A Step-by-Step Guide On How To Onboard & Work With A Dedicated Virtual Assistant
Introduction
Hiring a virtual assistant is one of the biggest “productivity hacks” any individual or team can implement within their company. When done right, you can increase your productivity by 10-25%. The key to hitting these productivity metrics is finding repeatable processes within your day-to-day life that you can unload to an assistant. Great examples of repeatable tasks are daily inbox management, bookkeeping, marketing management or just a large pile of structured administrative tasks that you might not want to do.
When you’re first introduced to your virtual assistant there is a huge jolt of excitement. Your to-do list has been piling up for months and you’re ready to unload everything onto your new assistant. That’s a great game plan (eventually), but to start off on the right foot you need to break your work down into smaller digestible chunks and complement this with upfront training
A large assumption within the virtual assistant industry is that all virtual assistants come with expertise about a particular industry or a specific process, but that’s usually not the case. While virtual assistants have loads of experience handling administrative duties, or know their way around tools like Trello or Asana, that might not mean that they are ready to revamp or be a consultant on your company’s productivity strategy.
When starting out with your assistant you will need to do the heavy lifting and provide your assistant with industry context, training, and written instructions; then once you’re both on the same page, you can scale up the workload to be as productive as possible
This guide is designed to give you the know-how to get your assistant up to speed quickly and then maintain an awesome relationship so they will be a pivotal extension of your team. We hope you find this helpful!
Sincerely,
The Kickoff Call
Immediately after you have a virtual assistant lined up, you should schedule a kickoff call to make formal introductions and start going over the scope of work that will take place. This call is also designed to set the tone of your entire relationship and start things off on the right foot
Before The Call
Before the call starts, try to send a written overview of the work that the assistant will be performing. This ensures that your virtual assistant will get the lay of the land before the call and she/he can come prepared with more informed questions. Also, if you use any tools that your virtual assistant will work with, like Trello or Asana, send those platform invites and/or instructions to get your assistant set up with them ASAP.
For example, if you are having a virtual assistant manage your social media campaigns, send your assistant the login credentials for Twitter, Facebook, etc... and also provide a rough overview of the typical tasks that will be involved with those tools.
As for call logistics, you should use a conference line with screen sharing capabilities so that you can walk through the process step-by-step. At Byron we use UberConference for all of our kickoff calls, unless the client requests otherwise.
During The Call
As the client, you should be running the call. After all, you’re the one hiring the assistant. Here’s a quick checklist of things that should be covered on the call.
During the call it’s important not to overwhelm the assistant with every single task that she/he will be doing. You should send and train the assistant on 2-3 tasks that happen on a recurring basis and once she/he successfully conquers those tasks, expand to your next set of responsibilities.
As you’re finishing up the kickoff call it’s important to set clear expectations and next steps. Always be clear with how you would like your work handled.
After The Call
After you complete the kickoff call, send the assistant a recap of what you discussed and provide any outstanding documentation/information that they may need to complete the first set of tasks. At this time your assistant should have a strong grasp as to what their responsibilities will be
Onboarding
Email Setup
The most popular way to communicate with your virtual assistant is through email. Setting up an email account for your virtual assistant is crucial in order to integrate them into your company’s processes. From our experience, there are two main ways to set up an email account for your assistant.
Option #1: Company Branded Email
73% of Byron clients prefer to set up an email address at their own company for their assistant. For example, if your assistant’s name is “Sarah” and you work at Acme, Inc. you would set up the email account sarah@acme.com and send “Sarah” those login credentials. From there, “Sarah” will monitor that email account for any new tasks or correspondence that you or your team may send.
This option is the most professional because it looks like you hired “Sarah” to work full-time at your company. If you don’t know how to set-up an email account at your company, ask your IT department!
*Note, this option usually incurs additional costs from your webmail provider. For example, Gmail is $5/month to add an additional email account to your company’s account.
Option #2: Generic Gmail Account
The alternative option is to have your assistant set up a free Gmail account. For example, if you’re placed with “Sarah” and work at Acme, Inc. you would tell your assistant to setup a free Gmail account and name it sarah.acmeinc@gmail.com. If you’re using a Byron assistant, we automatically set up one of these generic Gmail accounts for you.
Create & Send A Training Manual To Your Assistant
It’s important to follow through with documentation/instructions on what you outlined on your kickoff call to create a clear road map for your assistant to follow. The better the documentation, the faster you can get your assistant up and running. Also, a huge advantage of having everything written out is that if you ever need to add another assistant or replace one, everything is there and ready to go.
Within your assistant training manual you should include a step-by-step guide on all tasks that will need ongoing support, deadlines and expectations for each task or responsibility, a central place for all of your accounts and passwords, and finally, a backup plan in case a task goes wrong or you happen to be out of the office on a day where a task will occur. A backup plan can consist of another colleague to contact if you’re out of the office or alternative instructions if the initial task cannot be completed.
Finally, you should you utilize video tutorials whenever you can. It’s not only a time saver for you to provide instructions, but we have seen much higher success on projects when clients provide recorded video trainings. Loom is an excellent tool to record your videos
Securely Share Passwords & Company Information
Security can be a big concern when working with a virtual assistant. A typical thought that comes to mind is “I don’t know this person; I don’t want to just hand over my passwords and personal information that easily”. We’re with you on that part, so here are a few ways to combat these concerns:
Execute A Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA)
First and foremost, make sure that you have a legally binding contract between you and the assistant that is receiving any personal information. If you’re utilizing a Byron assistant you’re already covered; when you sign up for Byron you execute a legal agreement between Byron and your company. On top of that, we execute NDAs and agreements with all of our assistants to close the confidentiality loop.
If you’re not utilizing a Byron assistant, have your legal counsel draft one up to send to your new assistant. Once it’s signed you’re clear to send over information.
Utilize Third-Party Security Tools
If an NDA is not enough for you, there are great third party security apps that you can use to even further protect yourself. In our experience, utilizing password sharing tools may take time to setup, but once in place they work well. The idea around password sharing tools is that all of your passwords are encrypted so that the assistant can log into your accounts (with your permission) and they will never actually know your real password. Here are two of the most popular password sharing tools:
Start Sending Tasks!
After you complete your kickoff call and provide your assistant with a training manual, it’s time to actually have your assistant start working! Give your assistant enough work to last a week and provide ongoing feedback during that week to get them up to speed. After that first week, have a check-in call to start creating a feedback loop.
Creating A Feedback Loop
It’s very important to always provide feedback to your assistant as you continue to work with her/him. In our kickoff call section we advise setting up a regular check-in call time; during this check-in call is when you want to provide feedback to your assistant.
Positive Feedback Goes A Long Way
If your assistant is doing a great job, please tell them so! First, it gives them a huge boost in morale and second, it allows for them to know what is working well. If you’re utilizing a Byron assistant, we take this feedback and improve assistants performance across the company.
Negative Feedback
If you are working with a Byron assistant, you don’t have to worry about providing negative feedback directly to your assistant if you don’t want to. Simply email support@hibyron.com with your issue and we can connect directly with the assistant and provide constructive feedback on your behalf. We also take this information and train other assistants on the learning process so it doesn’t happen again.
If you’re not working with a Byron assistant, tread lightly when providing negative feedback as this typically alters a relationship after you drop the bad news. At Byron, we follow the sandwich method which is: deliver good feedback, then bad feedback, and then more nicely worded constructive feedback. By doing this you’re not hurting the assistant’s feelings, but still getting your point across and improving the relationship.
Building A Relationship
Even though a virtual assistant is normally a part-time worker, you should try to make them feel as much a part of the team as possible. Here are some general tips to help with this.
Update Them About The Company
The more context and background information the assistant has about your company the better - especially if your assistant is client facing! Some things to share with them could be your list of VIP clients, your biggest prospects, why your company is a leader within your market, etc…
After they have the basics down, add them to your internal newsletters and/or company Slack channel so they can get a sense of what your company is focusing on, on that particular day or week.
Try To Get On A Personal Level
Let your assistant get to know you. If you’re working together on a Friday, maybe share what you’re doing over the weekend and ask your assistant what they have planned. It’s a nice gesture that goes a long way with your assistant
Praise Their Work
If your assistant is doing an amazing job, be sure to tell them! Studies show that a positive work culture and positive reinforcement improves productivity and reduces turnover with your assistant.
Be Respectful
Treat your assistant like you would treat one of your in-house employees. If your employees are not working 18 hour days you shouldn’t hold them to the same standards. This is mostly important to keep in mind when dealing with response times. On average, a virtual assistant has 5-10 other clients to fill up their work month, you should not expect them to reply to your email within minutes.
Avoid These Mistakes
Train Right
Invest the time upfront to train your assistant the right way. Seriously. The more information you share and expectations that you set up front, the easier things will be down the road.
Don’t Assume Anything
Clients will often send a task with minimal instructions and assume the assistant knows the entire inner workings of their company. Try not to do this as this normally leads to two things. 1. The task is done incorrectly or 2. There are a lot of back and forth questions and that leads to wasted time.
For example, if you have an assistant working within Dropbox, don’t just say “Can you upload this document to Dropbox?” say “Can you log into Dropbox, create a new folder called “Meyers” and then upload this document into that folder?”. The more specifics the better.
Set Deadlines & Turnaround Times
During your kickoff call it’s extremely important to set expectations with your assistant. Assistants are not mind readers; if you send a task, always outline when you need the task completed by. Or if you like communication done a certain way, be upfront about it so that you and your assistant get on the same page.
Don’t Micromanage
Try to give your assistant some time to put their head down and work. This ensures that they are focusing 100% on the task at hand. If you’re working with a Byron assistant, all of our assistants have over 3 years of experience so you’re in great hands and don’t have to micromanage them. Plus, the Byron team is continuously providing them with feedback to improve their client service.
Helpful Tools
Loom
Loom is a free Chrome extension that allows you to quickly record your voice and screen. It’s great for providing instructions quickly to your assistant.
Website: useloom.com
Slack
Slack is designed to kill email communication. It’s a great way to quickly chat with your assistant and include them in your company dialog.
Website: slack.com
Trello
Trello is one of the most popular project management tools that we see our clients use. We look at it like an interactive to-do list.
Website: trello.com
Uberconference
UberConference is a free conference calling tool that has screen sharing capabilities. It’s great for kickoff and check-in calls.
Website: uberconference.com
Lastpass
LastPass allows you to securely share passwords and private information.
Website: lastpass.com
Entropay
Entropay allows you to create a virtual credit card so you can send a temporary credit card number to your assistant to make purchases.
Website: entropay.com
Dialpad Free
If you need to have your assistant make outbound calls for sales or personal related tasks, and you want to monitor their activity, Dialpad is a great solution.
Website: dialpad.com/free
About Byron
Byron was founded on the belief that gaining access to a reliable and high valued virtual assistant shouldn’t be difficult. Our mission is to provide teams and individuals with a singular reliable resource that can handle administrative tasks at a moments notice.
Through our platform and tool integrations like Slack and email, clients can, with the click of a button, access an assistant that fits perfectly into their workflow. Byron’s platform is designed to handle short-term tasks as well as provide placement for long-term projects through a dedicated assistant.
All of Byron’s assistants are highly vetted, trained individuals that live in the United States, and they truly love what they do. By subject level testing our assistants, and parsing each request based on categories and skills, we ensure that our clients are always working with an expert.
By connecting virtual assistants directly with clients in need of administrative support, we empower passionate assistants to control their quality of life by letting them choose their own hours, the type of projects they want to work on, and earn a new stream of income.
To learn more, and to connect with the Byron team, head over to hibyron.com
