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Show the LOVE: Set You and Your Support Staff Up for Success
Do you have an amazing administrative assistant? Can you throw tasks
his/her direction and know without a doubt that he/she is on top of it and will
handle it? Do you ever take a moment to look back after you have walked
away to see the look of frustration on his/her face?
Come on now! How many times have you waited until the last minute to address a
pressing concern and thrown your assistant’s day into a tail spin due to your
lack of effective time management? Here are a handful of helpful tips that can
not only ensure you don’t get sucked into the “Last Minute” trap but also keep
your assistant from wanting to fire you:
-
Month at a glance – take one planning meeting a month to review all major deadlines
for the upcoming month.
So often the only reason why something gets pushed to the last minute and
ultimately handed off is because the support team does not have visibility into
the need far enough in advance. By providing early visibility you are able to
take advantage of early delegation.
-
Start your week out right – have a brief “prepare for the week” meeting
where you go over your major deadlines for the week.
Not only will this help you get organized for the week but it will help your
assistant know what areas they may be able to help you with BEFORE the day the
project is due.
-
Prioritize! Do NOT come back to your assistant and say “why didn’t you
get this done yet” when you and I both know that there are several times that
you have required a shift in prioritization due to your lack of planning. Poor planning on your part should not create an emergency on their part or
reprimand from the person they work so hard to keep happy.
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SHOW YOUR APPRECIATION! You can never SAY THANK YOU enough!
We all know we would not be where we are were it not for the amazing people we
have supporting us. Show them! They will be far less likely to curse
you when you walk away if you let them know how important they are to you!
Keep your workflow flowing fast by practicing open PROactive communication!
A Message from Your Workflow Analyst - Tasha Hepburn