done. There must be time when they are “unavailable.