Hiring a Virtual Assistant | Refocus Your Business Efforts

According to the Pareto principle, more than 80 percent of results come from just investing 20 percent of your effort. However, in today’s fast paced world, business owners can’t help but end up doing just the reverse. The reason isn’t too obscure to scan. A larger slice of time is being wasted in doing things that are non-productive and doesn’t yield any result for the company or add to its immediate goals. Having said that, the essence of doing and having things done timely is by far a less acute statement for anyone trying to grow their business. You see, everyone’s got their hands full. Business owners are trying real hard not to be overwhelmed by their task-list that are to be performed over a single period of time. Herein drops the dirty “O” word; “OUTSOURCING”, which in turn makes virtual assistants (VA) a highly reliable option to beat the heat in a volatile economy. In the symphony of productivity, hiring a virtual assistant orchestrates the harmonious flow of tasks, turning chaos into a masterpiece of efficiency.

The nub of virtual assistance

Time; an entity often glorified in political discourse, is a merciless demon that seldom finds respite from cheating and fleeting on its own. That rolls us back to retrospect; some 30 years back every thriving business identified private secretaries as highly functional individuals to put files in order, take notes, draft official letters, and much more. With economies changing widely across the globe, companies adopted cost-cutting to gently partway with such “overpaid” assistants. Virtual Assistance, as one might say goes on to expand on the same concept in a slightly different scenario. VAs are essentially “independent contractors-on-hire” who touch base with their clients through telephone and over the Internet. However, their functioning surpasses their definition, owing to the wide range of tasks that they are capable of performing. Here are a handful of tips to get the very best from your VA for your business.

1. Setting the expectation right

Before you start delegating tasks, it’s necessary that you determine what you need from your VA. With clearly defined expectations, one can avoid frustration and confusion in the later phase, when you start working with your VA on a regular basis. It’s essential that you define what kind of role you want your VA to assume and take into consideration essential parameters like quality and value in equal measures. Additionally, it’s also necessary that you specify whether you are looking for a particular skill set for your work.

2. Finding the right one

Finding the right VA can be quite a daunting task if you don’t know where to begin. The best way to go about this is by asking friends and colleagues who might have used the services of a VA or a VA company in the past. Alternatively, you can search the web for Virtual Assistance Service providers. One of the best options for a VA includes names like MyTasker.

3. Are you micromanaging your VA

VAs are usually industry trained and bring in years of experience. Plus, they work in a team so you are lest assured to find someone with a particular skillset, if required to perform your task. Hence, micromanaging your VA is never a good idea unless you witness a dip in the quality of output. Understanding the performance curve of your VA is also necessary to assess one’s strengths and capabilities.

4. Pet projects & VA

Pet projects often demand a certain style of working that is known to an individual or a few skilled lot. Hence, delegating a pet project to your VA can be a negative approach. No matter how good a VA performs the task, you will always have your own way of doing it better. Hence, there is a high chance, the output will remain unsatisfactory to you. For such projects, it is advisable to execute the same on your own.

5. Knowing what to delegate

A lot of times people tend to overlook the real reason for hiring a VA. Virtual Assistance is meant to assist you with professional needs; tasks that eat up a lion’s share of your time. Hence, it’s important to prioritize the tasks that need to be delegated to your VA so that you can free up your routine to invest time for other things that matter to you.

So, have you ever hired a virtual assistant to perform your tasks? Please feel free to share your experience with us.