How To Increase VA Productivity In A Fair And Effective Way

 

How To Increase VA Productivity In A Fair And Effective Way

 

You must build the most robust working relationships with all your staff as a business owner.

An excellent way to ensure you do this is by keeping things simple yet effective while boosting productivity.

Increased productivity is the aim of all small business owners, but you must have some kind of productivity strategy.

In this article, you will learn how to get the most out of your virtual assistant in a fair and productive way that suits them and your company.

It is essential that your virtual assistant has job satisfaction which is vital for their mental health and, in turn, will increase their productivity.

Setting The Right Expectations For Productivity

It’s often a common misconception that hiring virtual assistants is all about making cost savings. While saving money is essential, as a business owner, you shouldn’t place unfair expectations on the person you hire.

Virtual assistants are hired to do administrative tasks but don’t overburden your virtual assistant with multiple tasks when working on a new project.

It is fine to delegate to employees but make sure all daily tasks are manageable within the timescale you set.

The last thing you want is your virtual assistant becoming overwhelmed by, for example, the amount of data entry work you ask them to do.

You will only meet your business goals if all your staff are happy and productive. This includes your virtual assistant, who may work remotely.

5 Ways To Boost Virtual Assistant Productivity

1 – Close Communication And Collaboration

When you hire a VA, you cannot expect to spend a day showing them what you want them to do and expect them to get on with things without issues.

Even the best virtual assistants need to know what is required daily. Therefore, communication is vital in getting the best out of your virtual assistant. By having clear lines of communication, your virtual assistant will soon know how you like to run your business.

Business owners may all have one common goal, to make money, but how they achieve that goal will differ.

Suppose, for example, your virtual assistant has extensive experience in email management. In that case, it doesn’t mean they will automatically know which emails you want them to filter and which ones to prioritise.

It is only by communicating effectively that they learn which methods and practices best suit your business.

There is little point in hiring someone to perform a task if you don’t focus on telling them what you need them to do.

When you outsource work, the aim is for the person you hire to assist you in a certain way, whether it be researching, working on a new project, or general admin work.

2 – Set High And Achievable Goals

Always set achievable goals for your virtual assistant before they start working on a particular task to ensure you maintain their high standard of work.

Your goals mustn’t be compromised by not allowing your VA enough time to reach the goal.

Many executives make the mistake of setting high business goals but not having the right resources within their company to achieve those goals.

It is critical to provide the right level of support to your VA in terms of extra hours to help them manage social media development or marketing tasks to target prospective clients.

Technology has transformed how companies work, but sometimes executives expect too much of their staff because they are too focused on providing excellent services to their customers.

Hiring a VA should help your company’s productivity, so don’t spoil it by overloading your VA with tasks they are not familiar with.

Knowing your VA’s strengths and weaknesses will help you assess what goals need to be set.

For example, if you know your VA has excellent touch typing skills, you will feel comfortable setting them less time to compete for data entry tasks.

Making sure you assess the goals you set regularly will save you time and benefit the company moving forward.

3 – Prioritise Motivation

As an entrepreneur, you should always be on hand to encourage and help motivate your VA. Of course, mistakes will happen, but assessing them and dealing with them the right way is vital.

You want your VA to produce quality work, but if you are constantly on their case about the mistakes they make without offering ways they can improve, then they will soon lack motivation.

Often your VA will be from a different culture, so making sure you are mindful of how you speak to them about the mistakes they may make is vital.

If you are happy with the level of performance your VA is producing, make sure you give them positive feedback. It doesn’t matter who you are; everyone gets a boost in confidence if they receive praise.

Offering performance-related incentives such as pay bonuses is an excellent way to keep your staff focused and motivated when doing their job.

Each employee you hire has a different personality which means they will react differently to different motivation styles. For example, some people need gentle encouragement, while others may need a more direct approach to delivering feedback on their work.

It is up to you as the business owner to offer your VA the correct type of support that fits their personality, and that falls within your company’s code of conduct,

4 – Create Clear And Simple Processes

Keeping things clear and straightforward is the key to running any successful business. It also saves you a lot of time.

The VA you hire will often take time to adjust to how your company works and the software you use. The file-sharing software you use to communicate does not always have to cost the earth.

Many quality free software programs are used to file share, and communicate with remote staff. Software such as Google Hangout, Skype, Dropbox, Asana, and Slack are usually programs that VA’s are familiar with.

Like with all new technology, if your VA is not familiar with it, they will require additional training on how to use that software, so keeping to the software they already have knowledge and experience using saves time and hassle.

Simple, well-defined processes benefit you and your VA. The sooner your VA becomes comfortable in their job role, the sooner you see the advantages of using virtual assistant services.

5 – Involve Virtual Assistants In Other Tasks

When you hire virtual assistants, you often get well-rounded individuals who can provide your company with more than what you first envisaged.

For example, you may hire a VA to perform general admin duties, but it soon becomes clear that they can help your business with higher-value tasks relating to your social media presence.

You must get to know your virtual assistants as individuals to discover their hidden skill sets.

Sometimes this may need additional training to get them up to speed, but the benefits to your company will outweigh the added costs.

When you are open and transparent with your VA and find out more about their personal life, you find out they have a passion or talent in the area that you utilise to the advantage of your business.

When you hire a VA, you want to maximise their potential. Sadly this is something businesses often neglect to do.

Call Us Today For A Free Consultation

If you want to hire a VA just to save costs, you may miss out on so much more.

Implementing the five methods explained above regarding working closely with your VA to find out where their true passion and skills lay will help you avoid wasting countless hours on ideas that may not benefit your VA or your company.

If you don’t have the experience or the time to hire a VA, then let us do all the hard work for you.

Give us a call today and find out how we can have you up and running with your own VA in no time. We will even deal with your VA’s sourcing, hiring, training, and management.

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