If you are a business owner who feels there doesn’t seem to be enough time in a day to finish all your tasks and still be productive, you might be feeling a little bit overwhelmed. In this case, hiring a Virtual Assistant could be the answer to all your problems. Virtual Assistants will help you free up precious hours so that you can direct all your attention to growing your business and generating revenue.
However, most people can’t wrap their heads around the idea of working with someone with who they cannot be physically present. This might pose a problem when it comes to your working relationship with your Virtual Assistant. To address that, here are some tips on how to work effectively with your VA.
1. Prioritize Communication with your Virtual Assistant
When you are working with a Virtual Assistant, especially if it’s your first, you must make communication with your VA a priority. Some Virtual Assistants may want to impress business owners by just doing the job and not asking relevant and important questions about the project. Make sure that you encourage your VA to always ask questions and clarifications. Emphasize to your VA that you appreciate open and honest communication between yourselves. This will save time and mistakes are addressed immediately.
2. Provide Clear Instructions to your Virtual Assistant
Nothing ruins a good working relationship with your Virtual Assistant than unintelligible instructions for a task. When you are giving instructions, make sure that it is clear and concise and that the VA understood what you meant. Again, good communication is the key. Moreover, be honest and transparent when it comes to the work output of your Virtual Assistant. If you think that the task is incomplete or is not done properly, address it right away.
3. Strengthen Rapport with your Virtual Assistant
Given the amount of workload or the stress of the job itself, creating a friendly environment is definitely worth the time and effort. Being polite and gracious, especially when giving out instructions, is very much appreciated. Remember that Virtual Assistants are humans too. They are more likely to perform effectively if you treat them with respect and kindness.
4. Respect Their Time
Think of Virtual Assistants as self-employed individuals and not as your regular employee. Most business owners often forget that VAs are paid by the hours that they render on the tasks and still give them jobs beyond their agreed working hours. Also, scheduling conference calls or meetings and then canceling them at the last minute could show that you do not value the time that the Virtual Assistant set aside for you.
5. Share Your Expectations to your Virtual Assistant
Be transparent about your expectations from them and your relationship. If you need certain tasks done within a given time frame, make sure that your Virtual Assistant is aware of that from the beginning. Prepare a list of the tasks and responsibilities that you want your VA to handle, to keep them from guessing how they can help you.
Over the years, Virtual Assistants have become an asset to a lot of businesses. From large companies to start-up ones, hiring a Virtual Assistant is the most cost-effective and straightforward answer to amplify your company’s potential in different areas. Virtual Assistants can save you hours of work in a day if you know how to make the most of your relationship with them. So try and follow these tips and see how you both positively benefit from this work experience.
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For your virtual assistant needs, contact SL Virtual Services, and let's talk about how we can help you grow your business.