How to Build a Strong Relationship with your Virtual Assistant

Making the decision to accept help and hire a Virtual Assistant can be a big one. Like hiring an employee, it takes a lot of faith and trust and the relinquishing of total control to allow another person, you often don’t know well or even at all, to make contributions to your business.

The way to make the hiring of a Virtual Assistant a success and an asset to your business is to build a strong working relationship with them.

Communication

When you’re not working in the same space, same town or sometimes even the same country, communication is key. Clear and precise communication of expectations, quality, quantity and anything business related is important in creating a solid foundation for a good business relationship.

Be clear about:

·       What you want them to do

·       How you want it done

·       The deadline for the work

If you’re open about these from the start, then there will be no dispute over deadline or the quality of the work and the VA will know what is expected of them.

I also believe it is important to have regular catch-up sessions, once a week/month, to ensure both sides are happy in the relationship and expectations are being met. This will also help a VA get to know your business more, the ins and outs, as well as provide them with an opportunity to make suggestions of ways to improve and drive the business forward in their areas of expertise.

Delegation

Now, this might surprise you but delegation works both ways. This is another area where communication is key. You should be providing a list of tasks you are delegating for them to work on. Equally though, during quiet periods, they should be contacting you and reaching out and making suggestions of areas where they can help e.g. I noticed this deadline is coming up or that this email needs a response, would you like me to help with this?

Delegation is a two-way street – in principle it should come from you, the business owner, as the VA is getting used to working with you and your business, but the VA should also take some initiative.

Long Term Goals

Right from the start of your working relationship, be clear about what your goals are for your business, where you see it going and how you’re going to get there. Share short and long-term goals for the year or even years ahead. This helps them get to know you and the business and get on the right track in terms of where your business is heading.

Building a strong relationship with your Virtual Assistant will help them become part of your team and make them a valuable asset to your business going forward.

Selina Johnson — Business Support Expert, solution seeker and freedom fixer — helps successful coaches, consultants, speakers and entrepreneurs from across the globe to scale their businesses, make more money and achieve faster, sustainable results without compromising their time.

Over the past 16 years, she’s supported high profile individuals like award-winning architect Dame Zaha Hadid DBE, Sunday Times Top 20 Most Influential Entrepreneurs In The UK Sháá Wasmund MBE, former Co-Director of the Serpentine Gallery Dame Julia Peyton-Jones DBE, and Russian billionaire Timur Sardarov.

Today, she teaches brilliant entrepreneurs just like you how to implement her simple methods that result in BIG wins in their businesses — including the dynamite delegation strategies, time management hacks and mindset mastery she’s used to halve her hours, double her income and ditch her commute, leaving her free to create and live the life she loves.

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