How to Prepare Your Business to Hire a VA, and How We Prepare to Help You
“Spectacular achievement is always preceded by unspectacular preparation.”
- Robert H. Schuller
Do you ever wonder how some small business owners really seem to “make it”? They achieve big success with little stress and have ample time to spare while you find yourself drowning in what feels like the most basic hustle and grind. There is hope for you yet. Many successful business owners have been where you are but have since learned how to maximize their time through a virtual assistant.
Hiring a virtual assistant may be the next step in redeeming your time and taking your business to the next level. In order to make sure you are effectively monetizing these benefits; it is necessary to prepare yourself and your business for the new hire.
The following 5 steps will show you how to prepare.
1. Define Tasks
Before you bring on an assistant, you must decide what you want that assistant to do. “Provide general support” is too vague. Take some time to make a list of the specific tasks and projects that you will delegate. A lack of clarity in this area may result in financial loss from poorly utilizing your assistant.
Once you have listed the tasks, draft an instruction sheet (or use a video messaging tool such as Loom) that provides a step-by-step process of how to complete each assignment. Consolidate links to resources (websites, tools, templates, invoices, etc.) that your assistant will require, and type any scripts or email templates that you wish for your assistant to use or to model. Consider providing samples of completed work so your assistant can see what you are aiming for.
Creating these materials will definitely take some time on the front end. However, doing so will save you hours of monetizable time going forward. Thorough instruction sets and easy-to-access resources allow your assistant to complete work projects independently and in accordance with your brand – every time.
2. Determine Training Needs
After you create your project instructions, consider what additional training is required to set your assistant up for success. Make a specific training plan for your new employee that includes who or what will provide the training, when the training will occur, and how long it is expected to take.
One helpful training measure is to write a standards checklist that your virtual assistant can follow. Checklists ensure that project steps occur in the right order and allow workers to know when a project is truly complete. Even after your assistant masters a task, they may enjoy using a checklist for focus and accountability.
3. Define Work Parameters
Delegating work to an assistant involves more than understanding the steps and training needs. It is also necessary to know how much time you want your assistant to spend on each task and when specific deadlines will be (etc., daily, weekly, monthly). As with project steps, think through the specific ramifications of each deadline and capture your decisions in writing.
You will also need to plan for communicating with your assistant. The measures you take to communicate about and follow up on projects will depend on your business goals and workflow.
Some questions that you should answer regarding communication include:
• What time(s) of day do you plan to be available for questions?
• How would you like for your assistant to contact you outside of those times?
• How would you like your assistant to troubleshoot issues when you are not available?
• Will you have regular meetings with your assistant? If so, when will they occur and what meeting platform will you use?
• How will you hold your assistant accountable for completed work?
• How frequently would you like your assistant to check in with you?
• Do you want your assistant to include or copy you on any business emails?
• If you have a larger business, will the assistant need to connect with anyone else on your team? How should they go about doing that?
4. Know Your Budget and Desired Assistant Qualities
Once you’ve outlined these parameters, you can prepare for the actual hire. Knowing how much of the business budget you want to invest in an assistant will help you to narrow hiring options. At this stage, it is a good idea to do some math and decide if you want to add/subtract any work tasks from your initial plan. Being realistic about how much can get done within the hours you can afford will help you to make any needed changes. Doing so before your assistant starts working will prevent confusion and wasted tasks.
You may also want to consider the qualities that you want your assistant to have (as well as any deal-breakers). While you want to avoid unrealistic or idealistic expectations, having some idea of what you are looking for in an assistant will help you to make a solid selection. An interview can be a great way to get to know your assistant better. If you decide to hold an interview, plan how and when you will conduct it and develop questions that will allow you to explore your candidate’s qualities. For instance, while it may be necessary to know if your candidate can use Canva, asking your candidate to describe a recent work challenge and how they overcame it will provide you with more information about their work habits and attitudes.
If you want to get a sense of how your potential assistant might perform, give them a short test task (such as developing a sample social media promotion), and see how they do. Try putting an “Easter Egg” in your job posting or sample task to see if the assistant can follow directions (e.g., have the assistant use a specific keyword in a written response).
5. Prepare Yourself
By definition, all change, even good change, requires an adjustment period. When hiring a virtual assistant, make sure to take some time to prepare your mind and attitude for the short and long-term differences this change will bring. When you hire your assistant, don’t expect your initial days with them to go exactly as planned. Block extra time in your schedule for answering questions and ensuring that your new hire’s deadlines are not too severe during the trial period. Additionally, make a mental note to listen to your assistant. Many of today’s virtual assistants are highly skilled and may have suggestions on how to streamline or improve current tasks.
If you have other people on your business team, also take the time to let them know of the new hire and encourage them to prepare their expectations and attitudes as well. Let them know if/how the virtual assistant will alter their current responsibilities.
Finally, make sure you plan in advance for the specific ways in which you will use the extra time that having a virtual assistant will bring to you. Failing to prepare in this way is planning to fail because you may end up wasting your newly freed hours. If this happens, you may find that you are expending money without gaining any personal or business benefits.
How Luneer Mgmt Prepares to Help You
Taking time to plan for the specifics of hiring a virtual assistant will ensure that you make the most of your time and money. However, what should you do if preparing to delegate work to others reveals that you need to organize yourself? You may have the best intentions for hiring a virtual assistant, but how can you be sure that you using your assistant in the most effective and monetizable way?
This is where Luneer Mgmt comes in handy.
Not only does Luneer Mgmt offer virtual services, but we also offer support that will help you understand the gaps in your current business operations.
Scheduling a call with Brandi will start you down the pathway of helping us help you to:
• Develop a business plan
• Know where to best invest your resources
• Identify missing systems
• Help you to streamline tasks
• Identify where using virtual assistance can scale your business and give you margin
Best of all, Luneer Mgmt’s business coaching and support services are designed for YOU. Your brain and ideal work patterns are different from ours; this is why we don’t believe in making you adapt to our systems. Instead, we build systems for you to match your individual goals and natural workflow.
Before you hire a virtual assistant, consider adding “Contact Luneer Mgmt" to your list of preparation tasks. We can complete an initial time management audit to help you see “what’s really going on” in your business and to know how and where a virtual assistant can maximize your work and life.
WRITTEN BY: KATIE BARNETT
