And it's what a lot of business owners who are accustomed to having their staff in their own office, think.
The best way to approach this is to review the way in which you work before introducing someone virtually into the process. Our guess is that as a result of this you might find better and more efficient ways of working. Often the reason why we like to have our co-workers physically next to us is so that we can share information as it happens in real time but, we pose the question... is that really necessary for every task? We are not advocating working on your own and becoming a machine (unless you like it that way) but if it is time to shed some of your work load onto others and free up your desk space, then it is a very good place to start!
These are our Top Tips.....
For a longer term working relationship:
- Establish what tasks can be grouped together - multi tasking is not always the most efficient way to work (ironically)
- Evalutate whether a virtual meeting each week at the same time would be beneficial to your workload and that can be your point to download with your virtual PA
- Provide enough information then you can empower them to make decisions on your behalf et voila, you have the startings of a good working relationship.
For smaller/random projects and requests:
- Give precise instructions (nothing wooley otherwise you leave it up to someone else's interpretation of what you need)
- Request a confirmation email with an explanataion email back from them in their own words of what you have asked them to do.
- Set a deadline for your assistant to check in with you with a progress report
Good luck!
