Let me know if this sounds familiar…
“I know I need to work with an assistant, but I hate the idea of coming up with things for them to do… over and over again. It’s like a second job! I’m just not good at that.”
I GET THAT.
Once an assistant clears out the immediate overwhelm for a new client (see last post), there’s a settling of the dust and an adjustment period where that relationship goes from full-speed ahead to… “Now what should I have them do?”
It’s helpful to think of working with your EA in terms of the 5 Levels of Effectively Working with Your Remote Executive Assistant.
For the purposes of today, I’m focusing on Level 2: SOP Generating Machine.
SOP stands for Standard Operating Procedure.
How do you know when something needs an SOP?
Simply put, if you do it more than once, it needs a process. The more often it is done, the more time ⏰ and energy ⚡ it will save having this SOP in place.
The fact is, you probably already have an SOP… but it lives in your head!
Here’s how you can turn your EA into an SOP GENERATING MACHINE! 💪
In Your Next Weekly Huddle:
- 🎥 RECORD IT:
Make sure to record the Weekly Huddle and make it available for their reference. You may need to record it to the cloud and give them the login details to your Zoom so you don’t have to do things manually. - 🔍 IDENTIFY IT:
In your Weekly Huddle, identify things that keep coming up. Things you, or they, do over and over again. - 🚶♂️ WALK IT:
In your Weekly Huddle, if possible, screenshare and walk them through your process. You’ll remember parts as you work through it, you’ll say, “Oh yeah, and then I usually do this or that.” - ❓ QUESTION IT:
Your EA asks clarifying questions about the process. - 💻 TYPE IT:
Your EA types the process out and adds it to your SOP directory. - ✨ OWN IT:
Your EA owns, refines and works the plan.
The first three steps are things YOU do and the second three are things THEY do. That’s the whole purpose- to hand off more and more of the details to your Remote Executive Assistant!
You can repeat this process over and over, every time you find that something is done more than once, you can add it to your SOP directory.
I’m telling you, this is the next level and it’s a game-changer!
-Micah Foster, Co-Owner