The reason why so many virtual assistant relationships fail as a result of the way founders select virtual assistants and the way they incorporate them into the company is that both processes rely heavily on false assumptions created during the hiring process and furthered in the incorporation process, respectively.
Founders typically choose to hire virtual assistants as a direct result of resumes and interviews. Founders want to hire individuals who have demonstrated some level of proficiency with common administrative tasks, possess acceptable communication skills, and can provide solutions to everyday problems. Individuals appear competent, and therefore they receive offers.
Inevitably these competent virtual assistants will either leave or become ineffective due to lack of guidance as to which communications are truly important versus routine communications, the ability to make informed decisions regarding client situations, and the ability to identify potential issues without any guidance as to which type of issue is worthy of reporting.
As a result, the virtual assistant performs most administrative tasks appropriately while performing others incorrectly based upon uncommunicated expectations. Frustration builds. The founder decides that the virtual assistant cannot perform the job. The virtual assistant leaves the company frustrated, having been criticized for failure to complete a job description that he/she did not know existed.
Both parties are not incorrect, each party is functioning under entirely different concepts of what the job entails.
Structural Differences Between Approaches
iARAtech Solutions' method of selecting virtual assistants for our clients is to refuse to hire until each client has completed defining decision guidelines for the various categories of work that he/she wishes to delegate. For example, what types of scheduling requests can I allow my virtual assistant to respond to independently without requiring me personally to approve? What communications should a virtual assistant utilize when communicating with my customers regarding various client situations? How should financial transactions be handled? What steps should a virtual assistant follow when a situation arises unexpectedly?
Many founders will bypass this process because it appears unnecessary prior to hiring a virtual assistant. However, bypassing this process is directly responsible for the failure of past virtual assistants. If you do not define a job in detail prior to delegating, you will not be able to delegate effectively.
After decision-making guidelines have been developed for the desired areas of delegation, we begin the hiring process. At this point, the job has clear parameters. Candidates now know exactly what they are being asked to do instead of receiving a generic description of "administrative support." Clients also know that they are hiring someone who will execute within established systems as opposed to relying on the virtual assistant to develop their own personal methods of completing tasks based on their individual understanding of the clients’ preferences and/or needs.
The hiring process is now focused on finding someone who can execute based on predetermined guidelines rather than attempting to find someone who can reverse-engineer the clients’ desires/needs and continue to accomplish day-to-day tasks regardless of urgency.
What Has Changed
Previous virtual assistants failed because they were creating their own system of task completion. While they had access to a written job description and their general knowledge of administrative work, they still needed to make reasonable decisions based on incomplete information. As such, they were unable to determine which tasks were most important to the founder based on the fact that no one had previously communicated the importance of said tasks to the founder.
Current virtual assistants are successful because they are completing tasks based on predetermined systems. The virtual assistants are not developing ways to determine which tasks are most important. Instead, they are using pre-defined frameworks created by the founder to address areas of administration that fall within those pre-defined categories.
The virtual assistant is no longer required to read minds as part of his/her job responsibilities. Reading minds was never intended as a component of a virtual assistant's job responsibility.
Implementation Realities
Prior to hiring any virtual assistant, iARAtech Solutions requires founders to invest time and effort prior to beginning the hiring process. Time spent developing decision-making frameworks and establishing systems may seem costly when founders feel overwhelmed by their workload and desire immediate relief.
However, this initial investment determines whether founders will ultimately realize significant benefits in terms of regained time (up to 15 additional hours per week) with a qualified virtual assistant completing tasks consistent with the founder’s original vision or continue to cycle through multiple unsuccessful virtual assistant relationships while continuing to experience 70-hour workweeks.