WordPressThree columns
- Assistant drafts: summaries, first versions of briefs, naming suggestions, and checks against a written list.
- Person checks: every draft that touches a client account, a budget, a claim, or a number the client will see.
- Person only: approvals, client promises, access grants, and any decision about money or the brand's position.
Drawing the line
- Start from the task, not the tool. Write the step, then its owner, then whether an assistant may touch it.
- A step that changes a live account always has a person as approver.
- A step that only reads, summarizes or drafts can run without approval, and its output is marked as a draft.
Writing it down
Keep one split sheet per client. For each recurring task it lists the owner, the backup, the assistant's role, the check and the record. Review it at the quarterly business review and after any incident.
Common mistakes
- Giving a step to the assistant because it is quick, not because the check is clear.
- Asking a person to check a draft they have no data to verify.
- Letting the same person draft a change and approve it.
Made-up scenario: a made-up agency splits its weekly report. The assistant drafts the summary from the sheet. The account lead checks each number against the platform and approves the wording. The client owner receives only the approved version. When the sheet changed, the split sheet was updated that week.
Start small. Pick one recurring task this month, split it, and run the split for four weeks. Keep the steps that worked and move back any step where the check keeps failing.
