Up Close and Personal in

UP CLOSE &

PERSONAL In the Field

Sara Smith

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Welcome to Up Close and Personal – In the Field, a regular column in New Hampshire Town and City dedicated to giving readers a closer look at staff from New Hampshire municipalities and other political subdivisions. In this issue, we hope you enjoy meeting Sara Smith, Administrative Assistant in the Town of Groton.

TC: What are your duties and responsibilities as Administrative Assistant?

SS: I have been the Administrative Assistant for the Town since August 2014. As the Administrative Assistant I have a wide variety of duties and responsibilities which all involve providing administrative support for all departments and the Town as a whole, assisting the Select Board in coordinating a wide variety of general administrative functions and assisting with the daily operations of the Town as assigned and directed by the Board. I coordinate the daily administrative functions of the Select Board’s office and act as agent for the Select Board.

TC: What is your biggest challenge in performing your duties?

SS: The biggest challenge in performing the job duties is working in a small town with a small budget. There are many things that need to be done in Town, but the Townspeople vote on the budget and they might not see it as big of a need as it is so they may vote something down that the Town is in dire need of. Also, a lot of people are not open to the idea of change or have been in Town for a longtime, so they prefer things the way they have always been. This is great is some cases but in others can be a challenge to show them why something may be needed.

TC: How has NHMA helped you to do your job?

SS: NHMA has been extremely helpful by providing many different training opportunities that relate to my job duties. More importantly, they are always willing to help by answering emails or phone calls when we have a situation that we need guidance on.

TC: Give us an example of a problem you solved or a dilemma you faced and overcame in the line of duty?

SS: The Town of Groton has been faced with a few storms which led to flooding in Town over the last few years. This added to the already large workload I had being one person doing my job. This added meetings with FEMA and HSEM, A LOT of paperwork to explain the damages caused and money needed to fix the damages, this took a lot of time away from other things I could have been working on. These unexpected events add a lot of stress to the job. The first storm was a learning experience, but I just tried to stay calm, use the resources available to me and do the best I could. Even if each storm gets worse, or the damages are worse, I now know what is expected of me and use my experiences from the past events to help me know how to handle other events and other stressful situations.

TC: What lessons about human nature have you learned in your role?

SS: I have learned that you never know what someone is going through in their personal life that may cause them to call you or come in extremely upset about something that may not seem like a big deal to you. You have to handle each situation as it arises and really listen to them to understand why they are so upset. Everyone handles things differently. A smile can go a long way and as my Dad who recently passed away always said “Don’t just smile but make someone else smile!”

TC: What advice would you give someone who would like to follow in your footsteps into this job?

SS: With this job, you never know what you will walk into each day or what you will be faced with. You have to be flexible, change tasks often, know how to prioritize and go with the flow. Be open to new things. DO NOT take the job personal. Be flexible and EMBRACE CHANGE!!