Some bosses just don't know how to work with an admin

Have you ever worked for someone and they under-utilized you or just didn't seem to know how to work with an assistant?  I once worked for a young boss and you could tell he wasn't quite sure what he could give me or what I was capable of doing.  I had enough experience that I just started doing some of the things and when he saw I was ready, willing and able to do it, he gladly passed it on to me.  For other things I spoke to him about it and asked if it was something I could do.  He was very appreciative of the effort. 

Another young woman I worked for seemed to be intimidated by me at first because I was the age of her mother, but over time we started to have a great working relationship.  I would often tell her to quit apologizing every time she gave me work to do as she was my boss and I was there to assist her.

IAAP has an article on their website about how to work more effectively with an administrative assistant that I suggest would be a good start for a conversation with your boss.

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