My husband and I have a small personal business and we want to add our secretary on as a "second signature" to the checking account so that she is able to sign off on checks, etc. when we are unavailable. My question is, do we have to set a time when she must go personally to the bank to confirm a signature or can she use the one she has on file at the same bank for her own personal account?

Likely your bank will want her and an account owner to visit the bank. She can then sign on the account signature card as an authorized signer. Some banks may operate differently, so you may want to call first.