Hiring anyone -- a Virtual Assistant, an employee or a freelancer -- can come with a fair share of concerns about how to manage.
But, these challenges have simple solutions.
1) How do I communicate with my Virtual Assistant?: Since you cannot pop over to your VA's cubicle, communication needs to be more purposeful. And, there's only so much that can be efficiently conveyed in an email. We recommend using a communications tool like Slack, Fleep or Chanty. At Virtual Assist USA, we also allow clients to choose how they wish to communicate with their VA on a regular basis, whether that's a phone call, a Zoom meeting or a text message.
2) How do I allocate tasks and monitor progress? Your VA can recommend a project management tool will help you to:
Allocate projects and tasks with detailed descriptions and files.
Set clear deadlines, number of hours allocated, task dependencies.
Check the status of your projects – in list or Kanban-style views.
Enable collaboration between your VAs and other team members
3) How can I place my trust in my Virtual Assistant? This is the most common challenge that is faced when you have a mobile workforce. So how do you really know when they're working, or what they're working on? With a company like Virtual Assist USA, you have access to a dashboard where you can see the time logged down to the minute along with projects and milestones. Our system includes tracking mouse and keyboard activity, as well, to ensure that you're only billed for the time when the employee is actually working.
Hiring an assistant to become more productive and grow your business is no longer a luxury or a rarity-- it's close to becoming a necessity if you want to have much of a work/life balance. By following the guidelines above to manage your Virtual Assistant, you can make the process easy and smooth.