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\nSummary.<\/b> A gatekeeper\u2019s role is to control access to a particular service, product, or important person. That means that someone in the role of an executive assistant or secretary often ends up largely functioning as a gatekeeper. Those aren\u2019t the only professions that involve gatekeeping as an important aspect.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n
Gatekeepers serve an important purpose in business settings, as they control scheduling, the flow of information and help assure quality. They are also usually the first person that someone enters your business sees, meaning that they also have an important customer service role.<\/p>\n
Key Takeaways:<\/b><\/p>\n
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Gatekeepers control access to products, services, or important personnel.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
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Their role allows business executives to maintain their schedule<\/a>, make judicious use of their time, and prevent them from meeting someone who could reflect poorly on the company.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
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Having a gatekeeper can also help assure quality, as they\u2019ll dismiss products or services that aren’t up to the company\u2019s standards, as well as help to streamline access.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
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Gatekeeping organizations can also ensure that unqualified people don\u2019t end up getting to call themselves a member of the profession. These include roles like doctors, electricians, and other highly skilled professions.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
What Is a Gatekeeper?<\/h2>\n
A gatekeeper is defined as \u201cone who tends or guards a gate,\u201d but it is much more often used in its metaphorical meaning of \u201ca person who controls access.\u201d In the business sense, it\u2019s definitely referring to the latter.<\/p>\n
Gatekeepers are the ones who control access to services, money, or important personnel. The sort of gatekeeper most everyone has run into is going to be a receptionist<\/a> or an executive assistant. They have the ability to let you see important people in the business or to turn you away.<\/p>\n
Editors can also act as gatekeepers in terms of what they choose to print. This can apply both in journalism, where they decide what news and information to share with their readership and in fiction or essay writing, where an editor decides whose submission will be published.<\/p>\n
Roles of a Gatekeeper<\/h2>\n
While the majority of people have to deal with gatekeepers from the side of being disallowed access, where they may seem capricious or even tyrannical, gatekeepers serve an essential role. Preventing just anyone or any idea access has the benefits of the following:<\/p>\n
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Staying on schedule.<\/b> Having meeting times and a schedule can be essential in a higher management<\/a> role. They\u2019re dealing with issues from the upper echelon, which means that they have to meet with many different people and departments and deal with many different ideas and suggestions.<\/p>\n
If people were allowed to just walk into the office at any time, it would disrupt the secluded way that business operates. Of course, it\u2019s possible to be too strict with access, and different executives will have different directives for their assistants, but the principles stay the same.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
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Streamlining access.<\/b> Counterintuitively, limiting who can see someone and when will end up being more efficient. You won\u2019t have people showing up at the same time, or less important meetings<\/a> secluded before the ones making major decisions.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
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Preserving time.<\/b> Time is a very valuable resource. The gatekeeper fends off unimportant or lower-quality ideas and suggestions so that the higher-level management doesn\u2019t have to take the time to look over them just to say no.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
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Assuring quality.<\/b> This applies in the case of ideas, writing, or other submissions. The gatekeeper can drop suggestions and submissions that don\u2019t meet the level of quality for the publication, business, or organization, therefore limiting the ones that get serious consideration to the ones of the highest quality.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
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Protecting important personnel.<\/b> While this is rare in the literal sense of protecting someone from harm, it can help to protect the reputations<\/a> of management and businesses. In the case of an upper executive or politician, they likely don\u2019t know everyone that they\u2019re going to meet \u2013 they simply meet too many people.<\/p>\n
Due to that, it\u2019s up to the gatekeeper to vet who ends up getting access to them, especially if it involves photo opportunities or exposure. In that way, their reputation is protected, and it limits exposure that undeserving parties get.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Types of Gatekeepers<\/h2>\n