With today’s advanced technology, we can employ someone to work as an assistant without actually seeing him or her in a brick and mortar office. These people are called virtual assistants.
While it’s true that it’s easy to hire a virtual assistant for a specific range of tasks, the real challenge lies in actually trusting that person to do his or her job. Your command over your virtual assistant is fairly limited, considering the fact that you don’t meet eye-to-eye in an office setting. In this article, we will be sharing with you some tips on how to manage your virtual assistant’s work ethic, as well as his or her time, leave and absence.
Set up an official means of communication.
Before assigning your virtual assistant’s very first tasks upon employment, it is essential that you provide standard protocol regarding communication. Discuss which means of communication is the most convenient for the both of you, a well as the time windows wherein he is expected to do the tasks, submit any proof of work, and report on his status and progress if there’s any. Make sure that you both are clear on the discussed terms to minimize any discrepancies and misunderstandings. Also, by setting up an official means of communication, whether it’s by email, or any messaging application, you’ll have a standard archive of instructions and outputs all in one place.
Be reasonable with assigning tasks.
First of all, it’s important to know how long a task should take so you can provide a reasonable deadline for submissions. It’s also a good idea to ask your virtual assistant how long they can possibly finish this particular task so you have a clear idea on how they manage their time and productivity. Bear in mind that some virtual assistants do not have prior experience with performing the tasks at hand. In these cases, expect a bit of learning curve for one month at most. After a month, they should be able to complete their tasks in no time after settling into a routine. Use their productivity statistics to come up with their own personalized schedule or timetable.
Don’t overload your virtual assistant with too many projects.
The point of hiring a virtual assistant is to reduce your work into a load that’s more manageable, especially if you are expected to manage a large company. Some employers, however, take advantage of their virtual assistants to the point of abuse. It is important to figure out how your virtual assistant deals with his tasks and manages his time and efficiency. Overloading your virtual assistant’s timetable with projects you can very well do on your own will expose him to a lot of stress, which could lead to saturation, fatigue, and poor performance.
Install Workforce Management software.
Installing workforce management software, like Worksight.net will altogether minimize your efforts in managing a virtual assistant’s time, leave and absence. These advanced software has helpful features such as leave management, employee and work order scheduling, and workforce analytics, among many others.
Conclusion
Having a virtual assistant around to perform micro, albeit similarly important tasks relating to your business, is necessary to keep yourself and your business staying afloat amidst all your managing efforts. We hope you find these tips to your advantage.
