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Workplace dilemma
My boss is incredibly busy. In addition to her busy job, she is also running a pretty large additional project this year. Because of this, she is often unavailable to me (and other direct reports) and this is starting to affect my work. The main thing is that she doesn't answer emails, even repeated ones, and quite a few decisions need to be vetted by her. She is also frequently out of the office, and doesn't really keep us posted on her schedule, so it's not always easy to arrange in-person time.
Today, I have sent her two emails related to questions I have asked multiple times before. In both cases, these are decisions that I can not make. And one is a yes or no question, while the other is a little more complicated.
Because I'm not getting my questions answered, I am not able to provide a timely response to other people involved, which makes me look bad.
Any advice?
Re: Workplace dilemma
Does she have an assistant who can keep track of her schedule? My boss is also super busy and is basically in meetings all day long. We can't just stop by her office to ask her a question. We have to set up a meeting if we want to talk to her. Sometimes she'll answer a quick email, but if it's an issue that's even slightly complex, we have to set up a meeting. It's also not uncommon for our meetings to get rescheduled, sometimes multiple times. Example: I was supposed to meet with my boss about a project yesterday. It was rescheduled for today. Now it's been rescheduled again until next week. It is frustrating.
I think our clients generally know how busy our boss is, so if I tell them that I'm waiting to hear back from her or talk to her about something, they know it can take a week or longer. Some clients are more pushy, but I just keep telling them that I'm still waiting to talk to Boss and I'm doing my best.
Ugh, I hate situations like these. I am so sorry you have to deal with this. I have a very similar situation here, which is now exasperated by a physical move so now we are about 10 miles apart!
About a month ago I started having daily check ins. I book a regular time on his calendar - just 15 minutes. Once he got in the groove of it, it worked well. For me, it meant I had to come in much earlier, but it is worth it because I can get so much more done.
Now that we are in the groove, I moved it to once a week (but the time is on his calendar, so I can use it if we need it). It works for us!
Also, the first meeting I had with my government client, I outlined the types of requests I was getting. I basically asked if he wanted to approval all of them or if some I could do on his behalf or if there was another government person I could go to.
Lastly, document everything.
If it does not get resolved, is there a person you can go to who may be able to help faciliate a resolution?
can you ask her boss?
We do a lot of check in meetings where I work. Not daily, some are weekly, some bi-monthly, but they're really helpful for pinning down a bunch of little answers at once and we skip them when they're not needed.
I have this exact problem with one of my (division director) bosses. I have taken to stalking him--staking out his office, knowing what meeting room he'll be in, and then pouncing as he's walking down the hall or whatever if I have a quick question to be answered.
Now that he's out of the office a LOT, though, he's designated a proxy (deputy director) who can make bigger decisions for him if he's not around. Could you bring that option up with her?
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