An increasing number of small business owners and large corporations are outsourcing their administrative and design projects to skilled professionals. Not only is this cost-effective, it frees up in-house resources to focus on the core activities of the business. Outsourcing is largely a straightforward process but there are some things to keep in mind to ensure the relationship is mutually rewarding.
1. Provide clear instructions
When describing a project, be specific and concise. If outsourcing a number of tasks, identify each one clearly. Include any essential information that may be needed to complete the project such as login and password details.
2. Need to know
Providing brief additional details about the project, e.g. why research information is needed, will help your Virtual Assistant (VA) provide the most relevant information.
3. Provide a deadline
It’s tempting to request everything to be completed ‘ASAP’, but if you assign ten tasks all with an ASAP deadline, your virtual team will not know which tasks are the most urgent. Giving a clear deadline will help your virtual assistant team prioritise appropriately. If you provide additional information on why the task is needed for a particular time and date (e.g. needed for a presentation at noon on Thursday) this will further ensure your VA returns the work before it’s due.
4. Delivery
Many VAs prefer to receive projects by email for tracking purposes and for ease of prioritisation. If you are someone who prefers to give verbal instructions, understand that your VA may be working on another project and will not always be able to stop in the middle of a task to take assignment details over the phone. Consider dictating details of your task into a recording device (most mobile phones have this facility) and email the sound file through to your virtual team.
5. Set and forget
If you’re new to working with a virtual team, it can feel strange not to be able to oversee what they’re doing as you would in a physical office. Trust that your virtual assistants are experienced professionals and will contact you if they need further information. It helps to think of them not as employees but as any other professional service contractor, such as an accountant.
6. Request referrals
In addition to providing administrative, secretarial and/or personal assistant services, many VAs are trained or qualified in a particular field. If you need a service that you know your VA doesn’t specialise in – copywriting or graphic design for example – ask if they know someone who does. Chances are they can recommend someone who they have worked with on a past project. This saves you research time and avoids the risk of outsourcing to someone who turns out to be unsuitable for your needs.
Unsure where to begin? If you know you need help but are not sure where to start, begin by writing down everything you do over the course of a day or week. Perhaps take advantage of free project timing software such as Grindstone or Time Stamp to monitor how much time is being spent on each project. E.g. 40 minutes checking emails, 30 minutes copywriting, one hour bookkeeping. At the end of the week, look at the projects you enjoy doing least. Those are the tasks to outsource first!
