You are being pushed on all fronts. Your resources are being stretched to the limit.

Somewhere in between answering calls, returning emails, working in – and on – your business you decide that you (personally) need an assistant.

This was a situation a client of mine was experiencing last week, and they asked me how they should go about hiring someone to help them. I explained to them that getting an assistant is not simply a “today” decision.

It is something that requires some consideration and planning. Here are the steps I suggested they go through:

1: Review your cash flow and make a line entry for the expense of an additional person for at least six hours per week.

2: For four weeks (or six, if you can stand the pressure) do a time audit of what you do each day (including the work you do on weekends).

3: At the end of each day (or if you cannot manage this, then at the end of each week), highlight the tasks that you want to, and can, assign to an assistant. This will assist you in three ways. It will:

a) Help you to define the person you are looking for;

b) Assist you to prepare their job description (including the expected outcomes);

c) Help you to identify the work you will need to instruct this person on “how to do”.

4: Start the search for this person.

It is important that you comply with the legal and taxation issues of hiring a casual/full-time person. If you don’t know what these are, please refer to SCACC – Small Business Field Officers on 5479 6722.

5: When your new assistant starts, make sure you allow enough time in your diary to explain to them exactly what is expected and how to do each of the tasks they will be required to perform. (This is the step I find owner/operators do not plan for in their day and then they and their assistant get extremely frustrated with the results, or lack thereof.)

6: Review your communication. This is another stumbling block for owner/operators engaging an assistant. It is important that you think about how you are going to ask for and/or share information with this person and, more importantly, how you want your assistant to inform you of the outcomes of a request/task.

7: Use feedback to create a great relationship with your assistant. Feedback is a two-way street. You need to give both positive and, when necessary, constructive feedback. Remember to focus on the activity in question and not on personalities. Additionally, invite your assistant (or any employee, for that matter) to give you feedback about how they think they are doing, and how they are experiencing you. Is there anything either of you could be doing differently that would enhance your work environment and /or outcomes?

Follow these steps, and before long you’ll find yourself wondering how you ever had time to do it all yourself!