If you've outsourced virtual staff, you understand the importance of saving time and energy on non-core tasks to focus on the key activities that will drive your company forward. You’re also taking advantage of technology and a globalized world to recruit talent abroad. Congratulations, these are smart moves!
Managing talent abroad is not a simple task though, it can come with its own set of challenges. In this article we’re going to talk about effective ways to manage your virtual assistant to get you started on the right foot.
Evaluating the Project Properly
When you have a good understanding of the goals you want, it will be easier for you to strategize and reach your goals with the help of your virtual assistant. Therefore, it is recommended to list down your goals and the tasks needed to meet these goals.
Choosing What Skill the Project Needs
You need to assign particular work to the right virtual assistant. For example, assigning a task that entails computations to a virtual assistant with bookkeeping or accounting background. Put simply, delegating tasks successfully requires you to be smart in matching the right task to the right virtual assistant.
Determining the Possible Challenges
It is important to know what your goals are. But, at the same time, it is equally important to know the obstacles you might encounter. Knowing these challenges can help you save time and money. You also prevent wasting the efforts of your virtual assistant.
Communicate
Consistent communication with your virtual assistant is needed to check what areas they need to be supervised. You can better manage issues that could arise without them becoming more problematic in the future. Not only do you get updates from your virtual assistant, but also establish a good working relationship virtually.
Creating a Written Document Outlining All the Expected Responsibilities and Duties
All work should be documented since this will help determine what duties need to be prioritized. It is not recommended to try and remember all the tasks and make verbal agreements since these can be easily forgotten.
Making a Realistic Timeline
Having a sensible timeline is an attribute of a good manager. If you designate tasks hurriedly to your virtual assistant, this can become a problem. Problems can also occur if the tasks you assigned take too long to be completed. Therefore, it is best to create a daily and weekly task list.
Slowly Introducing Tasks
When your virtual assistant has just started, you should not assign them a complex task. Difficulties can arise while the project is ongoing. This can be a little challenging for them to solve or comprehend.
Your virtual assistant can be efficient if you slowly increase the complicatedness of their work. While doing this, you can assess them and provide training if needed.
Have an Efficient Monitoring Method
To better manage your virtual assistant, you need to monitor their progress in the tasks you are assigning to them. Nevertheless, monitoring them does not mean that you have to call them. This can also result in disrupting your assistant’s work and affecting their productivity. What you can do is assign them to work, check on them mid-shift, and check on them at the end of the shift.
Being Constructive When Handling Problems
When there is a problem, managers should be able to professionally and courteously discuss it—being rude when handling issues can hurt the working relationship of the manager and employee. The project can be affected as a result of this conflict.
When you criticize your virtual assistants, you need to be particular with your feedback. You also inform them what they do correctly.
Being Personal
Working online does not mean you cannot be personal with your virtual assistant. This is still possible by remembering their birthday or simply saying “please” or “thank you.” You can also ask them how they or their family are. These simple gestures can help make your relationship better, which makes it easier to manage them.
Being Culture Sensitive
If you have a virtual assistant residing abroad, it is best to be familiar with differences in culture. You can better deal with them if you understand where they come from.
Training
Even though your virtual assistant has extensive skills and background, you need to train and orient them about the specifics of the business. It is also best to allow extra time for extra training. You can set a date for their orientation and give examples.
You should not expect your virtual assistant to be knowledgeable in the business, especially if the tasks are complex or the industry is specific. This is even more crucial if you have a small business since there might not be a training process established yet.
Conclusion
Finally, you understand some of the ways to manage your virtual assistant better. Managing them can be difficult at first. Nevertheless, when you can apply some of these tips, supervision will be easier. To build a good relationship with them, you need to train, show patience, and communicate with them.