Conference 7.286::digital

If you suspect/know that to be the case, you can always call him/her directly.
The worse that can happen is that the secretary will tell you s/he's "in
conference" at which time you can request a return phone call.

With the emphasis in this company on "doing the right thing" and the "open
door policy", you should at least get a callback.   If not, there's always
Ken's hotline.

Bob

    The higher the manager the bigger the inbox.  Sending a memo to
    a high level manager more appropriately is the equivalent of sending
    a personal message to someone in a newspaper in the classified ads.
    
    An important message goes into a sealed white envelope with the
    instructions: "open by addressee only"
    
    By the way, don't tell everyone about this, or everyone will send
    their junk mail that way...

    Things may have changed since the time 8 years ago when I sent a
    memo to KO. I got a reply back from him and an other from the VP
    he passed it on to. Are middle managers less responsive then that?
    I imagine to it depends on what's in the memo as well as who the
    manager is (what he/she is like).
    
    			Alfred

Something to be said for a corporate CEO like KO who still lists his
number in the internal directory!

I wouldn't call it without a damn good reason, but its nice to see that 
its there if I need it.

>    Something to be said for a corporate CEO like KO who still lists his
>    number in the internal directory!
    
    Do you think it rings in his office?  I doubt it.  Do you know of
    CEOs of other companies that don't list a number in their internal
    directories?  It seems unlikely.
    							Larry

    Actually, when Ken's secretary is not in (before hours in the morning,
    for example) the Ken will answer his own phone. During normal hours,
    of course, his secretary screens the calls so that he can meet with
    people with a minimum of interruptions.

I work on a residency for GE... You won't find Jack Welches number listed 
anywhere, thats a fact!  

    If it is that important, why don't you go pound on his/her door.
    
    What about Email ? Surely that goes directly into the account of
    the individual you wish to communicate with. Mind you it doesn't
    mean he/she will read it. But that is another problem.
                        
    I think this one has been flogged enough.

    
    Most upper level managers (at least here in the field) have their
    secretaries screen their Email as well. Many of them use their accounts
    on the weekends and evenings but during working hours when their
    account is in use it's just as likely to be their secretary then
    the manager themselve.
    
    -Ray
    

    And it's not just upper level managers.
    
    Having hopped in ALL-IN-1 and fired off a memo to my boss complaining
    of a situation in, shall we say, non-subtle terms, I was suprised
    to have my unit secty make the comment of "Such language!". That's
    how I found out that my UM's secty reads his ALL-IN-1 mail.
    
    My UM and I have agreed that sensitive information will be exchanged
    via VMS MAIL.
    
    So the moral of the story is, don't assume that someone reads their
    mail unless you ask them. You sometimes get unintended audiences.
    
    Jim
    

Having hopped in ALL-IN-1 and fired off a memo to my boss complaining
of a situation in, shall we say, non-subtle terms, I was suprised
to have my unit secty make the comment of "Such language!". That's
how I found out that my UM's secty reads his ALL-IN-1 mail.
    Your comments struck a painful chord with me.  I did a
    similar thing.  In context my comments were quit reasonable
    and accurate.  About two months later, a higher level manager
    confronted me with a copy of the message -- which he claimed
    he was going to use to ruin my career at Digital.  Fortunately
    I no longer work for that pr*(k.

    So, I guess my comments are just a warning: when things are
    taken out of context they may reflect badly on you.  And,
    it's very easy for someone who is out to screw you to take
    mail messages out of context.

	re .11:

	Your former managers' behavior seems un-American, or at least
	un-DEC, doesn't it?  Tsk tsk.  Where did they _ever_ learn to
	behave like that?

	One wonders what American businees schools are teaching our
	citizens these days.  Have they stopped teaching that
	friendliness is the best way?

	Regards, Robert.

    re .12
    
    How do you know that the manager went to a business school?  Maybe
    he went to an engineering or liberal arts school.  I object to the
    stereotype of business school grads that you present.  Most MBA
    students are adults when they begin the program, with all of their
    moral, ethical, behavioral patterns pretty well developed.  Business
    schools cannot change a sow's ear into a silk purse.
    
    Bob

    Are you say Business Grads are "sows ears" whilst engineering grads
    are "silk purses"? Hmmm... is that why I find Digital to be an ethical
    company - lot's of techo's; not too many bean-counters. I knew I
    liked the culture fo some reason

    re .14
    
    I guess reading isn't your strong suit.  I'll try to make it simpler.
    A jerk that goes to business school, engineering school, or liberal
    arts school will still be a jerk when they graduate.  I've known
    many business grads and engineering grads.  I haven't noticed any
    significant difference in the percentage of jerks that make up both
    groups.

Re: Business vs Engineering

"And though it's been said, many times, many ways...."


TAKE IT TO SOAPBOX! 

8^)

	Re .12 (and maybe .11):

	Employing irony or whimsy in a memo to managers will probably
	diffuse its import.

	Incidentally, to aid comprehension, I wished to insert here
	a definition of "irony", but it's not in DEC's Electronic
	Thesaurus.  "Whimsy" is, however.  ... from which we draw
	a lesson?

	Anyhow, the imaginative thrashing we enjoy in these Notes
	would sail past the typical memo reader, who requires simple,
	direct statements devoid of ambiguity and tangentialism  --
	for legal and time reasons, not intellectual, of course...

	Regards, R.

>	a definition of "irony", but it's not in DEC's Electronic
>	Thesaurus.  "Whimsy" is, however.  ... from which we draw

Not to change the subject, but...I'd never heard of an electronic
Thesaurus.  How does one access this information?

Betty

    WPS-PLUS has a thesaurus as part of its spelling-checker.

    Back to the original question -- I'm an Exec. Secretary.  In most jobs
    I've had at DEC, I have been responsible for screening all my manager's
    mail.  From my perspective, I guess the best hint for you would
    be to specifically state what you need from my manager; i.e., get
    to the point of the memo in the beginning so I can easily determine
    whether it has to go into his "Action", "Important", or "FYI" folder,
    or whether I have to rush it to him wherever he is!

    It's been my experience that people put action items at the very
    end of the memo or in the middle of a paragraph somewhere, which
    makes my job of getting important things to him much more difficult.
    I'm not a mind-reader, so I need something, other than subtle
    between-the-lines innuendo, to help me understand the specific
    importance of a memo.
     
    Another tip is to put a post-it-pad on the memo, addressed to the
    secretary, indicating that "your manager will need this for a Friday
    meeting", or "Please bring this to his attention", or some such
    thing.  As I said, sometimes the importance of the memo is not made
    clear by the content, so it is up to the memo's author to make his/her
    intentions/needs clear.
    
    If it makes you feel any better, OUR job isn't that easy, either!
    If a secretary has a manager who says "Only give me the stuff I
    NEED to see", that puts her in the bind of determining what can
    slip and what can't.  That isn't always easy.  Unfortunately, though,
    it is quite common.  I understand it 'cause many middle-level managers
    are getting mail from both ends, subordinates and superiors.  When
    the mail flow runs into a hundred or so messages a day (VAXmail,
    DECmail, All-in-1 mail AND hardcopy), it gets pretty difficult for
    the manager to see EVERYTHING. 
    
    Hope this adds a little bit of our perspective!
    

re .20:

A manager getting 100 memos a day should be addressing the volume of memos 
received as 1st priority! It would indicate to me a major problem which was 
taking peoples time and company resources.

Dave.

>>A manager getting 100 memos a day should be addressing the volume of memos 
>>received as 1st priority! 
    
    Well, I'm a manager. I get 30-50 electronic messages a day. Then I
    get a comparable amount of paper mail at work. And several business
    related magazines at home per week. And 300-500 unread NOTEs per week.
    
    This is just about the right level of input. I do a lot of scanning. I
    do sort my mail almost every day (except when I am away). Frequently
    my secretary helps sort/screen the material, especially during heavy
    load times.
    
    There is nothing wrong with this level of communications. After all,
    one of the major jobs of a manager is communication--up, down, and
    sideways.

re .22:

Your ability to manage large amounts of information and communicate it is 
good news for Digital. What I am not sure about is which is the exception 
to the rule, managers like yourself or the manager who never answers mail
because of the volumes received. In my experience, large volumes of mail 
are generated by problems such as lack of delegation, failure to establish 
correct communication paths etc.. That's why I'd make it my no. 1 priority.

Dave.

    From the days when electronic mail was a paper tape punched on Model 33
    Teletype (tm) in preparation for transmission to some computer
    somewhere with codes like ".MAR" for Middle Atlatic Region for
    forewarding, to today's state of the art office automation system,
    ALL-IN-1 (tm), memos conclude with "REGARDS" or "HOPE THIS HELPS".
    
    What are the origins of these phrases?  Did I miss the orientation
    meeting where this was laid down as a rule.  Or is it just a quirky
    tradition that we here at Digital DO in ignorance of its historical
    source.
    
    And THANK YOU FOR YOUR PROMPT ACTION IN THIS MATTER.

    
    Before my wife joined the company she used to raze me constantly
    about signing all my memos with REGARDS. I couldn't even tell when
    or where I picked that up but I do it without even thinging anymore,
    as does my wife NOW!
    
    Regards,
    Ray
    

    In re `regards' and other sign-offs, see Visa::JoyOfLex topic 484.
    
    Best regards

    
    
    The bottom line answer to the original question is that you have
    to be sensitive enough to the intended receiver of the message to
    know the best way to get the message to them.  The technique will
    have to take into account:                                 
                                                               
    0	The preferred way the receiver likes to receive and return messages
    	i.e. phone, in person, ALLIN1, VAXmail, morning, afternoon,
    	pagers, car phones, at home, etc.
                                                                 
    0	How these ways change with the workload of the receiver  
                                                                 
    0	Perhaps the receiver needs to be "barraged" with several different
    	attempts/types of messages
    
    I love to communicate via E-mail.  It allows me to avoid telephone
    tag.  It allows to me to think through my message and edit it again
    and again taking into account how the reader will interpret it,
    etc.
    
    On important messages, I've been known to print a copy out and get
    my wife's opinion before sending it; as I trust her judgement very
    much.
    
    However, others prefer face-to-face communication.  So you do
    whatever's right.
    
    I've also ran into the problem with sec'ys screening E-mail. I simply
    ask the intended receiver whether his/her sec'y reads their mail
    before I take the risk of sending something sensitive.      
                                         
    Common sense.
    
    JO'R