3 Roadblocks To A Successful Working Relationship With Your Virtual Assistant

Having a good, solid working relationship is important for any working environment, but when you don’t have the advantage of being together in-person and sharing space it can present even more of a challenge. The good news is that there are ways to establish a good foundation for a positive remote working relationship from the beginning that will help set you up for success.

But, let’s come at this from an interesting angle and talk about the things that will likely hurt your relationship…

Here are the 3 most common roadblocks to establishing a successful relationship with your Virtual Support Team that I have noticed:

• Not having clear goals

• Not establishing clear communication methods

• Not having good productivity tools

So, let’s talk about how we can break down these barriers and start off on the right foot…

1. Not having clear goals

The first step to establishing clear goal with your VA is knowing what your goals are yourself. It’s important to understand that your VA is there to perform tasks that you assign, not create assignments and run with them. Very often I have been put in situations as a VA myself where a business owner is feeling pulled in several different directions and I am not given enough direction to complete the work that is expected of me. It is important that a VA be given clear direction, deadlines, and expectations from the beginning to avoid issues down the road. A poorly executed plan or not enough direction can lead to a less than desired outcome which can lead to a negative result for everyone. Taking the time to establish clear goals before a project is assigned is worth the effort and more often than not will lead to a better result.

Establishing clear goals is all part of the pre-strategy plan and needs to be part of an on-going effort as you work with a Virtual Support Team. As with anything, if you create good habits to start with it will be easier as you go. A great way to make sure this happens is to work with a productivity tool such as Asana or Trello so the specific goals of a project or task can be written out and checked off and progress can be measured. Along the way you may want to use tools such as Loom to be specific about how you want certain tasks handled without having to be present while your VA is handling a specific part of the process.

For more information about implementing these tools or putting together a strategy that works for your unique business needs get in touch and we can work out a plan that makes sense for you.

2. Not establishing clear communication methods

At the beginning of your working relationship, it is important to establish how and how often you plan to be in touch. I always recommend incorporating regular video chats into your plan to establish a stronger personal connection. And, being clear on how you plan to establish that connection is also vital. Having a regular Zoom time slot or an option to book a Calendly appointment once a week may feel like enough connection or you may need bi-weekly meetings in the beginning, every situation is different. So, do what feels right, but make sure you and your VA are having open and honest conversations about level of comfort and connection and be sure to have a way to get in touch to have basic questions answered in between meetings just in case something should come up that is easy to answer over email.

Another important topic to cover is office hours or boundaries when it comes to hours of availability. It’s important to consider whether you are a 24/7 type of worker or whether you are a family member who values your evenings and/or mornings with your loved ones. And, it’s just as important to know whether or not your support professionals have boundaries around such things as well. You may need to know these things before beginning a working relationship with someone, and you may need to set up a schedule of when you are and are not available.

In addition, if you prefer to be reached only by email but you let your VA know that if something needs your immediate attention that a text message is acceptable to get your attention then make that known. If you prefer that your VA not text you unless it is a true emergency then these are things that you should communicate clearly from the start. If things like this are learned along the way, it’s ok to communicate them as you go and let your VA know that you are realizing them and making changes. All of these types of nuances may be learned as you get to know each other and can be figured out along the way, but be sure to be clear, kind and appropriate when establishing new boundaries.

3. Not having good productivity tools

If you’ve ever working on a project and sent emails back and forth, over and over, you know how easy it can be for important information to get lost in the shuffle! The best way to stop that from happening is to get organized before you start.

By choosing a productivity tool, and sticking with it, you can keep each project separate and keep every communication within that project. No more searching your inbox for that one email that had those notes from that one meeting… forget it!

I’ve mentioned them before but I will say it again… try Asana or Trello and see how easy it can be to keep project information and communication organized and out of your inbox.

Yes, it will take a bit of time to learn how to use the new platform you chose, but the amount of hassle and frustration it saves in the long run is well worth the time it will take to learn how to use it. I promise!!

For more information about establishing a pre-strategy before you even start looking for the perfect Virtual Assistant or Virtual Support Team, get in touch to learn how I can help you figure out the best solutions for your unique business needs. Whether you want to schedule a Strategy Session, download The Workbook, or just email me to learn more, let’s chat!