What Type of Real Estate Assistant Do You Need?
You’re stressed. You’re busy and you know you need more help. There are so many different things that have to get done – but how do you decide between what you can delegate to someone else, and what should stay on your plate?
The first step to getting what you want is figuring out what type of real estate assistant you need. Let’s explore the simple (but not always easy) process of redefining your job description and crafting the job description for your next hire.
Step 1: Determine what you’re actually doing all day.
This might seem silly, but when was the last time that you sat down and considered what you do in a day? You probably do a lot of things that suck your time and attention away from what is actually important. The point of creating leverage is to free you up to focus on what’s most important, so let’s start by determining what’s getting in the way.
Step one is to figure out what you actually do on a daily basis. We are going to create a “Time-and-Motion” study. Yes, it is as tedious as it sounds but it’s for a GREAT cause. (You!)
• Create a spreadsheet with the days of the week, and then track your time in 20-minute increments.
• Write down what you did, every 20 minutes for a full week. (I know, I promised you that this was simple – but I didn’t say it was easy.)
• At the end of every day, write down what you didn’t accomplish.
• At the end of the week, highlight in GREEN activities that you like to do, you are good at and that move you closer to your goals. Use YELLOW for things that only you can do. Use RED to highlight everything else.
Now, take all of those RED tasks and group them into different sections. For example, place marketing aspects of the business in one category, and administrative tasks in another. After carefully sorting them, what stands out? By separating out these tasks, you can begin to see what projects you can give to someone else, and what projects you would like to keep for yourself.
Thought experiment: What would your life look like if you were able to spend 80% of your time on the things that are important and necessary to move you closer to your goal?
Step 2: Create your job descriptions.
Now, you’re not just writing your new employee’s job description – you’re writing your new job description, too. Taking into account all of the RED tasks that you separated, what is a reasonable job description that you can create for your future hire? What type of employee do you need, and what skills do you need them to have?
Chances are, you won’t be able to delegate all of your red tasks towards your new employee because they fall into vastly different categories. Instead, choose things that are in the same (or a similar) category, and begin to write from there.
Next, write YOUR job description – that’s right… yours. What are you going to do with all of your extra time? How will you utilize it to grow your business? What will your NEW day-to-day life look like? Getting leverage means that you’re doing more of the things that move you forward to your goal.
Still think this sounds like too much? Listen to my recent podcast episode with Amanda Doll. Amanda is the VP of Operations and Growth for a top-producing real estate team. When she started working with Jeff Borham she was the only assistant in the office – and she was determined to leverage for herself and then business. After performing this exercise, she was able to determine what she could take off her plate and delegate to somebody else – and now she has done that 5 times over! She has leveraged herself out of the business and into a top leadership role.
Have you used a time-and-motion study? How did it go? What did you learn? Were you surprised by how much time you wasted during your week, and did it impact the way you organized your time or what activities you prioritized? Share in the comments – we’d love to hear your story and learn how you created leverage in your business.
VANESSA ROSENBLUM
PRO R.E.A. STAFFING & HIRE LAB FOUNDER
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