Sorry to break the news to ya but, onboarding a virtual assistant into your business doesn’t happen automatically. Although your virtual assistant comes equipped with strong skillsets, they will need to learn YOUR business, and those details will have to come from you and/or your team. That’s why it’s so important to take the time to properly onboard your new assistant.

Every business has its own unique way of operating, no matter the industry. While you shouldn’t have to teach them how to use basic software, you will have to teach them your preferences regarding tone, language, and your preferred processes.

Here are three things to keep in mind when onboarding your new virtual assistant.

Set Dedicated Training Hours

When you are onboarding a new team member, be sure to carve out a few hours to train them. Before this is done, be sure that you’re mapping out your process to have some structure for your training process. You don’t want to work off whatever comes to mind — you’re liable to forget necessary steps and information. Draw out your strategies in a flowchart, write it down on sticky notes…do whatever it takes to transfer your process from your mind to a tangible platform. That way, you can prepare SOPs (standard operation procedures) for your newly-onboarded team member. Also, record your training calls! That way, your assistant can reference the video if any questions come up.

Time-saving tip: We HIGHLY recommend preparing screen recordings and training videos beforehand. Save them in a shared folder and give access to the shared folder to your new team members. This will save you a ton of time spent on training; as your team grows, share access to the prepared training content.

Share All Necessary Tools

Technology and tools make everyone’s job easier! This is why you want you to ensure that your new assistant has the knowledge and access to any software used within your business, even if they don’t need to use it at this point.

Share a list of all the tools they’ll need to use. We utilize Lastpass here at The Buddy Effect, which is a password management tool. Here’s why we love it: it not only gives you the ability to store all of your passwords securely in one place, but it also gives you the option to share access to accounts without exposing your password.

Preplan your Method of Communication

Want to know what all successful teams have in common? The answer is Effective Communication. You must figure out how to best communicate with your team, including your new assistant. Do you prefer email or phone? Would you like to use Voxer or Slack? The options are unlimited!

We are huge fans of Slack, which allows us to keep internal business conversations and client conversations in one space, ultimately cutting down our chances of having overwhelmed inboxes.

Once you figure out your preferred method of communication, schedule a recurring call with your virtual assistant. Be sure to make this call a priority — in this case, you want their priorities to reflect your priorities. Create an agenda that includes:

• Accomplishments and areas of opportunities
• Project reviews
• Goals for the upcoming week
• Ask what is needed from you
• Any applicable pieces of training

By keeping communication a priority, your new virtual assistant will be kept in the loop, and you avoid becoming a roadblock to your own progress.

The struggle to fill your virtual needs stops here! If you are ready to bring on your assistant, click here to schedule your free consultation. Your Buddy is just one call away!