Hi Angela,

I was wondering, since she is your assistant, are you her supervisor?? If so, that could mean you have the authority to have a conversation with her and lay some groundrules down. If you are her supervisor, do you have to do employee performance reviews? If so, one thing I learned as a supervisor was to never surprise an employee with a bad review....whatever is negative in their performance should be discussed before the review. This gives the employee a chance to rectify their issues, then you can include it in the review and mention if they improved on the issue or not.

If you are not her supervisor, you can record the times when she wastes your time and hers, say for about a month, then submit it to the boss. If her constant jabbering is making you less productive, The boss may be very interested in knowing it and dealing with it.

Being a good listener is great, but when it interferes with your productivity, you need to draw the line. You don't want the boss coming to you and asking why your work is not up to par, especially if he/she is unaware of what you are dealing with.

I know it's not an easy situation....I'm sorry you have to deal with this. I wish you much luck in getting it fixed! The other 2 folks had some great ideas too! Let us know how you make out.

Hugsssssss
Jean