Hiring a virtual assistant is an innovative and proven way to increase productivity if you get more things done. By assigning tasks to your virtual assistant, you can save up more time to focus on the core functions of your business. Virtual assistants are also experts in doing your business. With a practice in place, you can spend more time working on solutions rather than waste precious time looking for files and essential sources.

But virtual assistants are human beings. They have their goals and individual origins for effort. If you force them to work beyond capacity too often, they will hit a point of diminishing returns. It involves every unit of input yields less and less output until the quality of work finally regresses. We recognize that as skilled as they are, we need to work within the capacity of our virtual assistants. We aim to generate maximum productivity without burning out our virtual assets.

Five strategies that make your virtual assistant more productive

Clarify

Giving clear, understandable instructions to your virtual assistants is one of those things that sounds easy to do. Still, it can be more complex in real life, especially in an office environment or within a business. Mixed messages, assumptions, and multiple options mean that the message received might differ from what we meant.

Once a task is set, the instructions should be clear enough that further confirmation and clarification are not required (however, it is best to seek clarification if unsure!) If this rings true with you, you need to make sure that your instructions are clear so that they are confident of what they are doing and don’t feel the need to keep coming back with questions.

Delegating Skill

Provide your VA partners with a broad vision of your company objectives. It is the first stepping stone to progress. Aid the VAs to leverage your active list by selecting their routine tasks. Always define the deadline of your projects. If you think that your business could be completed within a period, determine that too. Your VA partners would form up their working time accordingly.

Being Professional but Pleasant

When you send out assignments, understand that you need to get them done in some time. Be kind and give energy through adequate words. While deadlines and guidance are parts of your profession, your partnership is also essential to lending a humane touch and having thoughtful considerations. Keep them. Give clear instructions and set deadlines but keep your kind words reserved when dealing with your virtual assistant.

Encourage Close Collaboration

If you have a virtual team, assist them in working jointly with one another, even if each person manages a complex task. A virtual team consists of virtual assistants that have distinctive but often interrelated functions. For instance, your customer service Virtual Assistant should cooperate with your Virtual accounting Assistant because many questions are on accounts agreement. Close collaboration will also bring the team together and establish conditions for a productive work environment.

Getting VA Involved

In the beginning, you will not entirely be in this perfect state with your VA. He will have to re-work his work to adapt to your expectations. Make sure they are provided with everything they want. Send an indication of appreciation when you are satisfied. Provide feedback when things need to be replaced. Open the project to them and let them provide their inputs if they feel those are inevitable. When innovation is offered beyond instruction, involvement level is sure to rise. Could you encourage them to speak their thought? Be open to everything- both recognition and denial. You need to know the strengths and weaknesses of your VA as fast as possible. Keep your VAs notified about tasks they are involved in. It helps them to get a better perspective of things.

Conclusion

A virtual assistant is an employee who supports various business operations from a remote location. Start-ups can use VAs to help with inbox management, social media content, online customer support, and any task requiring them to show up in person. Hiring a specialized VA allows you to outsource the items with which you struggle. You can trust that the jobs will be handled competently — maybe even better than you would have on your own. And it frees up a ton of your time to focus on things that you’re good at. It also gives you a better opportunity to grow your business rather than get stuck in the day-to-day operations.