Virtual assistants have become a popular source for business remote staffing. A lot of business owners hire experienced virtual staff, working as online-based secretaries and providing assistance for busy business owners and entrepreneurs.

A lot of time-consuming office works can be done by virtual assistants. With the virtual staff’s help, you can invest more of your time on activities that are crucial to your business. However, regardless of how experienced and skilled the VAs are, they still need time to adjust to new management and the job itself.  A lot of businessmen overlook this.

Here are top ten steps that every businessman should keep in mind:

  1. Set realistic expectations for your VA. It is a wrong notion that outsourcing can provide the solutions to every business problem. Virtual assistants, no matter how experienced, need to take their time in their tasks to deliver the perfect results.
  2. Take advantage of your business time. The most notable contribution of a virtual assistant is time. VA’s take care of the small things for you so you can focus on the more important areas of your business.
  3. VA’s are assets to the company. Offshore virtual assistants cost 50% less than regular outsourcing companies. What’s more, with their broad online working experience, they save you the cost of hiring 2-3 employees.
  4. Don’t assume VA’s know exactly what you want. Virtual assistants may have expertise in particular business fields. However, your expectations may be different from their previous clients. Give your virtual assistants clear instructions, and don’t assume they know exactly what you want them to accomplish. Oftentimes, culture diversity between employer and offshore staff arise in problems on terminologies and expectations.
  5. Spend time on working with your virtual administrative assistant. Like most employees, virtual assistants sooner or later need to work unassisted. Spending enough time to train them ensures that they can work and accomplish the tasks you give them on their own. If you think your assistant can provide you with what you’re looking for but still needs to learn more about your business, don’t hesitate to invest some time for him.
  6. Provide a reasonable timetable for task completion. It’s wise to set a deadline for you assistant in every task they do. However, don’t underestimate the amount of work and time needed by your VA to accomplish a task.
  7. Build trust with your remote assistants. Micromanagement has always had a negative connotation. Most virtual assistants, like other employees, hate micromanagement. It does not promote a healthy work environment and may plug your assistant’s creativity and productivity.
  8. Give compliments for every job well done. Giving verbal compliments to your assistance helps them be optimistic about their job and boosts their confidence.
  9. Be prompt in giving your assistants their salary. Paying your VA’s promptly lets them focus on their work and not worry about their expenses.
  10. Discover how easy it is to work alongside virtual assistants. It may feel odd at first to work with an offshore staff rather than have them close by. However, once you get the hang of it, they will show you how they can simplify your business life.