Monday, March 21, 2011

As a growing number of self-employed professionals discover the benefits of using virtual assistants to streamline their work, so grows the need to effectively delegate to these assistants. Anthony Signorelli, Twin Cities consultant and self-employment professional, has released a set of specific tools and guidelines to enable effective delegation. In his latest blog on the New Rules of Self Employment website, Signorelli outlines the importance of effective delegation and gives specific, practical advice professionals can use when delegating project work to a virtual assistant.

"Getting an assistant is one thing; using them effectively is something else entirely," says Signorelli. "The first step in effective delegation is choosing the task. The second is breaking that task into components, guided by key questions that help establish clear expectations and reduce misunderstandings and wheel-spinning, which of course, can save you a ton of money."

Questions range from what deliverable is expected to how much assistant time should be allocated in total and before an initial progress check occurs. Signorelli also discusses documenting expectations, making conditional decisions and judgment calls, using overseas assistants, avoiding pitfalls and expensive mistakes, and more. Details of these discussions, as well as specific tools to help professionals work through them, can be found at www.newrulesofselfemployment.com.

Signorelli is the founder of the New Rules of Self Employment. He is also an entrepreneur, a consultant in sales force effectiveness and process design for major corporations, and the author of several books and articles on these subjects. Information on the New Rules of Self Employment is available on his website: www.newrulesofselfemployment.com.