Best Practices for Working with a Virtual Assistant

Once you begin working with a Virtual Assistant, it's important that you are seeing the ROI. Here are 4 tips and best practices for working with a Virtual Assistant from the experts at Virtual Assist USA to make sure it is a successful, productive and valuable relationship:

1. Provide time for onboarding

Don't unreasonably expect your Virtual Assistant to be fully ramped up on the very first day. Realistically speaking, it takes about two to three weeks for a Virtual Assistant to become familiar with your business to the point where they have valuable context around your business, company goals, and clients.

2. Overcommunicate

Take the time at the outset to schedule daily check-ins via Slack, phone call, video or even a few quick texts to review any questions they have from the day, and discuss any outstanding issues or projects from the day or week. This is an opportunity to catch any potential issues before they arise and, equally as important, develop a relationship with your VA.

3. Provide proper instructions and operating procedures

Take the time to write out detailed instructional documents for each of the tasks they'll be working on. It's a best practice to take screenshots or even record video captures and include them in your documents. Once this document is done, meet with your Virtual Assistant over phone or Zoom for a comprehensive training session where you walk through each area of the document. An experienced Virtual Assistant will also be able to make proactive suggestions here, such as ways that you can perform a task faster or cheaper or with an automation software.

4. Have realistic expectations

Your Virtual Assistant is a shared resource. This means they have other client work on their plate and their job is to properly and adequately prioritize tasks and projects. The more integrated your Virtual Assistant feels into your company, the more they'll be invested in producing work that aligns with your values and goals.

Give yourself a break and do the work that counts -- your revenue growth, your strategic vision. Consider hiring a Virtual Assistant and see what they can do for your well-being and professional growth.