There are endless possibilities with working with a virtual assistant, and it has never been a better time to work with a virtual team. You may be wondering, ‘how does a business owner work with a virtual team?’
I have listed seven key steps on building and having a great working relationship with an Executive Virtual Assistant.
1. Identify what you want to outsource
Before reaching out to a virtual assistant, identify what you want to outsource. Get clear on your own area of genius and the tasks you are less passionate about. It is important to outsource tasks that take up a lot of your time and effort, you can then determine what you should be spending your time on. If there are tasks in your business that you love doing, make you excited and are the main focus of your business, they might be something you wish to do yourself. A way to find this out is to make a list of tasks that you currently do and still need to do for your business. Then highlight what you can outsource.
2. Documentation and Systems
Before hiring a virtual assistant, it is important to have everything ready at your end. Make sure you have everything documented in a ‘Standard Procedures’ document. Listing required information, passwords, links to platforms the business uses, how to’s, templates and anything that is useful. This can be done in a word or google document. In the weeks before onboarding, make notes or video record any tasks that you do that you are going to pass on. This will take the pressure off yourself, and make the process easier for your new team member. However, if you don’t have systems or processes in place that’s ok, that is something a VA can help you set up.
3. Finding your Virtual Assistant
Now that you have a clear vision of what tasks you wish to outsource, it’s time to find your virtual assistant. Type up your requirements and have it ready to send out. There are a number of places to find a virtual assistant. When receiving applications or talking to potential candidates, pay attention to details. The time it took to apply, punctuation, grammar, business research and connection. Arranging a video interview is highly recommended, it’s a great way to read a person and get a clear idea of how they work. It’s also important to find someone who has similar values and someone that you feel would be a good fit for your business.
4. Time for onboarding
When starting with a virtual team member, set time aside for onboarding. Have all your documentation and systems ready to go over together. Introduce everything via a video call to your new team member. Be clear with what you expect and the tasks that will be required. This starts the relationship off on a clear positive note because everyone will be on the same page.
5. Communication is key
As a director, you have to be clear on the tasks that you want to be completed. For example, communicate via email/Trello what you need done and provide the resources that the virtual assistant will need to complete the task. Make sure that you are clear in your communication so that nothing will be missed or completed incorrectly.
6. Plan ahead
Have a list of tasks ready for the week ahead. It would be really beneficial to send them to your team on a Friday so that they are ready on Monday to get started. This will result in high-quality productivity, as your team isn’t waiting on Monday for tasks to do.
7. Review and feedback
When reviewing your team’s work ensure you provide feedback, most virtual assistants love hearing feedback. It’s a great chance for them to learn and take on the feedback to improve or know that they’ve done it correctly. This helps build a great team environment and better productivity.
These steps will help build a wonderful virtual relationship for your business.
Are you ready to take the next step?
I’d love to help you run your business as your highly efficient Virtual Executive Assistant. To book a complimentary consultation complete the contact form, email me on steph@virtualassociateservices.com.au or call me on 0451584 288.