my assistant doesn’t know learn how to prioritize
A reader writes:
My group 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 learn 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 onerous 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 he or she’s carried out it efficiently earlier than – and but after I requested her what was happening every week earlier than the cargo was due? She hadn’t gotten to it but. She had spent three weeks engaged on different duties as a substitute, 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 might have carried out it by herself if she had began earlier.
I are typically an individual who prioritizes any duties with a deadline – even when the deadline is 2 months later simply so it’s carried out and dusted. I get that there are some individuals who operate very in another way, and that’s tremendous inside cause! I don’t wish to dump my work type on her by prioritizing for her, however I’m at a loss for learn how to higher handle completion of the duties I assign to her. Assist?
I reply this query over at Inc. right this moment, the place I’m revisiting letters which were buried within the archives right here from years in the past (and generally updating/increasing my solutions to them). You can learn it right here.