How to Get Started with a Virtual Assistant

You’ve finally hired a Virtual Assistant and it’s going to be great, but how do you get started? Some VAs will give you instructions on how to prepare for your first meeting together, but in case they don’t, I’ve got you covered!

How to Prepare

Providing Access

Decide how you’d like to communicate and make sure your VA has your email address (I can’t imagine they wouldn’t, but…). Give them your Slack, your Voxer, and possibly your cell for emergencies. Let your VA know what hours you will be available.

If you’re planning to have a long-term relationship with your VA, you should consider creating a Gmail account for them. If you both use Google Workspace, you’ll be able to share documents, calendars, and forms. Most importantly, you’ll be able to access your VA’s account, so if your VA is on vacation and you need something, the info will be accessible to you—or if you and your VA part ways, all documents and correspondence will belong to you.

Give your VA access to all the accounts and platforms they’ll need to complete tasks, like Asana, Canva, Hootsuite, Quickbooks, and your social media platforms. Be sure to set the permissions so that your VA has the ability to do things like scheduling social media posts or adding clients to your CRM.

To give your VA access to multiple accounts, it’s best to use a password manager tool like LastPass. Taking this extra safety precausion will protect your passwords, allow you to track logins, and cancel access should the need arise.

Considering Tasks

Make a list of the tasks you envision your VA performing. Then, create a spreadsheet, putting the tasks into three categories.

1. Tasks you hate

2. Tasks that must be accurate or are time-sensitive, or both

3. Tasks you love but aren’t skilled at doing

Some tasks might fit into more than one category, but start with tasks that only fit Category 1. Choose tasks that aren’t as affected by the small errors that come with performing a task for the first time.

Create SOPs for each of the tasks. By taking your VA through each step in writing, you’ll make it easier for them to learn—and having a document to refer back to will mean fewer moments of confusion. Plus, if there comes a time when someone else will need to do that task, you’ll be ahead of the game.

Now, this is not to say that your VA won’t need direction. During the meeting, spend some time sharing your screen to let them see how each task is done. Be available to answer questions. You may even want to make a loom video for them to refer back to.

Once your VA is up to speed, give them a task from Category 2. When they’ve mastered that, add another task. This is how you avoid overwhelming them and ensure that tasks don’t bounce back to you.

Check your VA’s work—at least the first few times they complete tasks—to make sure they understand and are completing the work acurately. Kindly let the VA know what they need to pay extra attention to. Also let them know when they’re doing a great job!

Since your VA is learning something new (not just the task, but your preferred way of completing it and documenting it), it will probably take more time from start to finish. They will be slower than you and that’s to be expected. You’re experienced and have done that task repeatedly. Please be patient and give your VA a chance to grow comfortable. In about a month, you’ll be so happy. It’s worth it, I promise!

Set up a weekly check-in time. One 15-minute call a week is sometimes all it takes to clarify priorities. Let your VA know you’re available to them, expecially in these early stages. It’s normal to have a few kinks to work out, but if you take the time to be supportive, you and your VA will grow into an efficient team.

If this all feels overwhelming, you might consider outsourcing the VA onboarding process. If you’d like to learn more about this process, contact me and we’ll talk it over.

Best wishes as you take a huge step towards the work/life balance you deserve!

How to Hire a Virtual Assistant

You’re a small business owner who’s been working on your own. You’re starting to see results from your efforts and that’s encouraging, but you’re also feeling overwhelmed. You’re drowning as you try to complete all the things and it’s becoming visible to your clients.

You’re not responding to requests for support, you’re forgetting things, and although you need to accomplish more, your productivity has decreased.

It’s clear that something has to change. This is your dream job but the only way for it to stop feeling like a nightmare is to get some support. You need a virtual assistant.

Let me tell you how to hire one…

Figure out your budget

It’s important to be clear about what you can afford. You can find virtual assistants for $3/hour up to $100/hour. The reason for this broad range has to do with experience, skills, and the size of the pool of freelancers. For example, if you’re looking for a virtual assistant on Upwork, there are many, MANY to choose from. To be competitive, some VAs will lower their rates.

There are people that say, “Those are VAs from countries like the Philippines. The cost of living is much lower there, so $3 an hour is a great rate for them!”

This is not true. I am in social media groups with many VAs from the Philippines and they all say that $3 and hour is not a living wage. These are highly skilled individuals who deserve to be paid fairly and if you hire someone for $3/hour, chances are they will leave you as soon as they find someone who will pay them $5/hour, which is understandable. It’s my opinion that this is not a risk worth taking, not to mention the bad juju.

Virtual assistants who charge higher rates are specialized. If you would like someone to focus on social media, content creation, or web development, you can expect to pay more.

Decide on a freelancer platform, an agency, or a freelance virtual assistant

There are many ways to find your VA. Let’s look at three.

Freelancer Platform

A freelancer platform like Upwork or Fiverr allows you to search with filters like location, experience, price range, specialty, rating, and delivery time. You will quickly have a list of qualified VAs who can take on your time-sensitive project.

You will communicate with your VA through the platform and both of you will sign a contract. Payment is also through the platform. Your relationship can be short-term or extend into other projects.

Agency

With an agency, you work through the agency’s human resources managers or owners to pin down what you need and the agency managers/owners match you with a virtual assistant. This works well if you’re a busy entrepreneur who doesn’t have the time to vet someone. Another bonus is that if your VA becomes unavailable for some reason (either short-term for something like a surgery or permanently because they’ve left the agency), the agency will find you a replacement. This way, you will have a very little time without assistance.

Freelance Virtual Assistant

If you will only feel comfortable working with someone you’ve personally vetted and you’re looking for someone who will stay with you for a long time, you should look for a freelance virtual assistant on your own. One way to find someone is to post a job on VA Facebook or LinkedIn groups (following their best practices, of course). The fastest way might be to post on social media and let people know you’re looking. (This is how I was put in contact with one of my clients.) This is the most time-consuming approach, but because you’re involved in the entire process, it will most likely lead you to someone you will form a bond with and trust.

Ask the right questions during your discovery call

A discovery call is the first conversation you have with a virtual assistant. It’s often on Zoom or FaceTime and it’s your chance to get to know each other. You will find out if you and the VA will get along well together and have the same working style.

Remember that this isn’t usually a corporate 9 to 5 situation. When the VA completes their work doesn’t matter if it’s done on time, however, if you need someone who will be available nights, say so. If you need someone to make phone calls between 1:00pm and 5:00pm ET, be sure to mention that. Also be sure to tell them your preferred method of communication and when you are available to answer questions.

Ask how they will communicate their progress to you. For example, I send my clients a weekly email that lists the projects I worked on with the time spent on each. I let them know the time they have remaining for the month and make sure my work priorities are aligned with theirs.

See if your personalities are compatible. If you like to joke around but the VA is serious, it might not be a great fit. If you have a relaxed work style but the VA prefers deadlines with precise instructions, you should probably keep looking for someone who “gets” you. And it might be that you like the VA but they decide that you’re not a good fit for them. That’s okay. It’s good that they told you before you were invested in the relationship and it allows you to move on quickly.

Before hiring on a virtual assistant, check references

If you’re going the freelancer route, check the freelancer’s references. I have done this for clients and believe me, you can learn a lot from a 15-minute conversation with someone. Don’t skip this step!

Sign your contract

Once you and your virtual assistant agree to work together, they will send you a contract. You will usually be expected to pay them before work begins.

This is an exciting time for you! You’re taking the first step towards having less on your plate! If you have any questions, feel free to post them below or if you’d like me to help you build your team, drop me a line. Check back next week for my blog post on getting started with your VA.

How to Write Standard Operating Procedures

I know what you’re thinking: “In the time it will take for me to document every step of this business process, I could just do it myself.”

You could. And things might work well that way for a long time. But something could happen that’s beyond your control that will keep you from performing tasks as you usually do (like COVID, or an injury, or a family member who needs your support). There may come a time when you will be forced to step away from your business. Your business could grow to the point where you don’t have the time to personally train every new hire.

If you track your processes now and create standard operating procedures, it’s like creating a blueprint for your business. No matter what happens, someone can complete those tasks. You could even go on vacation knowing that everything will keep chugging along as if you were still there. Wouldn’t that be nice?

Here’s what you have to do to get there

Start with the most urgent tasks first. The ones that would cause a calamity if they weren’t completed. Make a list and then pick one.

Document the purpose of the procedure. Explain in a few sentences why this task is important. Lay it out so someone who is new to your business can understand.

Document the schedule for the task. Is this task completed daily? A certain time of the day? Is the task dependent on receiving other information first? Remember, you’re writing this procedure for someone who is unfamiliar with it so be clear.

List the responsible parties. You, obviously, but anyone else? If you have dependencies, or are a dependency for someone else, identify them, including contact information.

Document the procedure step by step. It helps to document while performing the task. Are there ongoing sub-tasks that fulfill the main task? Will approval be needed for different steps? Who will approve those steps if you’re not there? Think through everything as if you’re doing it for the first time. Drawing the workflow (on paper, or an online tool like Miro) will help you clarify the order of operations and communicate it to others.

Test your SOP. Follow your steps and see if you can complete the task in the steps you’ve laid out. Better yet, have someone else follow the steps. Adjust your SOP to meet the needs of the person who will follow it. For example, acronyms might make sens to you but might confuse someone else. Write every word out so that someone else can understand.

Review and edit periodically. Check up on your SOP every six to twelve months to see if any of the steps need updating. Technology and processes change, so scheduling a time to make revisions is key.

Keep documenting!

Once you’ve completed one SOP, move on to the next most urgent process, and then the next. Put your SOP files into a folder and make sure all the members of your team have access to the folder. Once you have a SOP folder, let me know if you feel a bit more relaxed knowing that you have a process in place for those times when you need to step away. Time to plan a vacation!