Empowering your Virtual Assistant to take ownership of their role in your business is imperative to success. Most of the time our reason for empowering our VA, if we’re being honest with ourselves, is rather self-serving. We’re empowering our VAs and our teams, because we “need” something from them.
What if your mindset shifted from empowering your VA because you “need” something from them to empowering your VA because they are truly a part of your organization?
Successful empowerment doesn’t happen when you offload tasks for the sake of offloading tasks. Successful empowerment happens when you set clear expectations and let go of the control. How can you do this within your company? Follow the three steps we’ve found to be most successful for VA empowerment.
Set Clear Expectations
Your Virtual Assistant isn’t a mind reader, so it’s necessary to set clear expectations and guidelines when outsourcing projects. At the beginning of every project, schedule a meeting with your VA to discuss details. Walk through the project from every angle.
- The outcome goal
- Deadlines
- Audience
- Budget
- How closely they should follow your brand guide
- Who is responsible for each subtask on the project
One you’ve set clear guidelines, ask your VA to add the project to a task management tool such as Asana or Trello and include due dates. This will ensure that each team member knows what is expected of them and when to have their piece of the project completed.
We recommend revisiting the project outline on your weekly team call to allow for questions, updates, and feedback.
Show Confidence In Your VA
Nothing will crush the spirit of your Virtual Assistant than to hear you constantly second guessing their work. Empowering your VA includes trusting them. If you followed our recommendations on how to hire the right Virtual Assistant, you chose to partner with your VA because they brought a strong skill set to the table. Don’t waste your time and energy questioning their efforts.
I’m not going to tell you that your VA will be perfect. There will occasionally be spilled milk. But what we can tell you, based on our years of experience with VA and Client partnerships, is that if you’re constantly second guessing and belittling your VA, they’ll work for someone who trusts them wholeheartedly. Nagging and second guessing doesn’t co-exist with empowerment.
Don’t Be a Helicopter CEO
Also known as a micro-manager, Helicopter CEOs are harmful to productivity. Not only will your VA feel a lack of confidence but they’ll spend so much time giving you updates that they’ll be less productive.
Instead of “hovering” and asking for constant updates, use your weekly meeting as an opportunity to check-in on projects. Ask your VA to review the project assignments in your task management tool and be prepared to give you weekly updates.
It’s good to know the status of projects but it isn’t healthy for your team to send multiple updates per day.
By empowering your Virtual Assistant to own the outcomes, you’re building a partnership that will benefit your business in a positive way. Are you looking for the perfect partner for your business? Contact us here and we’ll help you find the right VA for your business.
