Hiring a virtual assistant helps you in many ways, from research to some administrative tasks,back-office tasks, they will help you complete your to-do list so you can have more time for the other important details of your business and of course, spend more time with your family and friends.
Communicate on an as-needed basis and communicate well. Setting up a regular meeting schedule is a good way to go. At the beginning of the working relationship, however, you may have to communicate with your virtual assistant on a daily basis for orientation purposes.
This can be done through phone, Skype, text, Asana, or email correspondence. We recommend you have regular voice conversations with your VA as this avoids a lot of misunderstandings which can occur with text-based communication.
As you and your VA eventually get the hang of things, you can communicate with less frequency and contact only when needed. Calling and emailing several times a day can be very counterproductive, disrupting workflow and wasting time.
Address problems immediately and clearly. When delegating a task to your VA, be sure to give him or her a specific set of goals. This will help in giving your VA direction and aid in increasing productivity. If you notice that the same issues keep on popping up, realize that there must be a break in communication somewhere.
Provide feedback on your virtual assistant’s work, detailing the pros and cons if necessary. You and your VA can even agree or work together on a good evaluation process at the end of every project or task.
Know that the mode of communication matters. Many forget that the mode of communication can affect relationships. Speak or communicate with your virtual assistant as if both of you are in a meeting; this means that the tone should be formal yet still accommodating and comfortable enough for both of you to express concerns, doubts and questions. This is especially important in phone calls. Encourage questions so that you have a clear idea of the areas your VA may not understand or are having difficulty with. For chat meetings, use emotions to aid you in expressing yourself. It may sound trivial but it can save you from a lot of misunderstanding.
Breakdown in communication is common but avoidable. Put in effort in practicing better communication not only to get things done but also to improve the working relationship with your VA.
When you provide feedback to them on what they’re doing ALWAYS find something positive to say about what they did BEFORE you give negative feedback.
Give praise before criticism. It’s especially important with your Filipino Virtual Assistant.
