Every January, accounting offices in southern Taiwan bring in temporary help. By mid-month those temps are stamping documents, answering client calls, and filing returns — often with a fifteen-minute verbal briefing and a stack of last year’s folders.
Three practices we worked with this season shared the same failure mode: the checklist assumed knowledge of where things live. “Attach supporting documents to tab B” means nothing if tab B moved to a new cabinet in October.
What worked instead:
- Location-first checklists. Step one names the cabinet, drawer, and colour label before describing the task.
- Shadowing before solo work. Even one half-day pairing prevents the most expensive errors — wrong client folder, missed stamp.
- A single phone point. Temps call one named person, not whoever answers. Rotating that duty daily creates confusion.
Temp staff are not the problem. Procedures written for permanent team members are. Adjust the document for the reader you actually have in January.