I do HR at a small business (less than 10 employees including the boss) and have many other roles as well. I am basically his personal assistant, handling everything from bank reconciliations to making trips to the grocery store for him. There are many times that I have a task to complete but need his input, as they are matters that I do not have all the details on. My boss is a busy man, so I usually make a list of things I need from him, and he just gets back to me as he works through the list. I hand this list to him directly, as I have tried emailing him in the past, but emails get overlooked. Is there another way I should be doing this? I need to do my job but have to wait on him to complete many things.
How to get timely input from a busy leader
I have 3 owners I report to and see the same issue from time to time. We are a 33 employee company where I have total operations control including HR responsibility. My suggestions to you are: 1) inject yourself in his/her calendar and find time to meet for 30 minutes on a weekly calendar, 2) ask to see if your boss is OK with text messaging when an urgent issue requires his/her attention, 3) if you have TEAMs utilize this app to send him an individual message and post it urgent, and 4) Tag your emails as “Urgent” and “Response/Follow Up Required”. If you have Business development sessions that include him/her, one on one meetings, or any other calibration meetings he/she attends, please ensure you create awareness of any strategies you are suggesting to improve communicating urgent issues and getting immediate responses. I wish you much success!
Eduardo
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These are some great suggestions, thank you!