Don't you just love it when a plan comes together

Sigh... :)  An old dog beautiful princess has learned a new trick.        *thanks Mariza*
     Old dog Beautiful princess = me.
     New trick = prepare for a committee meeting before THE LAST POSSIBLE MINUTE

Why is life so good today?  Because I've learned my lesson.  It has taken me a long time to learn this lesson, but now it has been learnt.  This time I was assertive.  But, I was assertive in a very non-confrontational way.  You might call me sneaky, or sly, even.  Here's what I did.  This week I set up a small department meeting in the EXACT SAME ROOM the BIG committee meeting was to be held later this same week.  So, to put it succinctly, I set a small meeting up on Wednesday in the room the BIG meeting IS being held TODAY.  And, I asked my boss if he would mind if we did an electronic presentation during the meeting to see how the equipment was working and if he thought anything needed any tweaking before Friday.  He agreed.  Perfect.

As luck would have it, things did not go perfectly and my boss was not so distracted by the politics associated with the BIG meeting to overlook the problems.  And, he noticed the problems.  And, he used HIS authority to request the upgrades and changes that would need to be made to have everything working.  Yippee!!!  And, the people designated to make these changes and upgrades were IN THE ROOM.  This couldn't have gone better for me.  But, wait for it...  it gets better.

When I asked if we could use "something" as a presentation to try out the equipment in this room, I requested the "something" be the presentation needed for the BIG meeting on Friday (today).  And, this sounded like a great idea to my boss.  And, it reminded him to have the presentation ready before Friday.  Awesome!!!.  And, while he was showing the portion of the presentation he had been working on and requesting feedback from my co-workers, I smiled.

Because there is still more.

After he completes this portion and digests the critique and then requests more photographs and charts for the presentation, I ask a question.  I ask if there are any OTHER materials from the agenda he would like included in this presentation.  HOORAY!!!  I asked the question and I asked the question in front of my co-workers.  My boss would have to answer it.

I'm sure some of you may be thinking, "Well, of course he will answer your question.  Why wouldn't he?  If your secretary asks you a question about a presentation needed in two days, wouldn't you answer her?"  In my experience, the answer to what you would be thinking is NO.  He often doesn't answer me.  But, since there was a room full of people with a stake in this answer, he answered the question.  And, I was able to find out what was to be needed for the Friday presentation on Wednesday.  This was a glorious day.  I was so happy.  I was going to be able to do my job properly and without the unneeded stress as in the past.

I'm a Happy Girl.  I'm actually smiling on a Friday afternoon.  I feel like the competent secretary  I am, instead of a frazzled, "I need a drink to wash the taste of this day off me" crazy old lady.  This feels good.  I'm going to do it this way EVERY TIME.  Thanks for letting me share.  Have a great weekend.  I know I will.