Hiring office help

[Ricky LaFleur]

I post about this because the slow times are the best time to overhaul current processes in this profession, to root out inefficient practice, streamline time consuming tasks, and all that. Two years ago would have been an incredibly difficult time to implement significant changes. While I've worked on some of the smaller issues at hand, expanding the "one-man shop" to... well more than one seems like an incredible mountain to climb. Maybe those of you who have done that can chime in with insight and your experience on it.

I've been considering different ways to increase my efficiency quite a lot lately, as I feel bottle-necked with how much I can bill in a month without working around the clock (been there, tired of that). So much of my time spent is doing rather clerical work, and I feel like adding a simple office position could potentially free up my time to focus more on the analytical/reporting part of this job. Some reservations I have are how I could keep them busy on a consistent basis, and the amount of training needed to get them up to a level that is truly outweighing their salary. In my case, and likely common in the commercial sector, the amount of requests are fewer and the jobs take longer, so I don't need as much help in the answering calls/emails that much (although I spent 45min today on calls that were not going to turn into appraisal requests...ha!). But so much of the basic clerical work that a trainee could do mostly right away with little training would be very helpful, I think. Things like gathering information on sales and leases, writing up basic info about them, etc. Has anyone done this with help that is working remotely? I could see some benefit from that as it could be available with flexible hours, do at your own pace, gig work almost. What kind of tasks did you find you could hand over the fastest and with the most benefit? What did you find was not worth trying to hand over in the end?

I appreciate your thoughts!

 

[Ricky LaFleur]

Has anyone done this with help that is working remotely? I could see some benefit from that as it could be available with flexible hours, do at your own pace, gig work almost.

I can't edit the post anymore, but this might get into another topic. Still, though, I would be curious to see if anyone has weighed the pros and cons of in-office help versus hiring someone remotely to assist them.

 

[John Hassler]

One of the best productivity moves I ever made was to hire an office assistant. I was reluctant at first because there was nothing they were going to do that I couldn’t. It was painful to write those first few checks. But with a few months I don’t know how I went without.
My office assistant (OA) got to the point that they handled all incoming phone calls, scheduled all appointments, managed all office supplies, and proofread all reports by staff and myself. I had them on payroll as an employee and they received medical benefits.
It was an outstanding set up which was destroyed by HVCC and the dominance of AMCs. In a split second respectful business relationships and quality product were no longer needed or sought after.

 

[John Hassler]

My OA even drew my sketches from my notes. I would select the six, seven, or eight best comps and they would enter them into the grid for me to pare down later. If there was any question about a specific piece of comp data it was not entered on the grid and highlighted on the data sheets for me to sort out.
There was a substantial productivity gain from having an OA. I invested considerable time in training my OA, unlike the donkey OAs the AMCs employ.

 

[Ricky LaFleur]

One of the best productivity moves I ever made was to hire an office assistant. I was reluctant at first because there was nothing they were going to do that I couldn’t. It was painful to write those first few checks. But with a few months I don’t know how I went without.

John, thanks for sharing. That's how I feel at the moment, and why I haven't looked further into hiring someone else, as I can easily do all of it. Encouraging to hear that it went well.