Hiring a virtual assistant soon?
Hiring someone for your business, whether in person or remotely is no easy task.
That’s why in this article, we’re breaking down the actual steps that will help you make the process easier and smoother when it comes to hiring a virtual assistant for your business.
Here, we’ll dive into the basics as well as some advanced tips on hiring and even managing a virtual assistant.
𝟏. 𝐎𝐛𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐞 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝗪𝐞𝐞𝐤
Take a notebook, or create a document on your computer where you can start documenting what your week looks like.
What time do you usually start working? What time do you stop working?
What kind of tasks do you usually do and what do you prioritize?
Start writing down what these tasks are and rate them with the following:
– How much time it takes you to do them
– If it’s a task you enjoy doing or not
– The results they create in your business, monetary or not
That’s it. We often under or overestimate what our work actually looks like, and taking a pause like this before even starting the hiring process will help make the process realistic.
Of course you can also start writing down the tasks that you’d like to do but you never get to, or any additional tasks that you’d like to see happen in your business.
𝟐. 𝐌𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐒𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐓𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐬 𝐀𝐫𝐞 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞
Now that you have the tasks that you usually do in a week, you’ll need to divide them into the following categories:
– Tasks that are high value that you enjoy doing
– Tasks that are high value that you don't enjoy doing
– Tasks that aren't high value that still needs to get done
– Tasks that shouldn't be on your list at all
Those tasks that are high value that you don’t enjoy doing? Those are the tasks that your virtual assistant should be doing.
This ensures that what they’re working on brings in that return on investment, since they won’t just be working on your email or calendar – they’re helping bring in sales or customers in your business.
For example, a high value task that I don’t enjoy doing is sending out invoices every month – this makes sure that our clients pay us, but usually takes up a lot of my time.
My assistant now takes care of this task, and is even improving the process I already had before.
Find tasks like these that way it’s easier for you to be able to see the value of your assistant.
𝟑. 𝐃𝐨𝐜𝐮𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐓𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐬 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲’𝐥𝐥 𝐁𝐞 𝐃𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠
The easiest way to delegate something? Give them a step by step process that’s easy to check and follow.
If you’re crunch on time like most entrepreneurs are, simply record yourself doing a particular task.
This way these become training videos for your virtual assistant to go over.
In 2xYou, one of the fastest ways we train our assistants is by showing them a video of how the different tasks are done and then asking them to create a written Standard Operating Procedure on it.
This way they’re literally doing the task and then teaching it to someone else.
𝟒. 𝐂𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐣𝐨𝐛 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧
With the tasks your virtual assistant can do in front of you and easy to train for with the videos, you’re then at the stage where actually writing the job description makes the process so much easier.
Your job description will need 5 main things:
Your job description will need 5 main things:
- Job title – be straightforward with who you need
- Their shift schedule – is this a full time position, or a full time position? What times do you need them to be online?
- The top 3 tasks – From the steps above, outline the top three tasks that they’ll be doing once hired
- A filter – Ask them to add a word in the subject line or in the application letter. This way you know they actually read the job ad
- A way to contact you – Either through a work email you’ve set up (which makes it easier to filter out spam emails) or through a Google Form
𝟓. 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐏𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠
Once you have this written out, you can start putting them up on different job sites or on Facebook groups that are relevant to the type of assistant you need.
You can check out our video on Where To Find Virtual Assistants here.
𝟔. 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐦
This process can be less daunting than it seems. You can interview potential applicants through chat or call to simply see how it would be like when you start actually working with them.
𝟕. 𝐋𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐎𝐮𝐭 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐕𝐚𝐥𝐮𝐞𝐬
You might be wondering: what does listing out our company values have anything to do with hiring a virtual assistant?
Well the reality is, it becomes a filter for you as you start hiring and getting applicants.
If you don’t have your company values just yet, just ask yourself this questions:
What would be 3 non-negotiable characteristics of a person working for this company?
In 2xYou, curiosity, self-growth, and empathy are our top 3 values, and this is interwoven in our job ads, interview questions, and how we manage our assistants moving forward.
𝟖. 𝐎𝐧𝐛𝐨𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐕𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐀𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭
Once you’ve found a Virtual Assistant who seems to be a good fit, you’ll need to onboard them on the following:
– The tools that you use
– Where to find their tasks
– The goals of the company and where they come in
You can also go ahead and create a virtual assistant manual for them with all the basics in there that can later be turned into a document that makes it easy for you to hire new employees.
𝟗. 𝐈𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐋𝐨𝐨𝐩𝐬
Communication loops are different ways that you can check-in with your assistant without the need for meetings that take up a lot of your time.
The purpose of these is to make sure that you and your assistant are in sync on what needs to be done and what the priorities are.
In 2xYou, we have three communication loops set-up with the assistant and the client:
1. Daily Report
This could be an email that they send at the end of the day to report what they were able to accomplish and what they plan to do tomorrow, or a simply chat.
2. Weekly Agenda
This one is a 15-minute call with the assistant to get an update on projects and what to expect for the week.
3. Monthly check-in
This is a longer meeting once a month where you plot out what to expect in the next month as well as look back at the past month to see how else things can be improved.
𝟏𝟎. 𝐆𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠
Ensure that your assistant’s skills are constantly growing by providing courses, books, and even live training of how things run in your business.
This way they can come up with more ideas, upgrade the way they think, and be able to understand your business at a different level.
𝟏𝟏. 𝐔𝐩𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐃𝐨𝐜𝐮𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧
After a while, your assistant will start making improvements or shortcuts to the original training videos you’ve created for them.
It’s at this point that they will need to update the documentation and even create new processes that they’ve been able to learn and go through.
𝟏𝟐. 𝐒𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐆𝐨𝐚𝐥𝐬
One of the biggest ways that you can build loyalty with your virtual assistant is to know about their goals and help support them in any way.
It can’t be just one way where they support you in your business goals – to build loyalty it has to be both ways.
This is either through also giving them the training to reach their goal, or by checking in on them from time to time to see if it still makes sense for them to be working with you.
Often when employees feel like their goals are neglected with work they become less engaged – working with them with what they want keeps them inspired about what they’re working on.
Hiring a virtual assistant doesn’t have to be daunting – it can be broken down into steps that be easily taken when you’re ready to take that next step.
Comment below your own experience in hiring a virtual assistant, or you can take the Scale You Scorecard to find out if you’re ready for one!
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