Working with a Virtual Assistant – How to Get Started

By now you have probably heard about Virtual Assistance and have a pretty good idea of what Virtual Assistants do.  You understand and like the concept.  You probably believe that this is something that would well for you and your business.  But how do you start working with a Virtual Assistant?  Finding one is relatively easy, but how do you actually begin handing off work to a V.A., especially since you are accustomed to doing everything yourself?  How do you determine which tasks you can turn over to a V.A. immediately?

Here?s a very simple technique that has worked for several of my clients. Start with a clean 8.5 x 11 notepad.  You?ll want to use one that?s devoted exclusively to this task so label it clearly, ?Virtual Assistant Tasks?.  Don?t use it to write phone numbers on or driving directions and keep it on your desk or your primary workspace.  Use it only for this project.  Divide your notepad into two sections.  The first section should be ?Requires No Training? and the second section should be ?Requires Training?.

Start a numbered list and each time you perform a task that you believe your Virtual Assistant could perform immediately without any training, write it down in the ?Requires No Training? section of your notepad.  It may look something like this:

Requires No Training

1.      Schedule appointments

2.      Update contact list (data entry)

3.      Make reservations for monthly meeting

4.      Conduct email campaigns

5.      Order supplies

7.   Email meeting agenda to attendees

Get the idea?  This list can be as long as necessary. The point is to identify all those time consuming administrative tasks that take up so much of your time and keep you from performing real business building activities.

Now the ?Requires Training? list will take a little more time and effort to develop because as you identify the tasks that will require training, you should also start to document the steps involved in performing those tasks.  This may involve gathering sample documents or materials, writing step by step notes, and/or creating a file containing everything involved in the performance of that task.  These become actual training materials and can be given to your V.A. after you?ve conducted a training session with her using these materials.  You can also keep a copy in your files for use by other employees or another Virtual Assistant should the need arise.

The ?Requires Training? section of your notepad may have entries that look something like this:

Requires Training

1)   Submit 2 articles to online publications

a)      Complete research for article 1 content

b)      Proof and edit articles

c)      Format articles based on website criteria

d)     Copy articles to cd and send to Review Committee for approval

e)      Complete article submission process for www.articlesubmissionsite1.com and www.articlesubmissionsite2.com

2)      Prepare Monthly Report for Executive Board

a)      Collect statistical reports from Mary Smith and John Jones

-   mary.smith@company.com    555-777-8888

-   john.jones@company.com      555-777-9999

b)      Transcribe notes from last months meeting for overview section

c)      Schedule meeting with Joe Brown regarding status of ?Project A?

-   joebrown@contractor.com   555-888-3333
     Joe Brown, Contractor Company, 9999 Development Way, New City, MD  33345

d)     Collect reports from three department heads

-   Accounting department ? Ann Anders ? ann.anders@company.com  555-777-3322

-   Promotions department ? Paul Palmer ? paul.palmer@company.com  555-777-0033

-   Customer Service department ? Carol Cook ? carol.cook@company.com  555-777-6678

Of course these are all fictional examples of processes that may require training for your V.A. Remember to include important details like relevant website addresses and the telephone numbers, email addresses and mailing addresses of individuals that need to be contacted.  Provide examples of what was done in the past.  All of these things will assist you in providing effective training for your Virtual Assistant.  Once this training is completed your V.A. will (1) have detailed instructions for how to complete the task and (2) will be able to perform the task independently with a minimum of guidance from you.  You benefit by having even more time consuming administrative work taken ?off your plate?. 

As stated earlier some items that fall into the ?Requires Training? category may require gathering materials, documents and work samples.  But once this is done, you have training material that can be used again and again and can also be changed or updated as situations change. 

Implementing this technique for 2 to 4 weeks should help you to identify and develop a clear and detailed list of tasks that you can hand off to your Virtual Assistant.  You will then find that

working with a professional Virtual Assistant can be as effective as having an assistant sitting outside of your office. Because Virtual Assistants utilize the latest time saving technical tools available, your work can flow seamlessly and efficiently and the savings in time and money can be seen immediately.

Now that you know how ? let?s get started!

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