It takes two to get up to speed at a new job

Dear Bob …

I’m hoping you can help.

[ Also on InfoWorld: You can build a strong relationship with your boss, even without their input. | Keep up on career advice with Bob Lewis’ Advice Line newsletter. ]

I started a job three weeks ago as office manager and executive assistant (EA) to one of the executives at my new employer. For me, this is a total learning curve in terms of what the company does. It is quite small but growing fast, and approximately half the staff have started in the last six months. I’m one of only two females at present (it’s relevant, in a way); I know that she had applied for the post also.

The problem is that my boss does not quite know what to do with an EA. He wants me to learn what the company does, which is what I have been attempting over the past few weeks. However, I’ve been unable to get one-to-one time with the guys, what with everyone up to their eyes in work and under pressure.

I’ve had a couple of meetings with my boss — he’s great, by the way, but a little haphazard in explaining what I need to know. He’s clear that I need to start being an EA to him to free his time for more important things. So far, this has not worked — he starts work at 5 a.m. and does not finish until 7 to 8 p.m. I am not even aware of his daily timetable unless I catch the end of a phone call.

I do not feel at present I have his backing simply because he does not know what to do with me. I also feel uncomfortable trying to be an office manager in an unfamiliar environment and, thus, cannot exert authority. It is made a little more difficult as the office is totally open plan, so having a private conversation is an issue.

I would add that the people have been quite welcoming, but it is obvious that the other female has an issue. Though there has been no unpleasantness, she is trying at this time to prove she is all things to all men.

Any help and advice you can give me would be greatly appreciated.

– New and lost

Dear N&L …

I’d be both uncomfortable and unqualified in discussing your female colleague’s attempts to be “all things to all men” (I’m sure it’s more innocent than it sounds), but for your other challenge, I see only one possible way of digging your way out of the pit you were hired into.

You aren’t going to get much of your boss’s time — he’s running so fast on the treadmill that he lacks the ability to put on additional speed and disembark. Instead, you have to offer the solution.

What might work is to forcefully suggest that you and he meet for coffee every morning before work, thus giving you privacy. All you need is 15 minutes, which the two of you will use to plan, get on the same page, and over time help you reach a position where you can finish his sentences for him and otherwise act as his surrogate.

Assuming he agrees, it will be up to you to drive each morning meeting to maximum advantage, making them crisp, as well as of clear and obvious value. In each one, make sure you cover both actionable items (what’s on your plate today that I can handle for you) and conceptual ones (what do you understand that I need to understand the same way).

If you’re able to make this work, I suspect that within a month, the two of you’ll both be a lot more comfortable about your working relationship. In addition, you’ll feel productive rather than lost at sea.

– Bob

This story, “It takes two to get up to speed at a new job,” was originally published at InfoWorld.com. Read more of Bob Lewis’s Advice Line blog on InfoWorld.com. For the latest business technology news, follow InfoWorld.com on Twitter.