---

Guest post by: Grainne Foley Become an Author

Tweet

---

---

When you hire a Virtual Assistant, your goal as a business owner is to be able to get the work done in substantially less time it would take you to do it. However you will need to invest some extra time in the beginning in order to get this relationship off to a good start. You must delegate effectively from the beginning. Many a budding relationship of this kind has been spoiled due to poor preparation, poor feedback and bad team selection in the early stages of the relationship.

Communication



You need to decide early on how you are going to communicate with your Virtual Assistant? Are you planning to communicate with them on a daily/weekly basis, by email/phone/IM? Remember there will be more communication involved early in the relationship until you both learn how to work well together.

Responsibilities

What responsibilities will your VA take on? I think it’s very important that you already know what responsibilities you want your VA to take on when you partner with them. Prior to bringing them on board, make a list of exactly what they will be doing for you. This is easily achieved by keeping a notepad on your desk and write down each task that

• You hate performing
• Could be easily done by someone else
• Doesn’t make good business sense for you to continue to perform

Deadlines

Be very specific in this area, if you send your VA work and you need it done by the end of the day, include a time, and remember your VA may not be in your time zone. If you need it done by 5pm EST, that’s what you need to tell them.

Fluctuating Needs

If you are unsure how many hours you will need your VA, make sure that you work with a VA that doesn’t have a set period/ package. Some VA’s offer retainers only- others won’t allow you to roll over unused hours, so make sure you discuss your needs clearly in the interview stage so that you hire the VA that best suits your needs.

Guidelines

When you delegate specific tasks to your VA, be very clear and specific about how you want them to be carried out. For instance, if they are submitting articles on your behalf, provide them with a list of where you would like them to be submitted, do you want your VA to keep a spreadsheet of all submissions (highly recommended), what do you want on the spreadsheet? If they are updating your blog, what days do you want this done on, what time – early morning or afternoon. When you assign a task to a VA, you should have some idea of how long that task should take, give them that timeline also (assuming it is realistic) so that you both are aware of this. You certainly don’t want your VA to bill you 6 hours for a task that should have taken 2 at the most!

As you begin working with your VA, start off with small, simple administrative tasks and build your way up to the more difficult ones as you get to know each other and understand how you work together and if this will work for you. Don’t fall into the trap of trying to save a lot of time by skipping on the process of establishing a relationship with your team. You have to know that the team you have lined up is aligned with your needs and you simply have to do the groundwork in advance. Look at this as leveraging your time for the future.

Related Articles

  Working With Virtual Assistants : Tips For Entrepreneurs
  What to Give the Exec Who Has Everything
  How To Hire A Virtual Assistant
  Who and What is a Virtual Assistant?
  The Benefits of Working with a Virtual Assistant over a Temp
  Outsourcing Made Easy? How and What is it, exactly?
  Virtual Assistants - Getting Started
  At your Assistance: The Benefits of Hiring a Virtual Assistant
  Enhancing productivity and profitability by outsourcing
  Every Small Business Owner Should Have At Least One
  Internet Marketing Specialists are in High Demand
  Work At Home As A Virtual Assistant
  Profit Growth Strategy # 11 For Virtual Assistants
  Should You Hire a Temp or a Virtual Assistant?
  Make Money as a Freelance Customer Support Representative
  Set Your Business Up for Success: How Getting Help will Keep You on Track for the Future
  Learn How Small Law Firms Are Effectively Using Virtual Assistants
  It’s an Economic Recession! Have you called your VA Today?
  9 Simple Virtual Team Outsourcing Tips to Make More Money
  Tasks You Can Outsource to a Virtual Assistant

Related Forum Posts

Outsource your work?
Why should I hire a virtual assistant for SEO purposes?
Re: Is This The Answer For A Busy Entrepreneur??
Hello from Nova Scotia, Canada
Kathie from Melbourne, Australia

Share this article. Fund someone's dream.

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

Why We NEED A Business Analyst

3 Secrets To Attracting More Wealth

Getting the Word Out - Using a Media Kit

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.