Time is Money

Business Basics - Save Time, Make Money

Ted from Texas writes … Hey Ravi I just hired an assistant to help me get my things done and I am still bogged down in.  The assistant is great they get there work done that I ask them to do, and then their right back to me asking me to give them there next task.  I feel I’m so busy guiding my assistant that that I can’t get to my task that are piling up.  The whole reason I got an assistant was so I could lighten the load on my desk. I can’t afford to hire another assistant so what do you suggest I do?

Ted, you’re not alone.  This is an all to common problem.  Being a businessman was nicknamed a busy man, if you’re not careful you easily fall into the category that the name implies, a “busy” man.

I see a couple of potential problematic situations going on here as well as some easy solutions.

1^st I think you would benefit in looking at your things to do list in this format as discussed by Stephen Covey in Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. Mr. Covey shows how a basic things to do list is basically useless in showing you your high output tasks.  Instead of a things to do list, try taking a sheet of paper and folding it into quarter. Now label each of the 4 quarters with one of the following definitions:

1)     Urgent & Important

2)     Urgent, but not Important

3)     Important, but not Urgent

4)     Not Urgent & Not Important

Now take that list of to-dos you have and fill them in under their proper labels.

You’ll find the items in category:

#1 Urgent & Important = fires, these need your NOW attention

#2 Urgent, but not Important = trash, throw this away, if it’s not important, who cares how urgent it is.

# 3 Important, but not Urgent = Opportunities, This is an important category to be working in once the fires of category #1 are completed.

# 4 Not Urgent & Not Important = Throw these task away, of use these for entertainment like a social obligation … if category #1 & #3 are in good standing.

2^nd, I think you should consider your processes that are currently in place.  Every process needs to be systematic.  Your business needs to be a melody of systems. Systems of systems even. Everything should have a systematic flow path that is not personality or mood driven, but system driven. You need a clear start and finish for each process or system.

3^rd, regarding your assistant.  It seems to me that she is handling projects as individual task and not as a flow of work on a path like a conveyor belt.  That may be why everything keeps ending up on your desk. You need to make this beginning to end work flow known to each remember of your team. If your assistant(s) are aware of the entire process of the task from beginning to end, you will find that they are more than willing to complete the work but just not able to complete the next step without you.  Your job is to write a procedure book for every process.  Don not make these items people driven.  Use generic names like the application taker writes the order. Then the data entry department inputs the order form. Next the assembly line workers fill the order. Shipping is then notified and ships the order to customer.  These are just a few simple generic task, but you get the idea, now personalize it for your business. It would even be better to list the items in a numerical chronological order such as:

1)     The application taker writes the order.

2)     Then the data entry department into the company tracking software inputs the order form.

3)     Next the assembly line workers fill the order.

4)     Then update the company tracking software

5)     Next Shipping prepares the order for UPS

6)     Then updates the company tracking software

7)     UPS picks up the order from the shipping department.

8)     Next shipping clerk updates the company tracking software.

By list each and every little micro detail that your company does to be in business; you can then have a workflow for employees (and yourself) to push the work through.  In your case a key point here is to not make yourself in many points of the process. As a business owner, you will most likely be the source of the bottleneck, as the work will pile up on your desk, as it has been.  Put your employees in as many spots as possible as a zone (or department) type of game plan. Your job is to make sure the system is running optimally and to make smart hiring choices to support the system.  You need to be working “ON” your business, not just “IN” your business.

Keep going back to the basics for success.  Two good rules to follow:

1)     Any new task needs to fit into 1 of the labels on the quadrant version of the to-do-list.

2)     Any task worth taking on, needs to be done in a systematic way.