Teams evolve – that’s how It works in both business and sports. One of the best routes to take
in order to evolve your team and amp your business up would be to hire a virtual assistant.
Virtual assistants are extremely helpful due to the fact that they are capable of taking on tasks
that you really don’t want to do. In return, this helps to free up some time so that you can focus
on other aspects of your business.
Working with a virtual assistant isn’t always going to be easy – this is a learned skill, and if we
might add, a very helpful one. Learning to successfully work with your VA is going to be
beneficial to the partnership.
Today, we are here to share some of our ideas that will give you a head start on your
partnership and keep both you and your assistant on the right path.
Here are some tips that will make you feel as if your assistant is sitting in the same room as you:
Establish Your Workflow in the Beginning
When you first speak with the virtual assistant, make sure you have established the workflow.
Address those specific issues such as the hours you would like the VA to be available, as well as
the level of responsiveness you’re looking for. If the VA is capable of sending daily, weekly, or
monthly updates of the tasks they have completed and how long each task took, that would be
a great idea. Figure out a shared work environment you feel comfortable with, like Dropbox,
Google docs, or some other system, and stick with it.
Make Sure Your Expectations are Clear
Not stating exactly what you need can confuse your VA and limit their effectiveness. For this
reason, you need to speak directly with the assistant and make sure you’re clear. We
recommend writing it all down – start by writing out your goals in the partnership and how you
would like to work. Instead of telling the virtual assistant what you don’t want them to do,
focus on telling them what you would like them to do. It is important that you realize there are
going to be ups and downs, and don’t look at it as if it’s a bad thing. The more accepting you are
of the realities behind transition, the easier and faster the transition is going to be.
Make Sure Your Instructions are Detailed
Be specific. Don’t just assume. You want your VA to know enough about your company to be
able to do the job correctly, and it is going to take some education. The more detail you are
able to share with them, they more they’re going to understand what you need. There are
many ways to complete a task with different industry standards – your VA isn’t going to know
your standard unless you communicate with them and tell them exactly what you expect. If you
have a step-by-step breakdown, this will make things a whole lot easier.
Conclusion
You see, working with your virtual assistant isn’t going to be hard, just make sure you’re open
to communication and treat them with the same respect you expect in return.