Common Mistakes You're Making with Your Virtual Assistant and How to Fix Them - Priority VA

Common Mistakes You’re Making with Your Virtual Assistant and How to Fix Them

As much as we’d like everything in our businesses to run like clockwork, sometimes a disconnect occurs and we have to find a solution. In this blog post, we’re going to talk about common mistakes you’re making with your Virtual Assistant and how to fix them.

Whether you’ve worked with a remote team for a while, are new to working with a Virtual Assistant, or have yet to start the onboarding process, bookmark this page. Keeping this reference in your back pocket when things are going awry will be your secret weapon to success.

Common Mistakes You’re Making
with Your Virtual Assistant and How to Fix Them

 

Don’t Undervalue Your Virtual Assistant

Failure to recognize the immense value your VA brings to your organization is unfortunately, one of the most common mistakes entrepreneurs can make. Rather than looking at your VA as an expense and “what they can do for you” consider your VA an investment in your business. When you hire the right VA, you’ll receive incredible value that will grow your business.

Being A Helicopter CEO

Also known as micro-managing, being a Helicopter CEO is destructive to your business. Should you choose to be a leader who hovers and second guesses, you’ll get a VA who punches a clock and doesn’t take true ownership of their role. Once you delegate a task to your VA, let them take full ownership. This will free you up to work within your zone of genius, and isn’t that the goal?

Poor Communication

Communication with your VA should always be a priority, no matter how busy you get. Otherwise, your VA will become disengaged and you won’t see the same results as the leader who has regular open conversations with their VA.

Weekly calls with your VA will avoid miscommunication. We recommend meeting once a week via Zoom or your favorite video conferencing software. Regardless of whether you’re just starting out or have been partnered with your remote for years, weekly meetings and open dialogue are the foundation for success.

Neglecting To Set Expectations

Any project, big or small, should come with a variety of expectations. Failure to set clear expectations for any project will likely lead to disappointment. In order to avoid frustration, communicate expectations to your VA in a way that relays the end goal. For example, if you want to offer a new opt-in to your audience let your VA know the following:

  • Context in which the opt-in will be used. (i.e. blog post, podcast giveaway, live event)
  • Content needed (i.e. copywriting, graphics, etc.)
  • Audience
  • Deadline for content review
  • Publish deadline
  • Who is responsible for each sub-task

When you set clear deadlines there isn’t room for confusion. Everyone knows what needs to be done and your team is able to work in tandem.

Lack of Engagement

Engaging with your Virtual Assistant is the best way to build a relationship. If you’re all business, all the time, you’re partnership will lack the depth it needs to go the distance. When you take time to learn who your VA is whether their working with you or playing with their kids, you become engaged as well and wishing for their success just as much as yours. That’s what happens when you change the dynamic of your business from “Boss and Staff Member” to “Team”.  

Excluding Your VA From The Details

The worst thing you can do as a leader is to remain a “closed book” to your VA. If anyone should be privy to the ideas, plans, and yes, even fears that fill your mind, it should be your Virtual Assistant. The reason you should share details of your life whether personal or business, is because you need someone to help you map our projects or give you a reality check when you don’t have the bandwidth to take on something new.

Failure To Respect Boundaries

Newsflash: Your VA shouldn’t be at your beck and call 24 hours a day/ 7 days a week. Just as you don’t want to work late hours, early mornings, and miss out on time with your family, your VA shares the same sentiment. The best thing you can do to prevent burnout is to establish “office hours”. Determine how your VA will structure their day and respect their boundaries. Not only will this keep you from texting them at noon on Saturday, but they’ll also know you don’t expect an immediate response to a 10:00pm email you sent.

Lacking SOPs

Your Virtual Assistant will bring a certain skill set to your business but what they won’t come equipped with is how YOU do business. Though programs are similar, many organizations operate slightly different than their competitors. Creating SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures) will allow your VA to understand the nuances that make your business unique. Having SOPs in place will also keep you from explaining a process multiple times and possibly leaving out a step or two in communication and when it’s in writing, everyone is able to understand the process and anyone on your team can jump in at anytime.

The common factor in each mistake represented is lack of communication. Keep an open dialogue with your Virtual Assistant and you’ll have a trusted partner in business.

If you’d like to find your perfect partner, we work with highly trained Virtual Assistants who want nothing more than to help their clients succeed. To get started, fill out this short form and schedule a consult with our team.

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