When you have too much work together with tight deadlines, one
of the best solution to unburden yourself a bit is to hire a virtual assistant.
They can work on all those tasks you don’t have time to commit to fully.
However, don’t make the decision too fast. Hire your virtual assistant only
when you are sure about the benefits, and these seven things should be
considered before you make the final decision.
Decide for which tasks you need a VA
Before hiring a virtual assistant, you should know exactly for
which tasks and goals you need them. Make your business plan, segment your
assignments for each week, or a month, and later decide what could be
outsourced. With the complete list of short-term and long-term goals, it will
be a lot easier to determine if you need a virtual assistant and if they could
help manage some of these tasks.
Determine whether you need an employee or a contractor
The hiring decision will be complete when you decide if you
need a full-time employee or a contractor. If you hire an employee, you’ll have
more control over how they do their job. Also, you will have to take control of
payroll taxes, and consider implementing personalized employee income cards, which will be beneficial to both you and the
employee. On the other hand, the advantage of hiring a contractor is that there
will be fewer regulations involved. However, keep in mind that you have to
classify the worker correctly because, otherwise, you might be punished with expenses
and penalties.
Make sure you have enough resources
The last thing that you have to think about before signing the
contract with the virtual assistant is your budget. Calculate if you have
enough money and resources to implement them in your team. Again, go back to
your business plan, and see if there is room for one more employee. You’ll most
likely have to make changes to your payroll. Review your entire business
organization. That’s the only way for you to be sure if there is room for
hiring a virtual assistant.
What are the benefits for the VA to stay with you
When you sign the contract with a virtual assistant, you have
to think about the ways to make them stick with you – if you are satisfied with
them, of course. Show them a clear career path, offer bonuses, and support
their creativity. Also, you have to provide proper health care and retirement
plans. It is not necessary only because of your business relationship, but also
for the other employees to see that you treat your workers well. Anyways, if
you “click”, do not delay to offer all possible benefits and bonuses.
Give them one task at a time
Don’t give your virtual assistants a long to-do list as soon as
they start working. Instead, try to provide them with one job at a time. First
of all, you should prioritize all your goals where they can help you, and
assign these tasks in that particular order. Same as with all other employees,
you don’t want your virtual assistant to get overwhelmed with multiple tasks.
You want them to succeed, and it is achievable only if their full attention is
only on one thing at a time.
Provide enough details for each task
If you thought that it is enough to provide only the basic idea
about how things should go in your company, you are entirely wrong. Not only do
you have to prioritize and separate your goals, but also, you have to provide in-depth explanation and details for
each of them. Virtual assistants are not superheroes, and the same as all other
employees, they need information about each of their tasks. Therefore, set your
goal, assign the task to your VA, which will lead to the accomplishment of that
goal, but first, provide them with enough information and make it clear how you
want things to be done.
Let them be creative
You might think that this step is in the
collision with the previous one, but that’s not the case. Although you should
provide all the details and information about a particular task, it doesn’t
mean that your virtual assistant should not be creative when it comes to the
realization of the project. Any job can have different outcomes. In order to
find the best solution, it is usually best to combine strict guidelines with a dose of creativity. And that is precisely
how you should encourage your virtual assistant to get things done. Provide the
information, make clear guidelines, but don’t tie their hands – let them show
their best!
A virtual assistant can help you accomplish your biggest goals
by helping you work on them, or they can deal with the small ones for which you
don’t have enough time. In both cases, do not rush the decision – make sure you
have enough resources to hire them, and set clear goals.
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