The following
was authored by Christine Durst and Michael Haaren (Staffcentrix co-founders)
and is excerpted from "Transform Your Business Using Virtual Assistants
for Real Estate Professionals", a book by Durst, Haaren and Russer. While
this particular book is geared toward real estate professionals, this exercise
and analysis can be very useful to any business person who would like to
work with a virtual assistant.
On the "GO"
or on the "GROW"?
Stop and think for a moment. There is a
big difference, we think you’ll agree, between working in a business,
and working on a business. Working on the business involves making
the business grow (business development), while working in the business
involves making the business go (business administration). As a professional,
you should be spending the majority of your time working on the business.
The following exercise will help you develop
a sense of “where the hours go,” and will also serve as a guide for drafting
a job description for your VA.
Exercise One: Your Personal Time Audit
To understand where your time goes, you
must first determine how you actually spend it. One of the best ways to
do this is to take a moment for a day or two and keep a simple log of your
activities. (The log will also help you maintain your objectivity, rather
than “guessing” or “assuming.”)
On the next pages, you will find “Time
Audit Worksheets” that will help you to accurately track what you actually
do over a two-day period. And while it’s true that monitoring your activities
will require a certain amount of your valuable time, keep in mind that
it will pay benefits for some time to come, by providing the foundation
for your “virtual action plan.”
Using the Time Audit
Worksheets (TAW):
Download Time
Audit Worksheet here. (PDF file will require Acrobat Reader)
1.) Select a two-day
period (or two non-consecutive days) that you expect to be typical for
you, and keep the TAW handy so you can track actual activity rather than
“remembered” activity.
2.) The two columns
to the right of the time increments are marked “P” and “B”, and should
be used to indicate whether an activity was Personal or Business-related.
3.) In the Activity
column, briefly note the task you were involved in during the time specified
on the left.
4.) If the activity
is a “GROW”-oriented task, place an “X” in the “GROW” column. If it is
“GO”-oriented, place an “O” in the “GO” column.
5.) Each time your
activities are interrupted, mark the “I” column with either an “X” (if
the interruption was a “GROW” activity) or an “O” (if it was a “GO”
activity). If the interruption takes on a life of it’s own and consumes
30 minutes or more of your time, be sure to add it to the Activity column.
Also, make a brief note about the nature of each interruption in the “Interruptions”
section at the end of the second sheet.
As an example, a TAW might look something
like this:
|
Time
|
P
|
B
|
Activity
|
I
|
GROW
|
GO
|
| Noon |
X
|
- |
Lunch with friends |
- |
- |
- |
| 12:30 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
| 1:00 |
- |
X
|
Show the Adams house |
- |
X
|
- |
| 1:30 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
X
|
- |
| 2:00 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
X
|
- |
| 2:30 |
- |
X
|
Filing |
X
|
- |
O
|
| 3:00 |
- |
X
|
Write ads for newspaper |
X
|
- |
O
|
| 3:30 |
- |
X
|
- |
- |
- |
O
|
| 4:00 |
- |
X
|
Pay bills, banking |
-
|
- |
O
|
| 4:30 |
- |
X
|
Cold calling |
O
|
X
|
- |
| 5:00 |
- |
X
|
Order closing gift for Jim
and Ann Thompson |
- |
- |
O
|
Looking at the Outcomes of Your Time
Audit
Now that you have a “snapshot” of your
typical day, it’s time to draw conclusions, set goals, and take action
toward achieving those goals.
Based on what your time audit revealed,
answer the following questions:
Do you spend the majority of your time
on “GO” or “GROW” activities?
Were you surprised at how many interruptions
you deal with every day?
Are your professional skills being underutilized
on a typical day?
Are you in control of your activities,
or in their control?
If you outsource many of your “GO” activities
to a competent assistant, how many hours in a week do you estimate you
could reclaim for “GROW” activities?
© Copyright 2002 by Christine Durst, Michael Haaren,
and Michael Russer.
All rights reserved. Not to be reproduced, in whole or in
part without express written permission of the authors.
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