Tips for Working With A Virtual Assistant

I'm writing this post because I often see quite a bit of How to Work with Your VA articles and they make me shake my head. Now before I get into, I will say that everyone is different and some people's learning styles vary greatly. However, I read some of these articles and think that if any of my clients used some of these tips, I would have given them the boot. Mainly these articles are written by people who have VAs not by VAs themselves and to put it quite plainly, sometimes it comes off as your VA is "the help".

While it's true, you do hire your Virtual Assistant, we all work better when orders aren't barked at us. Having a Virtual Assistant is no different than hiring a team member for your company and we value our relationship when you think of us as a team.

On to the Nitty-Gritty

You may be thinking, "I've never delegated before. How can I help someone help me?" Believe it or not, the majority of clients I've worked with have never had a personal assistant or VA before. It's okay and it's not as hard as you may think. Here are some things that I have learned helps me the most when working with clients.

Communicate

Communication is key. We can't help you if you don't talk to us. Assigning tasks isn't enough. We sometimes need clarification or issues arise that we didn't forsee. Stay in contact with us and answer those questions in a timely manner. You don't need to be available 24 hours a day but if you don't get back to us, don't expect to see that task finished when you finally do.

I don't how it works with other VAs but I make myself available by phone, text, email, or whatever project manager we are using. If you are out and about and remember something you need, don't hesitate to give us a call. On the other hand, I try to avoid calling my clients if I can help it. I know you are busy and the last thing I want to do is interrupt a meeting and get you in trouble! The only thing you are at risk of interrupting for me is a song. Don't worry, I can pause!

Develop a System

When starting work with a new client, I like to develop a system with them to encourage better workflow. Many of my clients use Trello, but some of my fellow VAs use other project managers like Asana. If you have deadlines or due dates, make those known and be sure to notate them in your project manager. With Trello, it's easy to prioritize your tasks by dragging and dropping the card and assigning labels (i.e. Work, Home, Kids or Priority High, Priority Medium, Priority Low) to them.

Whatever you use, be sure to stick to it. Be clear about due dates and what needs to be done. Work with your VA to prioritize your tasks so things don't get left at the wayside.

Include all the necessary information

Details, details, details. You seriously can not have too many. Especially in the beginning, it's helpful if you write out instructions for someone who's never done it before. Break it down. Until I learn to read between the lines and anticipate your needs, I need all of the help I can get.

You wouldn't get into a taxi and tell the driver to take you "home".

I've gotten emails before asking me to add a meeting to the calendar with "Ruth" but there is no other information. When are you meeting her? Where are you meeting her? Is it a meeting, a lunch? Is she your dentist? Are you meeting in person or over the phone? Do you know what happens next? I have to email you back to ask these questions. It wastes your time and money and I'm sure it's the last thing you need in your, already, busy schedule. The best way to get this done is to send an email like this: "Ruth and I are meeting for lunch at Denny's on 5th Ave. next Wednesday at 2:00pm. Add to the calendar and send her an invite." or forward me the email chain where you both coordinated and I can pull the information out of that.

This doesn't just go for scheduling. If you need me to pay a bill or order flowers, help me out a little. Attach your bill to an email or be descriptive in what kind of flowers you are looking for.

Protect your private information like you expect me to

One thing I stress to everyone I work with is "DO NOT give me any secure info over anything but a phone call." Do you know how many of my clients have still emailed me a picture of their credit card? More than half. For one thing, it scares me for you. Second, I don't want to be held liable for identify theft. I do my best to protect all of my accounts and my computer but I can never guarantee that it is 100% safe all of the time, nor can you. Please never do this. Find 3 minutes, just 3 minutes, to give me a call and give me your information over the phone. No matter how busy you are, you can find the time to protect yourself.

Calendar Management & Scheduling can be a pain in the butt

It doesn't have to be. I've come to learn that it is very difficult to do scheduling for clients who don't add everything to their calendar. It's kind of all or nothing. Either enter everything that you need to do/attend into your calendar or add nothing and let me take care of it. I'm content either way, we just need to work together on it.

I'm sorry you missed your doctor's appointment, I didn't know you had jury duty on the same day.

Remember that you are not your VA's only client

Unless you a paying a pretty penny for an exclusive Virtual Assistant, you have to realize that we are juggling you with quite a few others. It is highly illogical to send a 2 hour task that needs to be in by the end of the day and expect them to drop everything and do it right away. We all need notice. We are always happy to take on your 2 hour project, but give us at least a full day to complete it. If you need something done ASAP that you forgot about, we understand that. Just ask us what our availability looks like, we'll will try to accommodate you. Just understand that it's not always possible. The best way to efficiently work with your VA to avoid times like this is to communicate. As soon as you learn of something, let us know. If you have a task but don't have the details for it yet, ask us to send you a reminder about it.

We have lives outside of work

This one should go without saying, but you'd be surprised. You should make sure you know your VA's hours of operation and stick to them. Please don't contact us outside of working hours unless we have arranged that time with you or have stated that it's okay. If it's Saturday and you are gearing up for Monday, that's fine. Send us all of the emails. Most of us close out our emails on Friday and don't try not to read them. However, please don't call or text us with expectations of us answering you. Truthfully, it's just rude and makes us feel bad when we don't/can't help you.

Avoid Micromanaging

I'm fairly lucky that the majority of my clients have been with me for a long time and therefore trust me with their lives. They are all content with telling me what they need and expecting it back in a timely manner, complete and accurate.

It's totally fine to check in with your VA. If you want to make sure they are completing a large project correctly, it's fine to ask them to show you what they have about half way through or ask for a few updates, but for a 4 hour data entry task, checking in 6 times is NOT okay. If you feel you have to repeatedly check in on your VA,you and your VA are not a good fit.

If you have preferences, say something!

Clients prefer thing be done different ways all of the time. It's not a big deal at all. I have learned the way I like to do things and can often just go ahead and do them that way. For example, if you ask me to research car rentals, I'm going to put them in a Google Doc and copy and paste it into your email for easy access when I finish. Maybe you'd prefer that I do the work in a spreadsheet and send you the link. That's completely fine, just let me know what you would prefer.

Work with your VA

When you first start on the Virtual Assistant journey, it can be difficult and tiresome clarifying a bunch of things. If your Virtual Assistant is asking you a ton of questions, go with it. They are just trying to learn all about you and your preferences. I know I had to ask the dumbest questions quite a few times when I started working with some of my long time clients. They were patient with me, they "trained" me, and now when one asks me to order flowers, I don't even have to ask what kind! One of the biggest examples of this is if you schedule a bunch of meetings, be sure to let us know if you need travel time between them to get to different locations.

You and your VA will eventually get into a groove. That's the point and the purpose of hiring one. It just takes some time to get there early on. Hang in there!

Say "Thank You"

We absolutely love it. All it takes is a "thanks!" or "great job!". It may seem like nothing to you, but it's the whole world for us. Yes, it's our job and we don't expect the recognition but it just feels so good to get it. If I have to go back to a client to get more information, I will thank them. Why am I thanking them when I am doing something for them? Because they make my job easier. That's why you should thank your VA. I'm not listing this tip for me or for anyone who may work with me, I'm listing this tip for anyone with a Virtual Assistant. I hear "Thank You" all day. I know some of my fellow VAs don't and they deserve it!