Preparing your business to work with a Virtual Assistant is vital to a successful working relationship between the two of you. Companies of all sizes can utilize the services of a VA in various ways.  Here are some suggestions to get you started:

Determine which tasks you want to outsource to your VA:  Knowing which tasks to hand over to your virtual assistant can make a big difference in the success that you experience. Create a list to determine exactly what it is you want a VA to do for you and prioritize the tasks that are most important. This list will most likely expand as you become more comfortable with your VA and realize they can do a lot more than what you initially thought.

Interview: Just as you would interview an in-house employee, it is important to interview a Virtual Assistant to make sure he/she is a good fit for your company. Before you start interviewing, research the Virtual Assistant industry to help you understand what to expect and what questions to ask. Review their website, ask for references from clients, have them share examples of their work, ask about their skills, etc.

Have realistic expectations: A good virtual assistant wants to be able to meet your needs in a timely manner, in the way that you would like. Be upfront about deadlines and timelines and make sure you set up processes that work for both you and your VA. Be respectful of your VA’s time and work schedule, if you’ve arranged to hire a VA for 20 hours a month, don’t expect them to do 40 hours of work.

Communication: Your virtual assistant will have many tools at their disposal for communicating with you but not all these tools may work for you. Convey your preferred method of communication along with your availability to answer phone calls, respond to emails, etc. Create clear lines of communication between your VA and anyone else who may be interacting with him/her inside your company.

Business Resources and Tools: You may already have some tools and resources that the virtual assistant will need to use. Create a list of these resources with relevant login details, as necessary, and assign a contact person should the virtual assistant need help with getting started with any of the tools. If you know what you want to get done but do not have the tools, don’t worry – your virtual assistant will be able to make recommendations.  

I’m always happy to chat about the Virtual Assistant industry, answer any questions and help you determine if hiring a VA is right for you and your business.

Until next time,

All the best,

Jo