We can all use a helping hand from time to time and a Virtual Assistant is an excellent way to smooth out the rough areas in your workflows and fill gaps in your business needs without having to scale up staff. On the fence? Here are four tips for maximizing your efficiency with virtual assistants when you get one.
Communication Is Key
We all know it, but so often we forget it in our day-to-day lives. Keeping in contact with your virtual assistant is essential for setting out goals, managing workloads, and exploring what all your virtual assistant can take off your plate.
Communication can take many forms from emails to phone calls and video chats, but it is crucial to organize at least weekly communications to maximize the value of your relationship.
At SML, our virtual assistants are excellent at anticipating your needs, but we’re not mind readers. Everyone has their own way of conducting business. Explain yours clearly up front when you contract with a new virtual assistant and you’ll find it saves you time in miscommunication and revision later.
Share!
Working through a dedicated, shared timekeeping and project managing software works wonders for streamlining all your interactions with your virtual assistant. SML has had great success with keeping business owners and their virtual assistants engaged with Teamwork, Monday, Slack, Asana, and more. Don’t have a CRM system? A good virtual assistant should be able to help you set one up. At SML, we can.
It’s also important to make sure your virtual assistant has all the log ins, payment information, and process documents that they will need to help you with social media, scheduling, and any other tasks you may need their skillset for. This is sensitive information, but—if you’ve built up a relationship of communication and trust—it should never feel awkward to share.
Virtual Assistant agencies, like SML, will usually undergo background checks! Ask about how passwords and sensitive information will be kept and who has access. At SML, all passwords or sensitive information is stored in password-protected files that are only available to the team members working on their tasks.
Build the Skillset You Value
It seems so obvious, but it’s easy to forget that the people on the other end of an email or a phone line are just that. People. And people naturally mirror the actions of their peers. You will get more out of your relationship with a virtual assistant if you demonstrate that you care about your business and are willing to work hard for it and give your virtual assistant everything they need to do their best work for you.
Also, never underestimate the power of positive feedback. Give compliments on the work that’s done well and you’d like to see done even better. Be constructive in any tweaks to workflows that are needed and suggest alternatives and your relationship will pay dividends. Work hard, care, and communicate and your virtual assistant will too.
Stick With It
Having a virtual assistant is an investment that pays off over time in less stress on you and more efficiency for your business. It’s important that once you’ve made the choice to retain a virtual assistant, you stick with that relationship and grow it. Hopping between virtual assistants frequently means more time spent re-setting expectations, building rapport, and establishing workflow.
However, if something simply isn’t working with your current virtual assistant, that’s when you call SML to see what we can do for you.
Σχόλια