Imagine yourself surrounded with praises. People, family, and friends praise you for owning your company and running everything such smoothly. And yet, deep inside you know how frustrated you are dealing with petty tasks alone. Doesn’t it appear like there are not enough hours in the day to get all things done? We know it does. You wouldn’t have been here if it didn’t.
Spreading your wings in a sky of rising competition can be difficult when your venture is young. In this situation, having an extra set of hands in the form of a Virtual Assistant makes sense. A Virtual Assistant is a trained professional and the ultimate multi-tasker who can help you run your business more efficiently and make your life easier by TENFOLD.
How is a Virtual Assistant Useful?
Well, to begin with, all your worries and stresses about the extra branches of your work will be handed over to a more professional and trustworthy someone. All just like that.
One of the best parts of having a VIRTUAL assistant is that you never need to worry about the undesirable dreadful office politics (oh come on, that’s a reality. Not talking about it will not change it).
Virtual Assistants are responsible for tasks such as email management and spreadsheet maintenance. Daily tasks such as answering phones, entering data, managing payroll, and communicating with clients and vendors result in increased productivity for you. When you hire a dependable virtual assistant, you will have more energy to focus on growth.
7 simple steps and you’re with your virtual assistant.
Enlist the tasks
Even if you are competent at them or like doing them, the work you need to outsource may be low-value chores that do not maximize your time. Although they can be the hardest to outsource, they can significantly improve your workflow. Tasks that you don’t want to complete are another kind. You don’t particularly appreciate or like working on these assignments.
And last, there are tasks for which you lack the necessary expertise.
Other than high-value jobs that you enjoy and are competent at, outsourcing other work is entirely acceptable and makes more sense. Making a list of the jobs and procedures that need to be done in your company may make it simpler for you to choose which ones to assign.
Document a Job Description
Hiring a Virtual assistant may seem like a petty task. The next step is to write a job description for the role that will be responsible for the tasks. Tasks requiring specialized skills should not be included in a General Virtual Assistant’s job description. Furthermore, all tasks assigned to a General Virtual Assistant should be of a similar skill level. This justifies the same hourly rate.
The job description should include background information about your company, such as your industry, products/services, and who your customers are. It should also specify the level of education, skills, and experience required. Make a list of duties as well as any tools, apps, or software that the VA will be required to use.
Give it time and shortlist the VAs
Let your carefully crafted job description sit on the platform or feel free to head toward your social media accounts to share it. Once you get a ripe amount of candidates approaching your JD, press a pause on the number. We recommend narrowing down the number to 15 candidates.
Examine the applications that come your way and interview the top 5 to 10 candidates. Video interviews are ideal because they allow you to read the VA’s facial expressions. This allows you to determine whether or not you like someone and whether or not you can get along with them. It is a red flag if someone is unwilling to do a video interview. You should avoid hiring them for your work.
When interviewing each person, avoid only asking about their skills and work experience. Don’t limit yourself and feel free to ask questions like,
i) What are your objectives and interests?
ii) How do you prefer to be worked with and managed?
iii) What are your advantages and disadvantages?
iv) Are you comfortable working with a management tool?
v) what is your average turnaround time?
Such inquiries will assist you in better comprehending your virtual assistant.
Mini-test your Virtual Assistant
This might seem like an extra step and hassle to others but it will make sense when you are going through a number of “good and eligible” candidates. Ask the VAs to perform a mini task in a specific timeframe then and there. This will help you determine your ideal virtual assistant.
Share your Expectations
Virtual assistants exist to literally meet all your expectations in fact go beyond them. It is a wise move to set your expectations before you get anything official. Now, definitely, your virtual assistant will also bear some from you which is absolutely considerable. When both of you are at the table to discuss terms, make sure to allow your VA to share his/her expectations with you. It’s only fair, professional, and reasonable on your part.
Pick and rock with your virtual assistant
Now that you have successfully gotten yourself aboard your ideal Virtual assistant, it’s time to get the petty yet important tasks done. By this time your virtual assistant knows the objectives. Similarly, you understand the VA well. According to the Hire Virtual Experts, it is a good idea to have them recap your instructions to ensure that they are on the same page. Consider documenting your company’s standards, style guide, and other guidelines – everything your VA needs to do a good job. It is worth noting that even the most experienced virtual assistant is only as good as your instructions.
When assigning a time-sensitive task, be specific about the deadline. Make it clear whether you expect the assistant to report to you every day, once a week, or once every set period of time. Make a note of any task deadlines that are staggered.
Another critical aspect is to avoid micromanagement. You can certainly spend time training your VA and closely monitoring their work the first time they perform. However, once that is completed and all of the task parameters have been established, you must relinquish control and allow your virtual assistant to do their job. Believe in collaboration!
Keep your VAs accountable
One of the cons of working with the VAs is your inability to closely monitor them and fully trust them with sensitive tasks. Some of the controlling CEOs feel the urge to be aware of every second of their VA’s doing. But a good CEO will grant the space and time to let the virtual assistant thrive. We advise you to hold your virtual assistant accountable for the first week or so. Once you see the pace is set and the relationship is made, pick up the accountability barrier and see the wonders of magic your virtual assistant can do for you.
There are some great project management tools like Asana, Trello, Monday.com that allow you to have an eye on each and every task going on.
Wrapping Up
It is not a hidden fact that business owners and entrepreneurs think that everything can easily be handled by them. Though it’s not true, mostly they end up being burnt out and caught up doing minute tasks becoming unable to focus on the real deal.
This is why virtual assistants exist. Their sole purpose is to ease up your life and let you focus on the task with the most attention. Luckily, the world today has provided an edge to busy entrepreneurs. By following the 7 above-mentioned steps, you can easily let a professional make your life easy and breezy. Now get done with your important meetings, go home to your family and let your virtual assistant worry about the rest.
