How To Effectively Communicate With Your Virtual Assistant To Maintain A Healthy Work Relationship

If you plan to hire a virtual assistant, you already know that these individuals can come from across the globe. They are considered “Global Talents”; therefore, how we communicate and exchange ideas should be fruitful. 

That said, language barriers can become one of the biggest hurdles for employers that hire virtual assistants; it would be best to consider the language you converse with as the same as that of your hired virtual assistant.

Think about it this way: if you can’t deliver a message to your Virtual Assistant without asking follow-up questions right after, you aren’t effectively giving them their task, which would lead to a tedious back and forth. It’s best to remember that hiring a Virtual Assistant is to take the load off your shoulders or make things easier on your end. 

You need more effective communication to lead you both to a dead end; rather than helping you boost productivity and efficiency in your business, you would achieve nothing.

The question is, “How would you effectively communicate with your Virtual Assistant?”.

Here are some great tips and best practices you and your virtual assistants can apply to maintain a healthy work relationship.

Your VA Should Understand Your Needs

Before hiring your Virtual Assistant, you first need to take care of the tasks you need delegated. It is vital to give them clear instructions or at least provide them with enough information on what they have to accomplish for your business. 

You can’t expect a Virtual Assistant to perform at their best if you fail to provide them with a path to work with. 

A great example would be providing a troglodyte with a cell phone. If you tell them how to use the device or what it is for, then the usage and item become useful. The same concept applies to Virtual Assistants; if you can’t provide them with proper delegation and instructions, they cannot fulfill their roles and responsibilities.

How would they understand your needs? Going through a list or a step-by-step process allows both parties to be on the same page. Getting acknowledgment through your Virtual Assistant provides clarity; therefore, you can easily delegate tasks and provide instructions.

Effective communication comes into play during the delegation and instruction process. As you provide your Virtual Assistant with the tasks, it’s best to have them on a call to ensure that both parties clearly understand what needs to be done and how it should be done. If you are too busy to hop on a call, you may send a detailed email or message to provide them with the said instructions. Make sure that you are both aligned to avoid miscommunication.

Use The Right Tools

Social media platforms, communication tools, artificial intelligence, and automation are all part of the current trend. As entrepreneurs and business owners, we have already mastered the craft of adapting to what the trend provides. The same goes for virtual assistants; the more they hone their craft, the more skilled they are at utilizing various tools.

One of which is communication tools or project management systems. Entrepreneurs and business owners are currently using these platforms to delegate tasks while keeping in touch with their employees. Choosing the right communication platform should always be a priority if you plan on hiring Virtual Assistants.

The talent pool in your arsenal may be within a different time zone, state, or even country you are operating from. Not only will alignment struggle without the right communication tool, but gaining a complete understanding of a delegated task can become an issue.

Some practical communication tools are Slack, Zoom, Teams, Gmeet, Skype, Trello, Asana, Calendly, and Skype. Virtual Assistants should be and are expected to be effective through these platforms; therefore, the investment choice is entirely up to the employer.

A great tip would be choosing a tool you have already mastered or are comfortable using as a communication tool. 

Establish Check-ins or Coaching

The harsh truth is no matter how skilled or influential you are, there should always be room for improvement. Many employees today try to avoid being micromanaged; having said that, it doesn’t mean that all employees are perfect. 

Virtual Assistants are practically the same; they are your employees, so checking in on them or providing coaching sessions is necessary. A skilled worker can perform with minimal supervision, but that is still supervision. Scheduled check-ins or coaching is vital for virtual assistants because they aren’t in the same space as you are, nor are they within arms' reach.

The fact that you are checking in on them does not mean you do not trust them to do their work. Make sure to establish the reason behind these check-ins and coaching sessions so that no one is caught off guard. 

The key to effectively communicating with your Virtual Assistants without the means of looking demeaning or overbearing is to give them enough time and space to do their thing. Check-ins and Coaching sessions won’t take too much of your time, nor will they become bothersome to Virtual Assistants. These sessions and check-ins serve as an avenue to sustain alignment and progress for productivity.

Be Flexible and Adaptable

As a business owner or entrepreneur hiring Virtual Assistants, you can’t expect your people to be flexible while you aren’t. Your work ethic and best practices are reflected by the people who work for you. Being capable of adapting to a fast-paced market or being flexible enough to take on various tasks are all part of the essential business playbook. 

Virtual assistants can do practically anything, and as long as it is within their skill-set or they are a generalist VA, you have nothing to worry about. Effectively providing your Virtual Assistant with changes needed in your business can only be achieved through active and open communication.

If they know about the changes they need to adapt to or are given a brief explanation of how flexible they need to be while working with you, it becomes easier to provide them with delegation and instructions.

Conclusion

Employer and employee relationships are like any other relationship; if you cannot effectively communicate with each other, then the relationship fails. Maintaining healthy or open communication solely relies on how you express and practice communicating your thoughts and ideas. Providing feedback and criticisms is just as important as receiving them. It takes two to tango; make sure you remember that.