GOOD PRACTICE GUIDELINES FOR THE GREATEST LEADERS
A Good Practice Guideline allows leaders to have a clear vision of what their virtual assistant is doing, the process that is being followed, and the ability to communicate any required changes as the ability to organize effectively and efficiently; inspiring virtual assistants to achieve the organization’s objectives; motivating their staff to grow, learn and make decisions when required; delegating effectively; and recognizing the work that others do.
«We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then
is not an act but a habit.» Will Durant.
Table of contents
Virtual Assistants and the hard-work myth.
What is a Good Practice Guideline?
Good Practice Guideline Scope & Expectations
Hi, I am glad you are back, we have been having an amazing journey learning together great tips to be an Ethical Leader, to identify if you are a Successful Leader or an Effective one, how to delegate, etc.
If this is the first time you are joining us in this post please go to this awesome information by clicking on the following links
What is Ethical Leadership?
How to develop effective communication at work?
Is Delegation Important for Effective Leadership?
Suddenly a sentence I read from Will Durant came to my mind:
«We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then is not an act but a habit.»
Therefore, if we pursue excellence we must create a habit through constancy and recurrent practice, building a discipline of excellence. But, do you know if your Virtual Assistant is working hard on this purpose? Do you really know how he is doing it and what he is doing on his daily assignments to get that level of excellence?
Let’s analyze this topic from a Virtual Assistance perspective first…
Virtual Assistants and the hard-work myth.
Virtual Assistants used to express their perception when providing their services: «The truth is that we spend most of our lives working. Just exceptional leaders understand the personal sacrifices we sometimes have to make to meet a deadline or achieve a goal. Most of the time there is no way I could prove to my Leader how hard I work, he used to see only the result but not the behind-the-scenes». Do you feel somewhat related to that?
Let’s be honest, sometimes we feel we work very hard but at the end of the day, the result is the only thing we are able to use as proof of work, but is that only what matters when evaluating your performance? Is that the only that should be reviewed when it comes to looking for areas of improvement?
Let’s use a more clear example. Let’s pretend we are a bakery, and let’s play three different roles, the client, the baker, and the owner. As bakers, we cook the most delicious birthday cakes. The client who goes to the bakery likes the taste and the presentation of the beautiful and delicious cake I cooked, but when seeing the price he doubts if the price is fair. He might end up buying the cake but it is because of his need not because he really appreciates the hard work I did to cook it.
He actually does not know I had to prepare very carefully all the ingredients, that I had to be careful with measurements, and mix them in a particular way depending on the recipe, that there are different types of pans I needed to prepare ahead of time, that I had separate the process in 6 different sub-processes which are done during 5 days, he does not know how I took care of the bread when it was in the oven so it end-up being fluffy, fresh and whit a delicious taste, or the time I spent beating the eggs and sugar to the required consistency -I think part of the ingredients include the arm strength you lose doing it, ouch!- no, the client just sees the result, the beautiful cake that is on the counter…
And if you are the owner of the Bakery how would you make sure that your baker does not forget the temperature he should use for that particular cake?
Now as a Leader, do you really know what your Executive Assistant does during the day, the efforts they do, and all that it takes for them to get to a goal? Do you really know in what type of tasks your assistant is more skilled and what demands from him more? Do you know what motivates your assistant and what makes him/her down?
In a conventional work environment, social and constant interaction helps you to really meet your team members, but in a freelance world, this works completely differently.
Ok, Ok I almost can hear you saying “I got it! I know it is important to know what my staff does but there are systems to do so nowadays”
… well that will depend on what type of leader you like to be, Are you a successful leader or an effective leader? then are you measuring their performance or are you helping them to get excellence in all that they do?
People are naturally drawn to leaders who are willing to hear them out, listen to their ideas, and take their suggestions and feedback but it is needed to count on a sort of recipe where all tasks are well explained, having a step-by-step process for all the tasks, workflows, diagrams, a clear explanation about how your assistant is doing.
That way leaders are able to review all the tasks and processes, evaluate if something must be improved, and have a real view of the performance, skills, and abilities of their assistant. So when you see the cake on the counter you really know the time and effort it took for the VA to have it ready and, even more, to make sure all that they do are aligned with your goals, processes, and desired way you manage your business at the same time you are developing you assistant’s abilities and leadership skills.
Great! We made it to the port!, we really know that as a leader we must truly know the efforts that my VA does at work, know his attitudes, abilities, and skills and have a clear view of all the processes and tasks he does to complete an assignment, but how you would do it? -I read your mind again huh!- well let me introduce you to… tah-ta-taaaaah!…
What is a Good Practice Guideline?
A Good Practice Guideline serves as a roadmap for a company, individual, or team on how to do the daily tasks assigned and provides the best way to deal with events, problems, and issues that arise.
It also contains key information on important actions to be taken in a particular process which could be an individual way to make the business by the Executive or the successfully established process that is approved and set by the Executive.
It is a standard or set of guidelines, known to produce good outcomes if followed. This set of guidelines answers the following basic questions for each task assigned: Who, Why, What, How, When, and for how long, so you will know how hard your baker worked to cook that delicious cake you are selling.
It helps leaders to keep a close eye on the qualifications, abilities, and leadership skills of their assistants. Remember that feeling when we heard this magic word?: Delegating…
Yup! That one… calm down, just breathe and keep reading…
Delegating tasks is easier when you use a Good Practice Guideline as it will be based on your Virtual Assistants performance and abilities which are noticeable, visible and detailed written, and followed.
You also will be able to evaluate how helpful is your Assistant and count on this file as a backup to consider motivational plans and to provide feedback.
As you can see the usage is so extensive and easy to follow and adapt, the benefits are all great for all the ones involved.
GPG Scope
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Create a detailed Good Practice Guideline for tasks assigned to your EA.
- Include in a detailed view all the tasks assigned from the simplest to the most structured ones.
- Provide constant improvements to the project until obtaining the most complete Guideline.
- Carefully review the processes written that are accurate, currently set, and approved by the Client.
- Include details related to Clients’ preferences and ways to do things in their own desired way.
- Add pictures, print screens, staff roles and work relations, email addresses, phone numbers, web links, passwords, and user information, all detailed information related to every single task.
GPG Expectation
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Have a clear & transparent manual with all the tasks assigned to your EA
- Be able to evaluate the correct process application.
- Be able to adapt, modify and improve the established processes to obtain a better or more efficient result.
- Count on a solid backup to provide instant feedback when a process is not well performed or a set guideline has not been followed as expected.
- Have a perfect tool to evaluate your EA leadership, willingness to improve, skills, and abilities.
- Assign projects to your assigned EA and have a clear view of how he developed the project in time, progression and result.
- Have a wide-open window to analyze future tasks delegations based on EA’s leadership skills and abilities.
- Evaluate when your EA might need help with his assignments and another EA might be required in the team.
- Have a solid file to train an additional resource when needed.
So if you want to pursue excellence in all that you do and in what your team do you need to remember that excellence is not an act but a habit we must develop, track and follow every single day, so when those rainy days arise we know we need to prepare a hot and delicious chocolate and enjoy the view.
Remember,
Effective leaders know, there is so much more than just obtaining the result of all the assignments delegated to their staff members, the cake could be so delicious and well made but pay attention to what’s behind the scenes. It’s not enough to just check things or have some stats from a system that provide us an idea of their performance because they comply with their to-do list; to become truly influential and effective in your leadership you must know your staff members so well, develop the habit of excellence, help them to develop by themselves, and make the right decisions for not only yourself but those around you.
Have you enjoyed this post? I am sure you did… and I also know you’re craving a cake. I hope to meet you soon on another adventure in the Freelancing world, growing our leadership skills and developing our career as Virtual Assistants.
Here are some recommended links to our posts:
Are you a successful leader or an effective leader?
Healthy Leadership and Succession Planning
See you soon
