July 16 Assignment - Inbox Exercise

Madisonville Public Library

Item 1 - This item has very high priority. I would deal with it as one of the first things. Since the president of the company is threatening to take legal action, I would call him myself, apologize, and have Sheila send payment immediately.

Item 2 - Since this particular item is time-sensitive, I would deal with it as not the absolute first, but one of the first things. I'd email Leon back and ask him to have flowers delivered to Sheila. I'm not sure why he can't take this initiative himself without checking with me, though.

Item 3 - Unfortunately, I did not get this message until too late, so it's become less of a priority. Later on in the day, once I'd dealt with the more important issues, I'd check with Marie to see if the exhibit had been set up (and if it hadn't, I would ask her why not, since it was supposed to have been done a week ago).

Item 4 - This one is less of a priority as well, though Brenda emailed me awhile ago. I'd make sure to email her back later in the day to set up a meeting time for later in the week, just so she knew that I wasn't ignoring her request.

Item 5 - If I didn't know that Jan had listed me, I would go talk to him and ask why I hadn't heard anything about this. This would be another item for further down in the priority list, but assuming I'm satisfied with him as an employee I would write a letter of support to the bank. I would not, however, offer to cosign or guarantee.

Item 6 - This would be an item to deal with later in the day as well, around the same time as Brenda's issue. I'd deal with it the same way - email him to set up an in-person meeting to discuss his dissatisfaction.

Item 7 - Again, this is lower priority. I'd ask Leon if he was aware of this problem, and then ask Sheila to call Personnel and find out the details.

Item 8 - This one is very important, because the Mayor helps to fund my library and I want to make him happy. I will call him very early in the day.

Item 9 - This is a welcome letter, but not particularly urgent. This would be one of the last things on my list. However, I'd pass the letter along to Kermit with a note of congratulations, and also ask Sheila to draft a letter thanking George for his support.

Item 10 - This is one of the top-priority items, because funding for the library will be extremely welcome. I will write a letter immediately, indicating my acceptance of this gift.

Item 11 - Since the meeting isn't for another month, I can put this one off for a bit. Once I have more time, I'll call John and offer the room (assuming it's available). I seem to be on good and informal terms with John, so that will increase my desire to approve.

Item 12 - This one is about mid-priority, since it was emailed so long ago. I'll email back confirming Leon's employment and recommending him with reservations. He certainly is qualified based on the position he currently holds. However, he doesn't seem to be particularly good at taking initiative, which is not a good trait.

Item 13 - This one goes last on the priority list, if only because L.C. was obviously sending form letters out to every library he/she could think of (it's the wrong name in the greeting). I'll have Sheila write back very impersonally stating that we currently have no positions open.

Item 14 - Assuming this is today, it's a very bad time for Sheila to get her hair cut and I wish she would have told me in advance. I'll ask her if she can put it off for a day because it doesn't sound like she has an appointment. I'll explain that I need a lot of help catching up with my in-box. Thus, this has to be a high priority response.

Item 15 - Since the date they are visiting is coming so soon, I unfortunately am not going to be able to write back in time for them to get the letter before their visit. I'll send an email to all of the staff early this week warning them about the visit and asking them to be well-behaved. Once I get the findings, I can deal with the committee then.

Item 16 - I'll do this later in the day, but I'll email Leon and tell him to call the elementary school library asking them if they're aware of the situation and to work with them directly. I'll also have to have a talk with him sometime about his lack of initiative...it seems like he could have figured this out on his own.