Being ‘Proactive’ Really Does Pay Off

Hopefully, you are fortunate enough to work with professionals that are not technically challenged and therefore, reasonably self-sufficient.

From my own experience over recent years, that has been the case, which is both good and bad. Obviously, it is good for Assistants’ because you do not have to babysit a project from beginning to end. On the other hand, if you prefer to be ‘hands-on’ during this process like myself, it could be perceived as a drawback because your services are not required until the ‘final draft’ is ready for your editing.

In this type of scenario, the Assistant is at a disadvantage in terms of scheduling workloads and time allocation, since the ’size of the project’ is an unknown factor. Naturally, you have many other tasks to keep you busy while you are waiting for this project. There are also action items that you can get started on to prepare for the inevitable ‘crunch time’ that is upon you to get this project polished and out the door on time.

First, I would suggest getting any necessary graphics together and ask the project team if you can assist with any excel charting that may be required, assuming your professionals will not be providing this data for you. I would also suggest that you contact your Graphics department to ensure you are ‘on brand’ with any type of graphics or logo’s to be inserted, regardless of the source.

You can also look for appropriate graphics and/or photos on the web. I caution you though, if you use the web, ‘beware of copyright issues’. There are numerous web sites specifically designed for ‘free’ downloads of their materials as long as you ‘source’ the graphic in your document so you are within legal bounds of the protected copyright. Just be careful to check the graphic you select for the copyright information, which is normally displayed below the graphic.

In some cases, you may find that the company or individual’s name is imprinted on the graphic you choose. If this is the case, you can manipulate the graphic to remove this imprint, as long as you ’source’ the name properly in your document’. On occasion, you may be asked to provide your company name and email address when downloading materials for future website mailing list purposes.

Being proactive, and locating just the right mix of graphics, logo’s, and photos, as well as creating your charts if required, will keep you busy when you have a mid-large size project in play. Also, remember to give your production department a ‘heads up’ on your printing requirements as soon as possible so they can plan their schedules accordingly. This is particularly important if you have special binding requirements and/or a large print quantity. Be sure to send them a PDF version for printing purposes and ‘lock down’ the PDF when emailing to clients as your PDF document can be easily compromised if you do not attach the required security.