Is my secretary rude or does she just not know any better?

You ARE the boss. Be pleasant but firm. She is clearly overstepping her boundaries. If you let it go (and I agree; these confrontations are very hard) it will only become more difficult. It is not condescending to have guidelines on the job. And are you comfortable w. her having free access when you are not around. Might she snoop?

she needs to learn that you need privacy

Ask her to always knock or she loses the key.

Some just don’t know any better.

Smile as you say: “Can you please knock, thanks.”

If you two are comfortable with each other then tell her you are going to break all her pencils or body slam her next time she fails to knock.

If you don’t want to be direct, tell her a story about a friend who had a horrible coworker that never knocked. Better yet tell the story in front of her to someone else in the office. Perhaps she will get the hint.

just ask her nicely to please always knock in case you are working on some project and don’t want to be disturbed.

only give her the key when you are not there. She will get the point.

ask and you shall receive….

Frankly, I think it’s equally rude that you lock your door while you’re there.

If I were you, I would tell her that you you intend not to lock it anymore while you’re there, but if the door is closed, instruct her to knock before entering.

If you want your secretary to be as efficient as possible then you need to create the sense that you’re a team, and locking your door while you’re in it is hardly a step in that direction.

I agree with @ deezer. I think it is really weird that you lock yourself IN your office while you’re working. Do you work @ some top secret facility?? What does locking yourself in do for you.

She is probably neither rude nor clueless & is simply trying to do her job as efficiently & unobtrusively as possible. Did you stop & think that your making it hard for her to get her work done if what she needs is in your office & you’ve locked the door?? Did you stop and consider that maybe she is just trying to get her work done without disturbing??

If she has been a good employee up to this point, why would you assume that her actions are either rude or clueless? Let her know what your expectations are and move on.