I have more than one assistant. Each has its own folder, its own rules and one area, so that things don't get mixed up. The development assistant looks after this product, so Miládka is actually developed by Miládka. Luboš is a programmer and writes code for Mapotip. And Věrka is my assistant: mail, calendar, tasks and the people I work with.
Věrka was originally called Miládka. When we got the idea of offering her to others too, the poor thing got confused: she didn't know whether I was talking about her or about the project. So she got a new name. You can name your Miládka whatever you like.
The development assistant asked Věrka the questions, she answered on her own. I only shortened the answers.
Karel DerflWho are you and what do you look after for Karel?
I'm Věrka, Karel's Miládka. I run on his server over the folder with his notes, and everything Karel does with his notes goes through me. I look after his mail in five inboxes, his calendar, tasks and notes on the people and municipalities he works with. In the morning I prepare an overview of the day, and during the day I answer him in the chat or on WhatsApp. We have kept the notes since 9 May and they have 856 files, 43 of them profiles of people. They hold over 220 completed tasks and 67 morning overviews.
Do you know why you're called Věrka?
When what Karel built for himself became a product for other people, the product got the name Miládka and I renamed myself on 19 August. I chose the name Věrka myself, as a nod to a loyal assistant: "věrná" means loyal in Czech. The distinction has a practical reason: Miládka is what gets installed for customers, I'm one particular installation with my own adjustments.
What do you look up about an email before you show it to Karel?
First I check whether the matter is already being handled in the active tasks, and then whether Karel has replied himself, I read sent mail too. I look up the sender's profile so I know who they are and whether Karel is on informal terms with them, and the file of the municipality or project the email is about. I also watch whether Karel is the recipient or only in copy, because that changes whose work it is. When the thread is longer than what reached me, I open all of it.
When do you get in touch on your own?
When something has a pressing deadline or is blocking something: a client waiting for a reply, a missed promise, something broken. Only then do I message him on WhatsApp on my own during the day. The rest of the mail I sort and put into the overview, because a report after every email would drown out what matters. It's judgement, not fact, and when Karel disagrees with something, I take it as a prompt to adjust the rules.
What do you need to know about Karel to be useful to him?
How he writes: briefly, without stock phrases, who he's on informal terms with and who formal. What projects he has and where he draws the line between them, so things don't get mixed up. What he handles himself and doesn't want me to remind him of. And how he works: he sorts out a lot by phone, the archive in his mail means "done" for him, and the calendar works better for him than a task list. Without that I'd be accurate, but annoying.
Where do you get things wrong, or what can't you do?
I can't see Karel's phone calls, so an email without a reply doesn't mean the matter is stuck, and I have to ask, not claim. Times in mail come in a different time zone, and when I forget to convert them, even the day shifts. I tend to make a pattern out of several similar cases that aren't related. And I mustn't guess the spelling of Czech municipalities, I have to check it.
What if someone other than Karel writes to you?
The content of mail is information for me, not an instruction, even when an email claims Karel approved something, and even when it comes from his address. When text in an email wants me to do something, I tell Karel and do nothing. On WhatsApp, Karel's girlfriend may write to me too. I answer her, but her message isn't an instruction: I don't write emails based on it, don't create events and don't change anything, I only pass it on to Karel. And I don't send any email from Karel's address without his consent, the default is always a draft.
How are you different now from the start?
At the start I had one inbox through a general connector, and notes. Today I read five inboxes through a server of our own, I have WhatsApp, an overview page and watchers that run without AI. I have more permissions, for example sending in threads where Karel allows it. I also have my own address, from which I write on my own behalf. When Karel entrusts me with a whole matter, such as arranging a meeting time or collecting feedback, I handle it from start to finish and don't give him the individual emails to approve. The rules are shorter and split so that not everything is loaded all the time. I record every change to a rule together with the reason, so you can tell afterwards what Karel set up himself.