contigi

What to consider before you hire a VA?

A virtual assistant can change your life, and for sure, you will change her/his life by providing a proper, steady, and interesting job for many years.

Cultural Difference

Despite the fact that the VA you work with is super nice, pleasant, attentive, and polite, they are not you. They are based a few thousand miles from you and in a different cultural setting.

This is very important to understand.

It is your responsibility to teach your VA, using your pre-SOP conversation, and add everything that is related to the way things are done in your country, your life, your family, your business, and your style.

For example, the way you write emails, the language and style you use when you reply, the working hours of your team and suppliers or the main portal to look for new googles for your son swimming after school class and when you buy ticket to the theater?

It’s all about a good SOP

A SOP is your Standard Operating Procedure. Without it, you will just waste your time trying to work with a VA. A SOP is normally on a word doc or google doc and its role is to describe, in the most specific way possible, a task that you would like the VA to do for you. he more details you provide, the easier it will be for your VA to complete your task and save you time and going back and explain what you meant…

A SOP can also be a video where you do a screen recording of your task while you explain what needs to be done and give an example/training to the VA to follow. Read the next paragraph to see how to write a good SOP.

Be Clear

This sound obvious, but, this is where most people fall into this trap. When you talk to your VA, write or record a voice message with a task, or screen record a SOP, you have to go to the highest resolution possible to make sure you are covering every little detail in your SOP, never assume your VA can understand when you write in short.

Here is an example of a SOP
A Bad SOP and Good SOP

Bad SOP

SOP Name: Saving INV monthly – J&Q Accountants

Description: when you get an email from J&Q Accountants save it on the DropBox folder Digital Creative LTD expenses 2022-2023 and save it to the google sheet

Good SOP

SOP Name: Saving monthly INV for Digital Creative arriving from J&Q Accountants

Description:
On the first week on every month, an email from J&Q Accountants will land in the inbox of Hillary@DigitalCreative.co.uk with the subject: Your INV J&Q
Open the email, save the PDF attached called “Digital Creative INV[name of the month]”
Save it in the dropbox folder called “Digital Creative LTD expenses 2022-2023”
Then go to the google sheet called “Digital Creative LTD expenses 2022-2023 expenses” and update this expense(Date, INV no, supplier name, sum, paid with ) take all the details of the INV and in the paid with enter “Direct Debit”

Use the best tools for the best working environment

when you have a remote worker, it is important that both of you working with the best online toos and resources to make your work much smoother.

Use a good task management system like Trello, Slack, Zoho, Monday etc. We recommend Trello. Give the VA access to the emails you would like the VA to monitor.

Use cloud-based software like DropBox, google sheet, google docs etc to work together in real time.

We are working with Time Doctor so you can see what your VA is busy at any given time

Plan before you start

Before you start to work with a VA and even before your initial Zoom interview, we set up for you, plan what you would like the VA to do for you.

What are the tasks that consume most of your time and prevent you from doing what you would like to focus on during the day/week/year/life.

Write down the questions you have for the VA Write down a list of tasks that you would like the VA to do for you, that you can share it on the interview, preparing the VA to what you are after.

Write for each and one of them a SOP.

Write down how a normal day looks on your end so you can share it with your VA and plan when you are starting the day, whether you are talking every day or once a week, and how you will send the VA requests and tasks? How the VA can contact you? What times do you normally work?

to-do list