Is Your Assistant a Mindreader?

Assistant smiling while ice-skating. Woman wearing purple scarf and teal jacket.

Mind readers are in short supply

If your assistant IS a mindreader, they should get a pay raise! Take it from a ‘Mindreader’ who has been an assistant before—your assistant is probably NOT a mindreader.

Working with people with disabilities has made me very aware of how I can improve what I communicate to my assistants, and particularly, HOW I communicate it.

If you don’t tell them, they don’t know.

When you’ve done what you do for a while, and your assistant is new, it turns out there is so much they don’t know.

There are many things they DO know.

It’s up to us to create an environment where they are comfortable asking questions. The fact of the matter is that nobody is going to say anything if they don’t feel valued and safe. Debriefing after an event is a great way to get to this point with your team.

Your assistants can help you get better. Much better.

I’ve had the pleasure of working with some of the most brilliant, creative, and innovative designers as an assistant.

This is a great way to learn, stretch, get ideas of how to improve your client experience, and add useful elements. Below are some of the things I’ve noticed—what works, what could be improved, and how to streamline the process.

We have to explain what we want or an assistant may not understand the tasks.

What is the best way to give an overview of a completed project, of its goals, timeline, and a checklist? The answer: SMART Goals – Specific – Measurable – Achievable – Relevant – Time-bound.

Learning styles

Some people respond well to verbal instruction, some are visual learners, and some like objectives and benchmarks. Others want step-by-step instruction in real time. It might be easier to be show how to do something. Maybe guided, hands-on training is better. There are also combinations that are useful, depending on the task and the assistant.

For me, I seem to understand and work in several different ways. Visual and audio are best, but I can’t always see or hear instructions in the chaos and noise of live events.

Show and tell

One work around is show and tell. I show assistants what things are, where they live, and how things look at the beginning. It is helpful to show the structure and stages of beginning, middle, and end.

That’s why someone who has worked with you before is infinitely more valuable than a first-time assistant. They have an idea of what you want and how you want it, how you communicate, and your priorities.

If you ask someone to do something, make sure they can hear or see you, and they know what things are called.

I’m always amazed at all the different ‘things’ I don’t know the names of.

Garbage in, garbage out

Creating systems for your madness is everything. Breakdown (strike) is just as complex, if not more, than load-in. If you knowing the order for storing or retrieving items, it expedites the work. For example, pack mirrors so they can be safely retrieved for the next event and are easy to find. Making an inventory sheet for items to quickly note if they are broken/damaged/need cleaning/or are missing will save you and your assistants a great deal of time.

Loading vehicles—which items go where, and in what order? Assume your assistant hasn’t seen all of the items yet and can’t know what else is to come until it has been taken down.

Save time and money.

Do you have a van/truck layout? Are there items that need to be stored differently, or separately? Do you have labels and markers available? Use your inventory check-off list with names of items, count, and condition. Add photos of the items, have the document loaded on a tablet and send a copy to your client immediately after breakdown. If the client is still on site, you can give them the sheet or tablet to sign immediately after you show missing or damaged goods.

Let’s set those new assistants up for success and, at the same time, lighten our load-ins and load-outs!