Q: What tools can I use to document processes for my VA?

Process Street Using Process Street is a solid way to document key processes within 'checklists' for your VA (and other team members) to follow. Tasks can be assigned to us and other members of the team, with due dates set for each task. Google Docs For simpler processes, just use Google Docs and share directly with your VA. The "suggesting" tool is particularly useful for collaborating on documents and processes together! CloudApp We find screen recordings very helpful when documenting processes too - nothing makes a better "here's how you do it!" than simply watching a video of someone actually doing the task. We recommend CloudApp to help you demonstrate processes via screenshots or recordings, which you can also annotate. It's free!

Question 1

How do I define a role for my VA?

Accepted Answer

To help you leverage your time as effectively as possible, we recommend working together to build out a clearly-defined, ongoing long-term role for your VA.

Delegating piecemeal tasks to your VA, here and there, requires you to stop and explain everything you require every single time you need their support. As you will realise, this can begin to feel frustrating and laborious for both of you as time goes on.

It's important for you to work with your VA in a way that adds as much value to your day as possible. If you can focus on delegating recurring processes to your VA, they can take care of that task every single day and all with minimum input from you. This adds more value, saves you time and, importantly, contributes to a sustainable, productive working relationship.

Let's explore the three "categories" of tasks available for you to delegate at the start of your relationship together (and, more importantly, beyond!).

List One-off Tasks

This is the best approach for the start of your relationship. What one-off tasks are currently sitting on your to-do list, that you need to clear?

This could include organising your next company event or workshop, replacing images on your website or researching a new CRM. These one-off tasks are a great place to start working with your VA - you just need to add a little explanation and away you go!

Your busy to-do list will look a lot healthier in no time, helping you benefit from the support of your VA as soon as possible and giving you some headspace to think longer-term. The key, however, is just not to stop there.

Define Ad-hoc Responsibilities

Ideally, an ever changing list of one-off tasks shouldn't form the basis of everything your VA does. Now we need to look at them taking on a few recurring tasks.

You might be slightly more reluctant to delegate this type of work, but it's important that you do! This could include booking travel from time to time, or writing content (e.g. blogs) as and when needed. These tasks are often easier to explain than more involved responsibilities (e.g. managing your customer service emails), as they happen less frequently and once they have been explained once, they don't have to be re-explained again. This will help begin to build out a long-term role for your VA.

Build Out Ongoing Processes

Finally, we want to look at the tasks that take up most of your time: the ongoing tasks that currently still take over your day. These are the tasks you are likely to have kept hold of so far... we need to try to change that!

These tasks should ideally form the core part of the long-term role your VA holds within the business, if you want to leverage your VA's time (and your own!) as well as possible. The role could include managing an inbox, responding to sales enquiries, handling client projects or scheduling social media posts. These will require you to invest some time in training your VA to begin with, in order for them to take care of these processes effectively, but long-term this is a much more effective, sustainable approach.

Work with your VA to build out a solid process for them to follow for each responsibility you need them to manage, ensure all steps have been explained clearly... and then enjoy the benefits of having a talented professional look after that process, every single day, so you don't have to!

Question 2

What tools can I use to document processes for my VA?

Accepted Answer

Process Street

Using Process Street is a solid way to document key processes within 'checklists' for your VA (and other team members) to follow. Tasks can be assigned to us and other members of the team, with due dates set for each task.

Google Docs

For simpler processes, just use Google Docs and share directly with your VA. The "suggesting" tool is particularly useful for collaborating on documents and processes together!

CloudApp

We find screen recordings very helpful when documenting processes too - nothing makes a better "here's how you do it!" than simply watching a video of someone actually doing the task.

We recommend CloudApp to help you demonstrate processes via screenshots or recordings, which you can also annotate. It's free!

How do I define a role for my VA?

What tools can I use to document processes for my VA?

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