We hear this complaint at least once a week: an assistant creating more work instead of helping. Today, a business owner reached out in frustration. He had stretched his budget to hire an assistant because things were slipping through the cracks—emails went unanswered, and appointments were missing from his calendar, leading to missed meetings. Instead of solving these issues, he now had more work than before, despite paying an additional salary.
He analyzed his assistant’s performance: “She’s so smart,” he said, “but everything still seems to require my input. She works hard, but I’m not exactly sure what she’s doing.”
At that moment, I realized this wasn’t an employee issue—it was a clarity issue. The business owner had problems that needed solving and had assigned tasks to his assistant. However, there was no clear process in place to ensure success.
Why Is Your Assistant Creating More Work?
Common Problems When an Assistant Creates More Work
Problem: Appointments Aren’t Being Scheduled Correctly
Assistant’s Task: Manage the calendar—schedule appointments and confirm them the day before.
What’s Happening: The business owner feels his calendar is out of control. He constantly reviews it, correcting mistakes (e.g., incorrect meeting lengths or unnecessary appointments). His assistant frequently asks about scheduling details, making him feel like he might as well schedule them himself.
Clarifying Questions:
- How do appointments get on the calendar—do you add them during meetings, through emails, or phone calls?
- What’s the process for notifying the assistant when you schedule a meeting?
- How can she ensure meetings are not double-booked and that you are prepared?
- What are her scheduling boundaries? Which meetings should she schedule without your approval?
- How long should meetings be? What are acceptable hours for scheduling?
Fixing the Assistant Creating More Work Issue
Problem: No Follow-Up on Team Assignments
Assistant’s Task: Take meeting notes and send follow-up actions to the boss.
What’s Happening: The assistant sends follow-up notes, but the business owner is too busy to review them, making it feel like wasted effort.
Clarifying Questions:
- Why have her send notes for you to review? Isn’t that just adding another task to your workload?
- Can she directly follow up with team members to confirm the completion of tasks?
- Instead of just taking notes, can she provide a detailed progress report, allowing you to focus only on unresolved issues?
How to Transition from Tasks to Solutions
There’s a clear pattern here: The business owner identified problems, assigned tasks to the assistant, and assumed the issues would be resolved. However, he never transitioned the full responsibility to the assistant—tasks were still bouncing back to him.
If you’re hiring an assistant, think through the full problem-solving process. Define what success looks like and clarify how responsibilities should shift entirely to your new hire.
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If you’re unsure how to structure this transition, schedule a complimentary discovery email us today.
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