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As a busy executive, you could use help with administrative issues like expense reports, travel arrangements, routine sales analyses, graphs, presentations, adding contact information to your email program and many other things. But, how do you work with a virtual assistant to identify these tasks and begin using his or her help to accomplish them?
It’s best to ask yourself these questions:
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What routine tasks do I hate doing?
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Which item on my task list has to be done today but would be time consuming and not the best use of my time?
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What routine task do I dread doing each week or each month?
It’s best NOT to ask yourself this question: How would a virtual assistant be able to do this task for me? Why is that not a good question to ask? Because the VA can figure out how to help you after she or he knows what you need help with. That’s her specialty – helping you. She knows the tools to use and needs minimal training, if any.
As a virtual assistant or cyber-secretary, I do not barge into my client’s business and start taking over. Instead I accomplish the assigned projects and continue to observing the client's work style and frustrations. I call that the “business storm.” At an appropriate time I make suggestions about additional tasks I could take on for him. The longer I work with an executive as his virtual assistant, the more he trusts me and the easier it becomes for him to hand over additional work and confidential information. That makes sense, right? |
