Working Successfully with Your NEW Assistant

I know it takes time to train a new assistant…but if you do it well the first time, you only have to do it once. This is your chance to set expectations and communicate exactly how you want things done. It is your corporate and professional brand that you are working to enhance. It’s easier to train someone to do it right from the beginning than to go back and try to change wrong or bad habits later.

I cannot emphasize enough – Communicate! Communicate! Communicate! Your assistant cannot read your mind and you cannot read your assistant’s mind either…so you both need to really focus on communicating as you build your new relationship in the first few weeks.

The second thing I’ll emphasize is: ASK for feedback. As you get used to working with each other, asking for feedback will help you both get more comfortable with the communication piece also. Your new assistant is a fresh set of eyes that may be able to see some things in a different way or have a new idea/approach that you have not considered previously. Make your assistant an integral part of your team.

Here are a few tips and things to make sure you include in your first few days of training with your new assistant to get her/him off to a great start at your company.

Things to cover the FIRST DAY with your new assistant:

• HR Paperwork and Orientation. I-9 Form, Time cards and related procedures, any HR forms you need completed, Company Tour, etc.
• Issue Office Key(s). Explain expectations of when they should or should not be coming and going from the office or how you expect they’ll use the key(s).
• How to use the phone system. If you have a system manual that you can leave out for easy referral when your assistant has some time to review it in detail later, that is always helpful also. Or if they can’t figure out how to do something with it, then they have it as a reference if you aren’t available to ask.
• How to screen your calls for you. Who do you ALWAYS want to talk to? Who do you NEVER want to talk to? When should your assistant forward calls to your voice mail and when should your assistant take a written note?
• How to greet visitors when they enter the office. It isn’t always obvious to everyone that they should stand, specifically make eye contact, and greet someone with a professional greeting and/or handshake. So tell your assistant what you prefer or expect or want. This is the best time to set expectations and instill great habits.
• Review your dress code in detail. What’s appropriate, what isn’t? Be specific. Your assistant needs to hear this from you and in detail about what your expectations are…and maybe even why it’s important. Sometimes people don’t always agree with dress codes, but if they at least know where you’re coming from, it helps.
• Tour the office and point out where things are stored, file locations/types, office supplies, kitchen materials, etc.
• Lunch/Break policies. When do they get lunch/breaks? Do they need to stay at the office or can they leave? If they leave, do they need to notify you first or lock it up? Can they eat at their desk? If not, where do they eat their lunch?
• How to log into the computer / access office electronic files.
• Daily/Weekly Schedule. Review what a “typical” daily and weekly schedule is going to look like so your assistant has a framework to put everything that you are training on into. There will always be exceptions, but helping someone understand the framework gives the details a place to call home when you’re training them.
• Ask your new assistant to document all of the training for your office/administrative procedures manual. This is a great time to begin developing a standard operating procedures binder for your office if you don’t already have one. If you do, it’s a great time to make sure it’s still current and up-to-date. As you are training your new assistant, ask her/him to take notes and type them up for your procedures manual. It will help as a resource tool until your assistant gets more comfortable with the position/job. But it will also be valuable to you or the other office team members if they are filling in or need to know how to do something that your assistant just normally handles for all of you.
  

Things to cover the FIRST WEEK:

• Show how to use Office Equipment – Copier, Fax, Computers, etc. If you have manuals for the fax or copier, etc., have them available or tell her where they are so she can refer to them if needed.
• Mail Sorting/Pick-up/Delivery. Review procedures with this. What do you ALWAYS need to review? What do you NEVER need to review? How do you handle/process mail for other office staff? For the first week or two, have your assistant sort it all as if she were on her own, but review it with her/him daily to answer any questions, provide coaching, etc.
• Establish a Weekly One on One time. I know you’ll be talking daily. But this one on one time is more to review the overall weekly events/projects (not the specific day to day tasks). It’s a time to review what went well, what could go better, and what the plans are for the upcoming week. I used a form at one place called a Hits/Misses Form. It was the top 3 hits (things we accomplished) for the week, the top 3 things we missed (or didn’t get accomplished) and the plan for the upcoming week. This also gives you both dedicated time weekly to get to know each other better and to communicate about things that may not have gone as well as you wanted in some areas…or to praise and recognize your assistant for things that did go very well. If you aren’t used to doing these, it may take a few weeks to adapt. But make this “sacred” time – don’t cancel them if things come up, get them rescheduled ASAP.
• Job Specific Training. How to do all of the elements of the position. You are always going to be busy, but you have to make time to show your assistant how to do these things in order for your assistant to be able to get them off of your plate again. It may mean shadowing you as you do them the first time or two. And it may mean you shadowing your assistant as she/he tries them the first time or so on her/his own. But if you invest the right amount of time into this in your assistant’s first week or two, you’ll be set for months to come! Go bullet by bullet through the position’s job description to make sure you cover all areas needed.

I am very passionate about the administrative profession and helping assistants and their managers work successfully and productively together. I have developed some solid processes, procedures, and checklists that have helped me and many clients I’ve worked with be very successful in their positions. If you would like some additional assistance with the development of any of these types of administrative materials, please contact me at Julie@Julieperrine.com.

I wish you the best of success with your new assistant!

Julie Perrine CPS/CAP
Qualified Myers-Briggs Administrator