The Easiest Way to Manage a Virtual Assistant Now that you have hired someone and they have signed all the required documents, how should you manage their work? How do you keep them busy? What are some good ways to train them? We will begin this chapter with a discussion on training. One training tactic I like is actually shooting screencast video. I usually have two pieces of software at my disposal for this. Jing allows you to create a five-minute video. The videos must be no more than five minutes in length. Once you have recorded it, you can simply press a button to host it, making it available to your assistant. This is a free service. Snagit has similar features but includes the option to host the videos immediately and allows for videos longer than five minutes. However, this account requires a one-time $50 fee. This software is best if you need to post significantly longer videos. You can also record videos on your own and then upload them to YouTube as private videos that you share only with your assistant. It would be easy to store past videos this way and reuse them to train future hires. I try to keep the videos simple and instructive regardless of which platform I use to upload them. ● Making Time Count When you give your assistant a few tasks to accomplish, they may finish them more quickly than you anticipated and have questions about what to work on next. However, if you’re a busy person, you may not be able to respond to them for several hours. To avoid these situations, I provide my assistants with filler work in advance so that they always have something to keep them productive. I often do this with graphic designers, web developers, and article writers. Make sure you provide them with numerous tasks up front. Because they work remotely, they might have to wait extended periods for feedback from you. That means they’ll require a filler task in the meantime. For example, with an article writer, you can give them a list of articles that you need for your blog, and then have them research or even write the articles. Instruct them that they should work on one of these projects whenever they are waiting for a reply from you about some other project.
55
Powered by FlippingBook