Last week, I offered some advice on how to handle phones, which is a big part of any assistant’s job.
I thought this thoughtful comment from a reader was worth responding to:
1. The reason many people don’t say anything when they answer the phone is due to spam calls. If you get a call from an unknown number and speak first, there’s a good chance the bot on the other end is marking you down in their system as an active number.
2. If a company is worried about whether their assistants say “one moment” or “one minute”, they need to really take a hard look at their priorities. With all due respect, I predict the attention paid to these meaningless little details will soon fade away as older generations retire. As Bob Dylan said, “the times are a changing”.
3. Overall I enjoyed the read. Some great points were raised!
I’ll address the third item first.
Last Things First
Point number 3 wasn’t actually there initially; the reader went back and amended the comment, possibly a little worried that the first two points came across as harsher than intended.
In truth, the comment wasn’t terrible (I’ve received far ruder criticism), but still, the edit demonstrates an admirable level of self-reflection that we can all learn from. Of course, there’s no changing an email or text after they’re sent, so always be careful with your tone before you hit send.
On to the substantive points…
That’s Not How Phones Work
I had actually considered addressing the first point about spam calls, but the article was getting too long, so I cut it. The basic answer is, that’s an urban legend.
It’s like the whole “keep the bad guy talking so we can trace the call” trope.
Picking up the phone is how telemarketers know the line is active. Talking or not talking doesn’t change anything.
Side note: I assume he’s talking about not speaking first when he picks up his personal phone. If he’s talking about the office phone, this is just incorrect. Don’t do that, period. Or, rather, do speak first when you’re answering the office phone.
The Devil is in the Details
It’s true no company will hire or fire you based on whether you say “one moment” or “one minute” specifically.1 Nevertheless, it’s still good advice.
One word choice is slightly better than the other.
Almost none of the advice I (or anyone else) give is strictly determinative. I never offer you one weird trick that guarantees you’ll be hired!!! There are a thousand little things a PA or assistant has to do, and do well, every day. It’s all little details, which eventually add up.
And if you can do them better, that adds up, too. Think of it this way—if you can improve your performance by just 1% every day, you’ll be 365% better by the end of the year.2
Search the TAPA jobs archives for the word “detail,” you’ll get a bajillion hits. Have you ever seen anyone look for an assistant who’s “big picture oriented?” Your boss gets to focus on the big picture, because you handle the little things. They don’t want to have to worry about “meaningless little details,” but that only happens if you take care of them.
And to be perfectly honest, early in your career, you don’t know which details are meaningless or not. It’s something you’ll learn over time.
Career Advice from Jesus
One of the best bits of advice I ever received came after I screwed up a minor detail on some paperwork. The producer asked me if I wanted to be a director.
“Yeah, but what does this have to do with directing?”
“If you can’t get this right, why would anyone trust you with an entire movie?” And then he pointed me to the teachings of an itinerant, first century rabbi—
The person who is trustworthy in very small matters is also trustworthy in great ones; and the person who is dishonest in very small matters is also dishonest in great ones.3
The point is, “pay attention to the little things” is not new advice, and it’s still worthwhile.
The Underlying Problem
There’s one more issue about the comment worth addressing, although it’s not actually written out explicitly.
Notice that the complaints are self-directed. The concern is with inconveniencing the assistant, not the person (potentially) being assisted. Yes, getting spam calls is annoying, but when a potential employer calls, you don’t want your very first interaction to start with awkward confusion.
The cure is worse than the disease. If you’re really that hung up on spam calls, let them go to voicemail.
Yes, the details may be little, which is why they’re your job. But they’ll never go away; someone has to answer the phone, preferably politely. If you dismiss them as meaningless, you’ll be replace by someone (or some AI) that can handle them.
At some point, hopefully, you’ll climb the ladder and be in a position to decide which details to attend to and which to fob off on your assistant. And having passed through that phase in your life, maybe you’ll be polite enough that the next generation won’t simply be praying for your imminent retirement.
Although an individual boss might. Where do you think this came from? I didn’t make it up on my own.
Or 3,778% if the improvement compounds, but you get what I mean.
Thank you for taking the time to reply. I do appreciate your logic here.