my assistant doesn’t know tips on how to prioritize
A reader writes:
My workforce just lately employed a part-time assistant, Jane, to assist with my work. The issue I’m working into is that Jane both doesn’t know tips on how to prioritize or doesn’t perceive that sure issues have to be prioritized even when I explicitly inform her “this job must be accomplished earlier than you do anything.” She continues doing duties that she finds gratifying with out engaged on gadgets which have exhausting deadlines. For instance, I requested her 4 weeks upfront to pack up a giant cargo by the top of month – she had loads of time and she or he’s executed it efficiently earlier than – and but after I requested her what was occurring per week earlier than the cargo was due? She hadn’t gotten to it but. She had spent three weeks engaged on different duties as an alternative, like emailing leads. With such a brief period of time left for the cargo, the remainder of us needed to pitch in to assist full the duty, when actually she may have executed it by herself if she had began earlier.
I are usually an individual who prioritizes any duties with a deadline – even when the deadline is 2 months later simply so it’s executed and dusted. I get that there are some individuals who perform very in a different way, and that’s superb inside motive! I don’t wish to dump my work fashion on her by prioritizing for her, however I’m at a loss for tips on how to higher handle completion of the duties I assign to her. Assist?
I reply this query over at Inc. immediately, the place I’m revisiting letters which were buried within the archives right here from years in the past (and typically updating/increasing my solutions to them). You can learn it right here.