Posted on January 10, 2012 by Dave Crenshaw

Believe it or not, Batman has more than one lesson to teach to entrepreneurs. One of those deals with the how and why of a dedicated personal assistant—an Alfred. Do you have an “Alfred”? If so, do you utilize him or her properly?

Watch this brief video to learn the four steps you can take to determine whether or not you need an assistant, and how to set that person up to succeed through the assistant job description. 

Action Steps:

  1. Watch this video and ask yourself: “Do I have my own Alfred?” If not, follow these tips to help you successfully set up your “Alfred”:
    • Decide if you really need a personal assistant vs. an employee
    • Follow the order of offloading
    • Document the position
    • Follow the 75% rule
  2. Click here to learn more about Dave Crenshaw’s order of offloading.
  3. Share your perspective or ask questions on this page.

Principles:

  1. Personal Assistants are dedicated to you 100%. Their job is to help you and no one else. If you need someone to focus on a specific part of your business then what you really need is an employee or perhaps a contractor.
  2. If you don’t follow the order of offloading, you may hire an assistant prematurely.
  3. A Position Agreement is a documented system that describes in detail what a personal assistant does.
  4. The 75% rule states that your personal assistant should have tasks that do not require your constant attention for at least three quarters of their work hours.

 

This post was sponsored by the Dave Crenshaw’s Invaluable CEO Coaching program. Would you like to work one-on-one with Dave to develop a strategy for your business? Click here to learn how to apply: http://DaveCrenshaw.com/coach (For business owners and CEOs only)

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  • Cduncan

    Dave – you should write a book for the “Alfred’s” of the world. “How to be the best Alfred.” Communication to the Personal Assistant on How To Be A Personal Assistant – what your boss wants you to think about as the end goal, what your boss wants you to do, activity vs. achievement, how to organize in front of and behind the boss, how to manage other people and inspire them to get things done, how to extract from your boss what they really need and want, plus more stuff.

    • http://www.DaveCrenshaw.com Dave Crenshaw

      Interesting, Cduncan. Thank you for the suggestion. This isn’t the first time I’ve been asked for specific training related to personal assistants. It seems like a limited market to me… but when several people ask you for something, it indicates there might be an opportunity. Who else would like to see something like this? 

  • Meggin

    I agree…many of us need a personal assistant.  Frankly, I would have one.  My husband, however, would not want someone else around that much.  So…for now, I don’t have one, although I do have people do many things for me.  Good video, Dave. 

    • http://www.DaveCrenshaw.com Dave Crenshaw

      Maybe seeing a bit more of an assistant would help your husband see a lot more of you? ;-)

  • Jason

    You hit the subject on the head powerfully with this.  I’m embarrassed to say I have hired and let go every “personal assistant” I thought I needed when in reality I needed a contractor or employee for certain tasks.  The part that became tough was putting a restriction on what that employee needed to do in my eyes, and then we crossed the void into assistant and all business needs and personal expectations fell apart.  Thank you for the good words, great thoughts here for potential future hires. 

    • http://www.DaveCrenshaw.com Dave Crenshaw

      Thanks for sharing Jason. What you just described is VERY common for entrepreneurs. Hiring an assistant is usually the first thought that crosses an overwhelmed entrepreneur’s mind, when usually it should be the last.

  • Rashid Rashidov

    Thanks for the video, Dave. At a point in my career I thought about a personal assistant, a.k.a Alfred. While I was shaping the idea in my head, I listed all three points that you suggested:
    Decide if you really need a personal assistant vs. an employeeFollow the order of offloadingDocument the positionWhat I missed was the last one – Follow the 75% rule. This is a good one. Thanks for sharing it.

    • http://www.DaveCrenshaw.com Dave Crenshaw

      You’re welcome, Rashid.

  • Dustin Smith

    I’ve been giving this a lot of thought lately and appreciate the input.  Thanks, Dave!

  • http://twitter.com/b160allen Brandon R Allen

    On my list for 2012 .  Thanks for the great guidelines Dave!

    • http://www.DaveCrenshaw.com Dave Crenshaw

      Make it happen, Brandon!

  • Michael Mensah

    This has been very revealing , especially with the order of offloading. Thank you Dave for this learning experience.

  • Michael Mensah

    I also understand why a position agreement is necessary. Most of the time we do not apply some of these details, such as functions/job description agreed upon.
    Now i will apply all these when i decide on a dedicated personal assistant.

    • http://www.DaveCrenshaw.com Dave Crenshaw

      “A dull pencil is better than a sharp mind.” If you write it down, you’ll save a lot of time in the long run.

  • Nancy

    Great insights and ideas!  Hit me between the eyes.  Although sometimes I have been frustrated with my support staff not anticipating what needs to be done, I have obviously not been specific enough at the beginning, nor followed up sufficiently to be sure they feel adequately trained to do what I am asking.
    Thanks for the clarity on what I need to do FIRST!!

    • http://www.DaveCrenshaw.com Dave Crenshaw

      You’re welcome, Nancy! It’s very common for creative business leaders (aka entrepreneurs) to be very VERBAL in their instructions, when what their employees really need are WRITTEN instructions. This doesn’t mean that documented systems need to be wordy or complex, but it does mean that there should be a quick documented reference to make sure important training isn’t forgotten.

  • Lojain

    Thank you for the great video. The problem is i couldnot find any time to write the instruction. so i wonder if it is possible to hire a personal assistant (may be a temporary one) and ask her to follow the order of offloading and write the documented system that describes in detail what a personal assistant and the employee will do?

    • http://www.DaveCrenshaw.com Dave Crenshaw

      Hi Lojain. You couldn’t find time because you’re skipping a step in the order of offloading. :-) The first step is improve YOUR personal systems. This is what my Get Time Boot Camp will help you do: http://DaveCrenshaw.com/coach  

      On average when a business owner completes my Get Time Boot Camp they get an extra 10-15 hours per week. This is because it helps you dramatically reduce the number of switches that are currently taking place in your day.
      Then, from that time you save, you can begin investing five or so hours per week to building business systems (such as writing a position agreement for your Alfred). You can do whatever you like with the rest. 

      If the boot camp doesn’t get that result for you, there’s a full money back guarantee: http://DaveCrenshaw.com/coach