As your business and success grow, you’ll inevitably become overwhelmed with all of the work required to keep it going. You’ll try to prioritize tasks and give more complex and urgent tasks precedence over the more mundane. Ignoring essential tasks can be detrimental, as sometimes the small things are vital for the more important things to run smoothly.
While the simpler tasks are essential, you don’t want to let them take up the limited time you have available to complete the critical functions needed to grow your business. Many times, the best solution is hiring a personal assistant to handle your administrative tasks for you.
The most critical element is finding a personal assistant that is a good fit for you. Assistants don’t simply complete administrative tasks. A great personal assistant is an extension of you and will be working toward the same goals you have set for yourself. Having an assistant allows you to get more done in your business and life to free up some of your time and add to your success.
The investment you make to hire a personal assistant is on average between $45,000 – $150,000+ a year, but since they can help you become more successful, it’s a great business decision and investment.
Figure Out Your Needs
There are personal assistants for every area of your life so figuring out your exact needs for a personal assistant before hiring one is key. Identify the places that need the most help by examining both what you don’t enjoy and what you have less skill at doing.
Simple yet time-consuming tasks are great choices to have your personal assistant handle for you. Sitting down and making a long list of all of your responsibilities and duties so that you are clear of the tasks on your daily to-do list is a great first start.
Then you could decide which tasks you would want an assistant to tackle for you.
Define the Ideal Fit
Your assistant should be competent and fit your work style and preferences.
Do you find it more efficient to receive multiple updates in the same email, or would you prefer getting only one update per email? Do you like hearing about all the details of a project or only ones that you should know about or need to do something for?
You won’t be as informed in your search for the right fit if you don’t ask yourself these questions and list your exact wants and needs.
It’s also a good idea to define the personality that you operate best with. For example, do you get along most with energetic and enthusiastic people or the calmer, quieter type?
You will be working closely with this individual, so finding one that matches your personality and you could easily spend a lot of time with will foster a more successful long-term business relationship.
Finding the Right Personal Assistant
Throughout your search for a personal assistant, you will probably receive several applications for the position. Many may not come close to meeting your qualifications, while others will be exceptional.
It is imperative to take your time to find the right candidate and not hire the first qualified applicant. Your personal assistant can either make your life much easier, save you time, and add to your success or create a ton of mistakes and big headaches down the road.
To find a personal assistant, you could post an ad on one of the many employment websites for job listings. The applications will be sent directly to you to sift through, review, and schedule, and conduct interviews. You also want to be sure to complete thorough background screenings and check references.
Remember, your personal assistant will have access to many of your most sensitive information and be responsible for some of your business’s most important functions.
An alternative to you handling the search to find a personal assistant is having a professional staffing agency complete the process for you. A staffing agency will quickly match you with skilled candidates that fit your exact needs saving you time and stress.
Pocketbook Agency is a staffing firm that will complete the searching process for you by sorting through a network of job seekers, conducting interviews, and presenting you with qualified and experienced candidates that meet your needs and fit your culture.
Background screenings and reference checks will be completed for you as well. Having the search to find the right candidate handled for you will save you time and money and get the position filled faster and possibly with a more qualified individual than if you did it all on your own.
When you interview a candidate, you should gauge their ability to take the initiative and think under pressure to ensure they can take charge of situations and effectively handle the tasks.
Also, pay attention to their attitude, energy, and how they would fit within your organization. Hiring one you get along with and who works well with your culture may be more important than one with the best skillset overall.
How Your Personal Assistant Could Help You
Your personal assistant will free up your time by completing many of your time-consuming duties so that you could spend maximum time on strategic tasks that would directly add to your success.
An assistant will help keep you on schedule to ensure deadlines are met and daily responsibilities are completed. With the additional time, you will have a more positive work-life balance that alleviates stress and increases your productivity. A personal assistant is a great investment if you are looking to decrease your workload while increasing your success.
Responsibilities typically include:
Managing your schedule, including booking and rescheduling appointments and meetings
Acting as the first point of contact, or gatekeeper, to decide who should get through to you and what they could handle on your behalf
Conducting research, preparing reports and presentations, typing, editing
Booking travel and transportation, and planning agendas
Filing and sorting
Manage emails
Shopping for business essentials and personal
Special projects that support organization and production
If you have children, helping with transporting from school and activities
Personal tasks like running errands, picking up dry cleaning or meals
These are just some of the typical duties of a personal assistant. Duties will vary based on your business and individual needs. Your assistant should know upfront the common duties that will be expected of them.
Invest Time In Training
Spending the right amount of time training your new assistant on the job responsibilities, duties, and requests will help foster a great long-term business relationship with them. Ensure you give your assistant all the tools and instructions needed to do excellent work. Setting them up for success from the start will help you get the most out of your assistant.
You should make a list of your requests, likes, when and how you want to be updated, and even when they should come to you with a problem. Also, since your personal assistant will sometimes act as your gatekeeper, they should know who you want to get through to you and how to handle calls you don’t want to take.
The more data you provide them, the less time you will spend later answering questions or helping solve problems.
Summary
Hiring a personal assistant to help you with your day-to-day responsibilities is an excellent way to save you time and ensure your day runs smoothly. They will be your go-to person to handle the tedious and mundane tasks so you can focus on more critical tasks that you specialize in and that directly add to your success.
Finding the right personal assistant is key to success in the role. The assistant should not only be an excellent problem solver, a self-starter, and have great organizational skills. They should also be someone that fits well with your personality. You will be working so closely with this individual daily, so you must get along with them.
An experienced and reputable staffing agency knows what to look out for when matching an employer with a job seeker. The agency will handle the time-consuming and complex process of searching for the perfect fit for your position. You will only have to interview the top qualified candidates to choose which one you feel would best fit your needs.
Are you ready to find an exceptional personal assistant to help you save time and increase efficiency? Contact Pocketbook Agency to get started today!
Sources:
Personal Organizer Software | Life Organized
Work–Life Balance: Weighing the Importance of Work–Family and Work–Health Balance | NIH.gov