Do you find that there aren’t enough hours in your working day to get tasks completed? Maybe you’re bringing work home or staying in the office late – a lot? If this is all affecting your work quality, meeting deadline dates, and impacting your personal life, then it might be time to look into hiring a virtual assistant – a remote employee that can provide administrative support.

Virtual assistants provide many benefits in managing your day-to-day tasks. They can schedule tasks, mange phone calls, invoicing, book travel arrangements and respond to emails. They need great organisational and time management skills, and communication skills including excellent knowledge sharing techniques, to keep you in the loop. If recruiting staff on different time zones, the time difference will need to be considered.

5 Steps to Prepare When Hiring a Virtual Assistant

1. Identify your readiness to take on a virtual assistant. It will take time to induct the virtual assistant so it will be of greater benefit if they are recruited at a quieter time, providing both of you with the opportunity to build a strong rapport
2. Make a list of the tasks that need to be outsourced – tasks that will help you to focus on the bigger priorities
3. Create a new job description – outlining the job requirements, skills, and if previous experience is essential. At this stage it will be useful to develop interview questions, while the information is fresh
4. After you have hired the best candidate for the role, set up a preferable means of communication. This step can include scheduling times for a briefing meeting during the week that works for you both. This can be altered at a later date, depending on your needs
5. Develop a performance measurement report, reviewing this step frequently after they have been hired. Chat with them to see if improvements can be made to the task list. The virtual assistant might be able to provide positive suggestions in relation to the handover of additional tasks, which might suit their skillset better and save you more time

Hiring a virtual assistant has many benefits. This includes saving you time and money, as they take care of the background work, leaving you time to focus on the core tasks of the day including high-level decisions. Their role can be part-time or full-time, depending on your needs.

Remember, building a strong rapport with your new virtual assistant will take time. It will be important to build a solid working relationship based on trust – this works both ways. This will help with the process of delegation of tasks, particularly at busier times, and will significantly improve your work-life balance.