In the virtual assistance world, it is common that clients let their virtual assistants decide when to actually finish their work – somehow providing them this chance to be proactive and independent. Nonetheless, do you know that setting deadlines also have its considerable perks for both parties?

There are some cases that without a deadline, your expectations may not meet at all. You may suddenly need the work in a couple of days, whereas your virtual assistant has not been able to begin with the task given he or she thought it could wait for a week or so. This contradiction could be prevented with the help of deadlines. It is not a school type of rule, for it also conveys a lot of things ideal for your employer-employee relationship.

To give you ideas, provided below are facts supporting why deadlines matter for you and your virtual assistant:

Planning is being welcomed. Due to the lack of deadlines, the essence of planning is often disregarded. Remember, planning is highly detrimental to the success of a certain project. If your virtual assistant will not be provided ample time to plan out, things could end up with revisions or less than likely output for you or your firm.

If you will set deadlines, your virtual assistant could consolidate his or her other tasks with the concerned project. He or she may also outline his or her schedule efficiently in order to give way to the execution of activities needed. No more multitasking, which has been proven to be unexpectedly ineffective.

Late submissions are reduced. When you set deadlines, you have the power to make a submission earlier than needed. For instance, you need a presentation for the upcoming board meeting in four days. Instead of actually requiring your virtual assistant to deliver the presentation a day before the board meeting, you may simply give him or her two days to complete it. In other words, by the second day, he or she should have given you the work.

There will be no more procrastination on both ends. You can even pave way for revisions or changes since there is still a considerable time left for those.

Improved speed in production is being endorsed. Since you will limit the time your virtual assistant has to use in completing a task, you will also support him or her in increasing his or her pace in production. Whenever deadlines are absent, VAs tend to relax and set time limits according to their convenience. This is not a good thing for it closes the door for improvement.

The aforementioned three points prove that deadline, no matter how trivial it may sound for you, is totally necessary despite how trustworthy or reliable your virtual assistant is. It only takes a minute or less to decide when you need a certain work from your employee; definitely, it will not waste your time, but the contrary once you practice setting deadlines.