As young professionals we climb the ranks and often find ourselves either as an entrepreneur who has recently acquired an assistant or as a new manager who has never been properly briefed on how to maximize the time and talents of an assistant.

I want to give you a few new ideas when it comes to working with an assistant to also make YOU more effective. The reason this person is there is to make your office more productive and efficient so take the time to try what I’m suggesting here today.

Believe it or not, people do choose the role of an administrative professional as career and they are looking to be challenged. I’ve chosen this career-path because I enjoy the support role and all that I learn from high-level executives. The administrative professional role is exciting and ever changing, which is why I love it!

There are things you can do to ensure that your assistant isn’t at the front desk filing nails or busy with simple drone-like task work that has them disengaged because they are bored out of their mind! Here is an excerpt from the article, Maximizing the Talents and Time of an Assistant for Increased Productivity written by Joan Burge, the CEO and founder of Office Dynamics (the CEO I support!) I think you will appreciate her insight as individual who has worked on both sides of the desk!

It Starts With Perceptions
It begins with changing your thinking about the role if you are still thinking like the ‘70s, ‘80s, or even the ‘90s. The new generation of assistants is eager to learn, ready and willing to jump in and get the job done, long to have a great working relationship with the person they most support, and want to use their talents. They want to be trusted, challenged, and empowered. Even assistants who have been in the field for 25+ years have plans to work for several more years and have aspirations of topping their past performance.

When you change your perceptions of this role, your work life will change. You will be doing more of the things you like to do and were hired to do. Your time will be spent on things that make a difference and impact the company’s bottom line. And you will definitely reduce the stress in your life. A star assistant is worth her or his weight in gold! It’s up to you whether you want to invest in this relationship.
To Do or Not To Do?
I see far too many executives and managers performing tasks and taking on projects that their assistant is quite capable of doing with a little bit of guidance or training. Even with something as small (or as big) as managing their e-mails. Before we explore how to determine what to delegate, let’s look at . . . why you are not delegating certain items.

Some reasons that I hear from executives are:
• I’m a perfectionist and my assistant won’t do as good a job as I would.
• I’ve bad past experiences with other assistants.
• My current assistant has let me down.
• I’m too busy so I don’t even think about delegating.
• I’m too busy to turn it over properly.

These are legitimate reasons and I would agree with some of those same experiences as I’ve had them with past assistants in my office. The bottom line is that as a time-compressed executive you need to let go.

• List 4 innate talents your assistant possesses:

1. ____________________________________________________
2. ____________________________________________________
3. ____________________________________________________
4. ____________________________________________________

• Does my assistant have experience in a particular area that I don’t know about? (This would be experience the assistant has from past jobs or outside work activities.) If your assistant is involved in IAAP (the International Association for Administrative Professionals) and works on a committee or chairs an event, that demonstrates leadership skills.
• What is the long-term time-savings cost? If you take time today to teach your assistant a task or a project, how much time will it save you in the next 12 months and beyond?
Example: It takes you 2 hours to teach your assistant how to do a monthly report but it will save you 2 hours x 12 months = 24 hours. That is the long-term savings. What could you be spending your time on that has a bigger impact than that monthly report?

Some other questions for you to ask yourself are:
1. What areas of responsibility do I currently have that I would most like to see handled by my assistant?
2. What skills does my assistant possess that are being underused?
3. How could I better use my time if I were freed of some of the hands-on managing I do now?

Make Time for Human Moments™
The types of communications you have with your assistant will make or break the relationship and the team’s effectiveness. All day long we communicate using various tools, but mostly e-mail. I’m in offices where assistants and managers are only 10’ away from each other and yet they still e-mail each other rather than get up out of their seat. Often they spend more time e-mailing back and forth than they would have had they just met face-to-face. I want to highly encourage you to make time for Human Moments™. Technology will never replace what you build when you sit with your assistant, have a beverage, and discuss the days' and weeks’ priorities and events.

When I ask assistants what they would most like to see their executives do, increase, or stop doing, their answers usually fall under the umbrella of communications. Here is what 90% of assistants need in regards to communications.
• Precise details about projects, not just hearing “type this.”
• More direction; more guidance
• Open communication
• An understanding of what’s going on (details and big picture); not just what to do, but why.
• To be “in the loop.” E-mail and self-sufficient executives have made it more difficult for assistants to know what is going on. Therefore, they cannot be as effective which ultimately impacts their executive.
Bringing Your Assistant Up To Speed
How can you bring your assistant up to speed on the business so that your assistant can be more involved and make good decisions?
• Make time to explain things rather than just a piece of the project.
• Include the assistant in management’s special meetings; and not just to take notes.
• Invite your assistant to attend staff meetings or business events.
• Expand your one-on-one meetings to be a time of learning.
• Forward periodicals, correspondence, and resources to read that relate to the business.
• Bcc or cc on e-mails.

So, VYPers, I’m sharing this with you because I want you to know that you don’t have to be a C-level executive to learn how to work more effectively. Take these tips and implement them now in your office and see just how much more gets done!

------------------------------------------------------------------
Joan Burge, founder and CEO of Office Dynamics, is one of North America’s foremost authorities on administrative effectiveness and workplace excellence. A renowned speaker and corporate trainer, she’s best known for her Star Achievement Series®--a sophisticated administrative and support staff certificate training program. Additionally, she is the creator of the World Class Assistants certificate training program and the celebrated author of Become an Inner Circle Assistant. Joan has been sharing her unique brand of enthusiasm and insight since founding Office Dynamics in 1990. Contact her at JBurge@OfficeDynamics.com.

Note: The information provided for this article is an excerpt from Joan’s 3-hour workshop exclusively for managers and executives.