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The demand for virtual assistants (VA) is on the rise, as more business owners realize the value of hiring VAs to help their brands develop and scale. Virtual assistants have a number of advantages, including being less expensive than hiring a full-time staff.
They can also help firms enhance productivity because they are best suited for the most time-consuming day-to-day tasks that take up time. Are you prepared to recruit a virtual assistant to help you expand your company? Here's everything you need to know about hiring and managing a team of virtual assistants.
It can be tempting as a business owner to plunge right in and surround yourself with an army of virtual assistants to assist you with a variety of duties. You'll end up worse off than you were before if you jump in without planning and hiring a VA. Let's look at some helpful hints for hiring virtual assistants.
One at a time
Even if you intend to hire numerous virtual assistants, you should only hire one at a time. Begin by hiring a virtual assistant to assist you with the tasks that require the most attention. Before you hire a second assistant, make sure the first one is completely trained and in the groove. Before you recruit a third VA, be sure your second one is established.
It will be nearly hard to provide enough training time to each virtual assistant if you recruit numerous virtual assistants at the same time. This can lead to a lot of frustration for both you and your helpers, indicating that these professional connections are unlikely to work out.
Prioritize vertical skills
Vertically skilled virtual assistants have a variety of specific skills in the same profession. Let's imagine you're seeking an assistant to help you with customer service. It will be easier to train someone who has already worked in the customer service business than it will be to train a website developer.
Tenure
It's a good idea to think about how long prospects have worked for past employers when hiring a virtual assistant. Because retraining is costly, you want a low turnover rate. A pattern of brief stays with previous companies suggests a problem with the virtual assistant. Either the VA does not favor long-term commitments, or they have been fired for not being dependable.
Communicate expectations, pay, and duty
Make it important to clarify expectations properly when hiring a virtual assistant, whether it's your first or third. Ascertain that the candidate is aware of what is expected of them in the role, including numerous responsibilities, the good and the bad. It'd be ideal if you also talked about the hourly rates and payment schedule.
When it comes to payment, both parties are constantly concerned. Virtual assistants are concerned that they will finish the job without being paid. On the other hand, business owners are concerned that they will pay, and then the virtual assistant would depart without completing the contract. It is not a good idea to pay for work in advance.
Instead, you might send a contract outlining the payment arrangements and begin by paying weekly. Once you've developed trust, you can move the payment distribution to your preferred bi-weekly or monthly plan. Before concluding the employment procedure, make sure you're both happy with the arrangement.
Do not ask candidates to recite their qualifications and experience during the interview. Ask situational questions, such as how they plan to handle certain events they may face on the job. You will be able to identify behavioral patterns, whether good or harmful, based on the answers to these questions.
The following are some examples of questions:
● Describe an instance when you and your boss had a disagreement.
How did you deal with it, and how did you avoid similar misunderstandings?
● There are occasions when quick turnarounds are required.
What are your thoughts on this, and how will you deal with such situations?
● How do you deal with obstacles at work?
Tips for managing your virtual assistant
Comprehensive training program
Training is the most crucial aspect of managing virtual assistants, aside from making a competent recruit. It's ridiculous to expect your virtual assistants to be ready to work as soon as they're employed.
Take the time to teach them the ins and outs of your company's operations—you'll almost certainly have to walk them through each new assignment. They will become increasingly self-sufficient as time passes. Even once your VAs have settled in, keep providing them with useful, up-to-date resources they can use at any time.
Constant communication
It's easy to sometimes forget that the person on the other end of the line is a human being when working with remote virtual assistants. As if you were all in the same office, communicate with each VA.
A video team meeting at least once a week is a good rule of thumb. Some business owners arrange daily meetings to ensure that everyone is on the same page. Hold meetings on a regular basis, at the same time every day, to make it a habit. Meeting attendance should be required.
In addition to holding video meetings, make sure you are reachable by email, text messages, and phone calls to resolve any concerns that may arise.
Delegate wisely
Delegate duties by role to make the most of your virtual assistants' abilities. For example, if one of your VAs has more experience with social media management, you should delegate social media marketing responsibilities to them. It's a good idea to make certain that each assistant is operating inside their comfort zone. Keep in mind that you can teach new talents to virtual assistants. It's not a good idea to teach a virtual assistant a new ability that one of your other VAs already has.
Offer growth opportunities
A job that provides prospects for advancement has value. Allow virtual assistants to improve and expand their talents as much as possible. If consumers believe they have a valuable experience, they are far more inclined to stay with your organization for a longer amount of time.
Project management tools
The capacity to measure and quantify the productivity of your virtual assistants is the ultimate metric of success. You'll need to adjust your metrics for each VA's function. If a VA's job is managing an email marketing campaign, for example, you'll want to track the number of opens and conversions for every campaign. For a VA who is in charge of customer service, the KPIs would be different. Metrics tracking and analysis can assist you in determining what is working and what needs to be improved.
