Sticky Situation – Scheduling with time abusers
Scheduling meetings is one of the most common tasks for administrative staff. Although common, there is a huge amount of judgment involved. You have a lot of control over another person’s time; it is your responsible to use it wisely.
We all know someone who fits the profile of time abuser. This person always requests a meeting and uses more time than allocated. The conversation is commandeered by this person and it is difficult to close the meeting without being abrupt. How can you best help your manager in this situation? Be prepared!
Establish the expectation of time sensitivity at the time a meeting is requested.
Scenario 1 – Linda, the marketing assistant calls to schedule a “quick 15 minutes” for her manager, the Chief Marketing Officer, to meet with your executive. The CMO is very passionate about marketing and can get off topic occasionally. 15 minutes to him equates to 30 minutes in real time. To best prepare your executive for the meeting while protecting his calendar try this approach:
“Linda, the first available appointment I can offer is 9:30 on Tuesday, if that time works for Mr. CMO please make him aware we will have a hard stop at 9:55.”
This approach will not only be more reflective of the time they will use, it will also empower Linda to prepare her executive to be effective with the time he has been allotted.
Scenario 2 – “I can’t tell you.” We have all met this guy. He is the meeting requestor who is full of self-importance and will try to circumvent answering the 5W’s of meeting scheduling. When you ask for a meeting topic he may even be bold enough to say, “Mr. Ex requested time for us to catch up. He will know the topic.”
In order for you to prioritize the request you must know the priorities of the executive and the initiatives of the company. When a meeting requestor is less than forthcoming with the specifics of his request try this approach using the example above:
“Linda, does the meeting need to take place before of after the budget review scheduled for the 23rd?”
Posing a follow up question will require the requestor to share the importance of their own meeting. The requestor is subtly reminded that you are the gatekeeper and it is your responsibility to manage the executive’s time. Normally this will open them up to be more forthcoming about the purpose. If this does not work, request an agenda of topics and any material that will be reviewed in advance of the meeting.
Scenario 3 – In this scenario Frank Smith works in San Antonio and just happens to be in town – again. Frank emails and asks for 30 minutes to drop by and say hello to your executive. Frank reports to one of your executives direct reports. The most direct approach is to pick up the phone and call Frank.
“Frank, this is Linda in Mr. CMO’s office. I just read your email and wanted to let you know that Mr. CMO is not available today. As I have mentioned before, he has a very structured schedule and seldom has time to take drop-in meetings. When you have a moment call and we can look at his availability during your next scheduled trip.”
Learn to say no when it’s necessary. Often those “drop by and say hello” requests can rob your executive of productive time in the day.
To recap:
Prepare a few catch phrases and keep them in your back pocket.
Request an agenda and materials in advance of meetings.
Learn when to say no.
Expect the unexpected.
