Keeping Track of Your Assistant

Keeping Track of Your Assistant's Work

Assistants are invaluable to small business owners.  They handle administrative and other tasks that we don't have the time or patience to handle.  They allow us to concentrate on making our businesses more profitable and doing what we love to do.

When working with assistants, it is important to keep tabs on the work they are doing.  It helps us ensure that everything is taken care of.  It eliminates confusion about pay.  And it helps us determine when our assistants need to be rewarded for a job well done.

Each business owner has his own way of keeping track of the work of assistants.  There is no right or wrong way, as long as it works for the business.  Here are some pointers on how you can effectively manage your assistant's work.

* To Do lists are beneficial to both you and your assistant.  You could provide her with a list each week or each day, and keep a copy for reference.  Then when she completes a task, you can check it off of your list.

* If you're working with a virtual assistant, email can help you keep tabs on her work.  Creating folders and setting your email program up to file project-related messages accordingly makes it quick and easy to review communications about your assistant's work.  This may not be the best way to keep official tabs on work, but it provides you with something to refer to in case there is any question.

* There are software solutions that can be of great assistance in project management.  Some are based online, while others are in the form of software to be installed on your computer.  These programs make it a cinch to assign and communicate about many types of work.  Many of them even provide integrated file sharing that assistants can use to turn in completed work.

No matter how you choose to manage your assistant's work, it's a good idea to make notes once the project is completed.  Was the project completed ahead of or behind schedule?  Was there anything you would have liked to have seen done differently?  Did your assistant go above and beyond the call of duty?  This information can help you recognize any problems or miscommunications and improve the way you handle things on your end.

When keeping up with your assistant's work, simplicity is a good thing.  If you spend more time tracking the work she has or hasn't finished than you save by having her do it, you would be better off to do it yourself.  But with the help of technology, we can keep detailed records of an assistant's work without putting a lot of time and effort into it.