In recent years, the prevalence of remote work and the constant growth of the outsourcing industry have led to an increased demand for virtual assistants. A lot of businesses these days choose to work with virtual assistants rather than hire in-office employees thanks to the benefits they provide.
VAs can handle a huge variety of tasks in different areas of activity, from administration and secretarial work to database management, accounting, marketing, and everything in between. They can reduce operational costs, improve productivity and flexibility, provide the skills your business needs and reduce your workload.
As you can see, a virtual PA can become an invaluable asset to your business, but only if you manage to build a proper work relationship with them. What many business owners fail to realize is that working with a virtual assistant is quite different from working with a regular
employee. That leaves room for a lot of mistakes that can eventually ruin your collaboration.
We’ve compiled a list of some of the most common issues that usually arise between business owners and VAs so you can avoid them and build a successful relationship with your VA.
Lack of preparation
Since working with a VA involves different work dynamics than the ones that you’re used to, you have to make sure that your business is ready to adapt to the change. Without the necessary work infrastructure, it will be very difficult to integrate a virtual assistant into your business.
You must have a plan as well as the right tools and mindset to work with a VA. From the tasks that you want to delegate to the VA to providing a clear job description and developing a work schedule, you have to get your business ready before you start your collaboration.
Skipping the training period
No matter how skilled or talented a VA is, they still need a certain period of time to adjust to your working style and business requirements. It’s a huge mistake to overwhelm them with multiple tasks and responsibilities without providing a training period to the VAs.
Yes, a VA can be an expert in their field, but they haven’t worked with your company before, so it’s impossible for them to know all the ins and outs of the business if you skip the initial training period. Taking the time to train your VA properly will save you a lot of trouble in the long run and set the foundation for a fruitful collaboration.
Not providing feedback
One of the main reason business owners hire virtual assistants is because they’re too busy to handle all the tasks on their own. So, they delegate some of these tasks to the VA to free up their schedule and focus on the more important aspects of running the business. But in doing so, some forget to provide their VAs with the feedback they need to perform their job properly.
No matter how busy you are, you still have to find the time to give your VA insights into their work performance, so they know what they did right or wrong and work out solutions to improve your relationship.
Poor communication
It’s a well-known fact that good communication is one of the pillars of successful collaboration between employers and employees. When working with a VA, you might encounter further challenges in this respect. Since they’ll be working remotely and you won’t have the opportunity to interact face-to-face, you’ll have to put some extra effort into it.
It’s true that effective communication has to come from both sides, but you have to make sure you do your part. Communicate as often as possible and keep your VA in the loop if you want them to be productive and fulfill their tasks in due time.
Providing insufficient details
Another thing that can hurt your relationship with your VA is assuming you only have to give them the minimum amount of information about their tasks, and they’ll fill in the blanks and do the rest.
VAs are skilled professionals, not wizards, so don’t expect them to read your mind or guess what you are expecting of them. Try to be as clear as possible when delegating tasks, so that you leave no room for interpretation or confusion.
Underestimating their abilities
You’re hiring a VA because of the skills and knowledge they bring to the table, so not taking advantage of them can hurt both your business and your relationship. As a business owner, you’re surely used to handling multiple tasks and responsibilities, but then what’s the point of working with a VA if you still do everything by yourself?
You should let your virtual assistant put their skills to good use and try not to get in their way. That way, you’ll be able to build a professional relationship based on trust and respect that both parties will benefit from.
Inability to delegate
If for any reason, you’re having a difficult time prioritizing tasks and delegating responsibilities, that will most certainly have a negative influence on your relationship with the VA. If you don’t know how to assign roles and you’re not able to explain to your employees how you want things to be done, it’s going to be next to impossible for your virtual assistant to carry out their work.
You have to be comfortable with the idea of delegating tasks to others. You can’t expect a VA to take initiative in this respect and decide what tasks they should fulfill on their own.
Expecting too much from them
A talented VA can take a lot of burdens off your shoulders, but that doesn’t mean you should treat them as miracle workers. Because they provide flexibility, it can be tempting to call them whenever you need to address an urgent matter and expect them to be at your service all the time.
You have to manage your expectations and know where to draw the line. Without clear boundaries and respect for each other’s personal time, any professional relationship is bound to fail.