You Can’t Do It Alone: ​​5 Tips to Get the Most Out of Your Assistant – Virtual or Not!

You didn’t go into business to run your business, that’s what an assistant is for! This article covers five tips to help you get the most out of a virtual, digital, or in-house assistant.

1. Think of your assistant as your partner in the day-to-day running of your business. Instill responsibility and expect nothing less than absolute professionalism (in all its forms) from anyone who represents you and your company.

2. Evaluate your strengths and delegate the rest. Tasks ripe for delegation include those items that routinely back up or fall behind schedule: filing, invoicing, and sending a follow-up letter to contacts are perfect examples.

3. Document your processes. Simply put, until you know what it does, you can’t give it to someone else. Start with a simple list of what you do every time you come across a repetitive task. For example, when a client hires you: add information to client management and billing software, deposit a check, open a physical file, send a “welcome” letter, add dates to your calendar, etc.

4. Get things out of your head. I read somewhere that speaking is seven times faster than writing and four times faster than typing. Use your Treo®, Blackberry® or digital recorder to free your mind from all the annoying little details as they come to mind throughout the day. At the end of the day, send the recorded file to your assistant for transcription and/or data processing as appropriate.

5. Communicate, communicate, communicate. I cannot stress this enough! Until your assistant works with you long enough to anticipate your needs, you’ll need to articulate them. But remember, communication is much more than just talking. In addition to telling your assistant what to do, you should listen, stay calm, and provide constructive feedback. The goal should be to improve the process or educate the attendee, not to criticize or vent.