How to Utilize a Virtual Assistant

Working with a Virtual Assistant can be a very rewarding experience both financially and professionally. A Virtual Assistant can help you organise your business and your life, while also opening up excellent time-leveraging and time-management benefits that would otherwise have not been possible. Having said that, if you are engaging a Virtual Assistant for the first time, you need to be aware of what it takes to do this successfully.

Firstly, you need to remember that many of the normal staffing rules still apply. For example, the basic rules of human motivation still exist in the virtual world. You Virtual Assistant needs to be trained, managed and monitored just as if they were in your office with you. A virtual Assistant is not a piece of software. It is not something that you simply purchase, pay your monthly fee and hope that it all works out. Your Virtual Assistant needs to be praised when they do excellent work, and reprimanded when their work falls below a predetermined standard.

Here are our top 5 tips to assist you in the set-up of the business relationship with your Virtual Assistant:

1. Create a job description
2. Develop a training manual
o Ideally this manual will contain text, video training files and links to online resources such as a knowledge base
3. Train your Virtual Assistant
o This does not mean conduct a 2 hour lecture. This means;
o Show your Virtual Assistant how to do the allocated tasks
o Watch them do the tasks in front of you (via online meeting)
o Watch your Virtual Assistant complete tasks until they are doing it the way it should be done
4. Develop Key Performance e Indicators to quantify what doing a “good job” actually means
5. Sign up to CRM or workflow software that automates your Virtual Assistants role. Set up recurring tasks and recurring meetings
o One of the main reasons for utilising a virtual assistant is to leverage your time. With this in mind, you do not want to be micromanaging a Virtual Assistant.
o Example include Zoho CRM and Sugar CRM

Now that you have set –up the relationship well, you need to ensure that you are managing your Virtual assistant well each and every week.

Manage your Virtual assistant on an ongoing basis. Here are out top 3 tips for ongoing management.

1. Set a daily or weekly online meeting – and turn up!
2. Develop a monthly report template for your Virtual Assistant to complete
o This will act as a “cheques and balances” quality control mechanism for the Virtual Assistant role
3. Refine their job description and role as they begin to master the existing tasks
4. This services tow purposes
5. Firstly, it ensures that your Virtual Assistant remains motivated and interested in the role
6. Secondly, it allows you to leverage even more time

Make the most of your Virtual Assistant. Be sure to set up the relationship well from the start and remember…they are people, not software.

 

When you hire a virtual assistant you get all the benefits of outsourcing. Most of them are already computer trained and can assist with your specific needs. Thanks for sharing!

 

Exactly Alfred, you can manage your own virtual assistant in your own. And help your business easier. But anyhow, having virtual assistant has many things to consider specially money. But still it gives you a full benefit of your business having your own VA.


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Task on Tap division of PA Everyday

 

Its really useful to have a virtual assistant to help us. Like what they say, we should work 'on' the business not 'in' the business. We should spend our time elsewhere. we can also train our VAs to hire a whole team for us.

 

i didnt engage a virtual assistant before, is it effective? any experienced business owners care to share their views?

 

I've had good luck with oDesk and have one bit of advice to offer: have a standardized test project to give you an option for comparative analysis when first starting out. Comprehension and internet connection speed tend to vary wildly. I also like to send a personal email with a few non-standard interview questions to see how their conversational English is - a lot of standard interview questions get what sounds like a pre-written canned response. I tend to hire contractors who have a track record with the company.