Filtering data and information is part of your job.
You need to determine what your manager needs to see and know and what is unimportant. For example, you do not need to pass along a sales catalogue. In order to know what information is important, you need to understand your manager’s interests, goals, who are essential to projects, and the names of family members. When determining whether or not to pass along information, you need to ask a few qualifying questions. The exact qualifying questions you ask will depend on your company and your manager, but you can begin with some general questions.
Examples:
- Is this important?
- Is the manager the only one to handle this?
- Is it relevant to goals?
- Can I address this myself?
- Is the source reliable?
After you determine what needs to be seen and what does not, your manager will not have to wade through useless information or distracting requests.