Tag: working with virtual assistant

Why Setting Deadlines Matters for You and Your Virtual Assistant

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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.

Setting Reasonable Expectations With Your Virtual Assistant

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As someone who hired a virtual assistant, you should be aware of your boundaries when dealing with them. Indeed, they are totally flexible compared to the office-based workers you have in your firm at present, but remember that they are still humans that deserve to be treated with due consideration.

There should be no discrepancy in terms of dealing with either remote or office worker. They also get tired, their skills may be limited to certain fields, and you cannot push them to produce something unimaginable or time will not allow.

One good situation to explain the aforementioned thought is this:

Anna just hired a social media manager for her accounts, specifically on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. The virtual assistant or the person, whom she assigned the tasks to, is Julie. Indeed, Julie has this relevant experience in marketing via social media platforms. However, Anna set an impossible goal: Julie must see to it that with one hour every day, her social media accounts have at least one fresh post. Furthermore, the VA must be able to engage with people on her account.

The end result? Julie appeared to have failed the expectations of Anna although she deserves to be provided with more hours to prove her skills.

What Anna asked for is totally unachievable, given the fact social media posts may be easily lodged onto someone’s account, but it does not mean that these only take minutes to be created. Be reminded that creating content for social media accounts requires careful research, analysis of one’s industry, consideration of the target audience, determination of the client’s wants for the posting, content writing, and graphic design. Apparently, these tasks will never take an hour.

Also, engaging with people on one’s account will not last a few minutes at all. There are cases that inquiries may even call for coordination with the management itself or other departments of the firm. For instance, the questions are relative to products or services on hand, which the Virtual Assistant may not be able to respond to accordingly without further confirmation of information.

Be reminded that when setting expectations with your virtual assistant, it is best to have a meeting with him or her and clarify things out. For instance, you could ask the VA to give you an estimate of hours for the work completion. To be assured that you are not being led on (i.e. for the VA to acquire more hours than necessary), require a concrete explanation on how the hours will be spent.

You will know that a virtual assistant is telling the truth based on how they give details on their steps. They will certainly provide you with specific activities entailed on the task you have given and their corresponding required time.

From this perspective, you can see that setting expectations is also accompanied by trust – trust that your virtual assistant will work accordingly without spending more time when not necessary.

Importance of Setting a Schedule With Your Client

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There are a lot of problems arising when there is no consistency or set of standards followed when working with a client. As a virtual assistant, you should remember that at times, it is you, who should be taking the first step in ensuring problems will come out of a lack of organization. One good example is when you do not agree upon a schedule with your client.

It is true that there are virtual assistants who tend to work on a flexible schedule. It does work for some, but there are instances, it will not.

One good way of explaining this is with an example situation:

Imogen and Claire just started working last week. The former is the client in this circumstance, wherein Claire is the virtual assistant. Apparently, Imogen complained about not getting responses from Claire via their chosen messaging platform last Friday. However, when Claire’s side was obtained, it was found out that she already worked beyond her hours, which is four hours per day. It is also added that Claire informed Imogen that she will be starting her work at 9:00 A.M. PST, but the client is complaining of not having a response by night time at 10:00 P.M. PST.

After further investigation, Imogen has been used to sending messages to Claire almost the whole day from Monday to Thursday, while the virtual assistant has no complaint in attending to it. In other words, the client got used to getting replies and at one time, she did not receive one, she already panicked.

If you will analyze the situation above, it is apparent that lack of schedule could result in unnecessary complaints and unfair treatment to the virtual assistant (though this is not the intention of the client). There must be a boundary all the time, and the best solution is a strict schedule to follow. In such way, the client will be aware that the virtual assistant is obligated to respond during her working hours. On the other hand, he or she has the freedom not to respond to client’s inquiries not until her next shift.

Clients should be aware that a virtual assistant is not a round-the-clock employee. They may work in a flexible manner, but they also have the right to obtain some hours of personal privacy away from work.

Of course, virtual assistants, most of the time, should initiate setting up a schedule. It is one way of protecting one’s self from the aforementioned issue. One cannot blame the clients all the time, for once you get them adapt to a certain routine, they will definitely anticipate it to occur going forward.

Communication: A Key to Effective Virtual Work (Client’s Perspective)

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Previously, we have discussed how important communication is when you are a virtual worker. Apparently, without it, you will not be able to survive the online industry at all, for you will not just waste a lot of job opportunities. In truth, you will also fail to build a reputation for yourself as a reliable home-based employee.

Now, it is not just about the virtual worker itself, or even if we are talking about a virtual assistant. Take note that communication requires a two-way relationship. Thus, even the employer or a virtual worker’s client has the obligation to maintain good communication.

There are so many instances that a client-employee relationship ends due to failure in effective communication. However, one should not deduce that it is only about the worker. Remember, as mentioned above, it is a two-way requirement. Thus, there are certainly cases that communication fails on the part of the client.

To give you proofs, given below are common situations:

Client fails to provide a complete picture of what he or she wants to be done. This is common during the hiring process of virtual workers. There are times that clients do not provide a complete list of requirements. As a result, they are incapable of finding a good talent for their operations or a simple project.

Although they may find someone despite the vague job description, in the end, this will cause a loophole to develop. It is either the employee will give up for he or she is being blamed for an incorrect output despite the fact it has been the wrongdoing of the client in the first place – not explaining things enough.

Be reminded that if you are a client, you should be as specific as possible in elaborating your needs for a virtual worker. You cannot just say, “I need a good web developer.” There are various programming languages and platforms that such a person could be proficient in. Also, for certain, you are in need of a specific web development skill.

One good example is, you actually need a WordPress expert. If you do not indicate this, you may end up with an inexperienced web developer, who will be going through a lot of practice first before knowing every nook of WordPress.

Client does not even consider to touch base with his or her virtual worker. Take note that work is not all about sending a task and expecting it to be carried out. You should also develop a good relationship with your employee by maintaining a regular communication with him or her.

You are not obligated to actually connect with them every now and then.  The only thing is, you should at least check if he or she is doing well with his or her work, or confirm if there are no issues on their end.

This is not all about being compassionate about your people. Instead, it is about ensuring that everything is on track.

There are times that virtual workers tend to assume (which is entirely wrong, but you cannot blame them all the time), especially when their clients are not reachable at all times or they do not even give the hint that their employees could get their assistance. This is regardless if they will respond or not right away.

Client does not provide a straightforward feedback. You should know that virtual workers are aware that their work could be criticized for their own benefit. It is not solely about telling that something is done incorrectly and your employee should find the mishap himself or herself.

As much as possible, use communication to explain everything that has gone wrong with the output. Provide constructive criticism. This is not a complete waste of time, for it will provide you advantages in the long run. The more you give clearer feedback, the more your virtual workers would be able to identify your style, needs, and wants.

Client provides limited communication leeway for his or her virtual worker. This may be trivial for some, but it is totally helpful. As a client, you should not only provide your virtual worker one communication platform to speak with one another. You should at least provide two. A good example is providing them tasks via e-mail so that you could write everything down effectively and assisting them via a messaging platform of your choice.

Some make a mistake by relying on e-mail alone. As a result, their virtual workers do not get immediate responses or just replies to their inquiries, delaying whatever has to be carried out. Furthermore, e-mails could stack with one another, and admit it or not, clients are mostly not frequent visitors of their inboxes.

Thus, if you really aim to assist your virtual worker to make things work, agree on another communication platform. Well, you got a lot of options around. You got Skype, Messenger, Viber, WhatsApp, Zoom, Slack, etc.

The aforementioned situations are only a few of many instances that could prove communication does fail on the client’s end, too.

Once you have established a good communication with your virtual workers, there is no doubt that you could maximize their abilities for your own benefit or your business’.

Top Tips for Working With a Virtual Assistant

Top Tips for Working With a Virtual Assistant

Many are skeptical about hiring a Virtual Assistant due to the fact they are thinking that the mode of employer-employee relationship will take time to learn. In truth, there is little to no difference between an in-house staff and a Virtual Assistant. Studying how to work with a Virtual Assistant will not waste your time either.

If you want to jumpstart getting the most out of your recently employed Virtual Assistant, given below are tips that would definitely help you:

Set Boundaries and Expectations. You should be reminded that even if Virtual Assistants are working remotely, they cannot simply work with no specific hours unless of course, their tasks would allow such setup.

Nonetheless, if you will definitely require a Virtual Assistant to assist you during your business’ operations, you should set a specific schedule for him or her to follow every day. This will make the communication between you and your Virtual Assistant hassle-free.

Relative to reaching out to your Virtual Assistant, you should agree on whatever medium you will use to send her messages. For instance, you may speak to her via chat or e-mail.

In addition, you should at least establish a list of tasks he or she will carry out daily. Although there are times that he or she may receive urgent activity from you, there should be routine tasks that he or she can work on so you can take advantage of his or her assistance. Remember, you are not always there to delegate activities.

Establish Trust and Relationship First. Before you actually let a Virtual Assistant handle sensitive or large projects for your company, there is nothing better than establishing trust and relationship first.

Be reminded that your operations will work smoothly if both of you are feeling comfortable with each other.

Get to know your Virtual Assistant. Find out her strengths and weaknesses. This will help you gauge what responsibilities would fit her best.

Provide Clear Instructions. Most executives who hire Virtual Assistants fail to maximize the advantages of having a remote employee due to the failure of providing concise instructions. Although it may take time at first for you to establish the steps for your Virtual Assistant, you will definitely reap benefits from doing so since mistakes can be prevented at all costs.

Be Patient. Virtual Assistants, just like any other in-house employee, undergo adjustment. If you are trying to establish a relationship with him or her, he or she is definitely measuring you as well to work more effectively.

Keep the Communication Open Always. Without effective communication, all else will fail when you are working with a Virtual Assistant. Apart from getting updates about the work you have delegated, you should also consider if he or she is having problems.

Virtual Assistants are trained to overcommunicate, which is why this will never be an issue while working. High communication will provide you a lot of benefits, such as ongoing improvement in your Virtual Assistant’s performance.

The following tips above are just a few you can consider when working with a Virtual Assistant. By getting a grasp of the strategies of creating a harmonious relationship with your remote staff, you would definitely obtain more than reduced manpower cost.