What Happens When You Hand Your Admin Over to a Virtual Assistant?
Thinking about getting some help with your admin but not quite sure how it works? Here's what to expect when you start working with a Virtual Assistant.
For many small business owners, creatives and independent professionals, the idea of handing over some of their admin sounds appealing. More time to concentrate on the work you actually enjoy, fewer things slipping through the cracks and, perhaps, a little less time spent staring at an overflowing inbox.
But if you've never worked with a Virtual Assistant before, you might be wondering how it all works. How do you know what to hand over? How do you share information? And how do you make sure someone else understands the way you like things done?
The good news is that it doesn't need to be complicated. A good working relationship develops over time, and you don't have to hand everything over on day one.
Here's how the process usually works.
1. First, let's have a chat
Before any work begins, we'll have an initial conversation about you, your business and the things you'd like a little help with.
Perhaps your inbox is getting out of control, you're spending too much time organising appointments, or there's a growing list of jobs that never quite make it to the top of your to-do list.
You don't need to arrive with a perfectly organised list of tasks. Sometimes it's easier to talk through what's taking up your time and work out where support would be most useful.
We'll also discuss how much help you need, how often and whether a regular arrangement or occasional project support would suit you best.
2. Agreeing what needs doing
Once we've established where I can help, we'll agree on the tasks and responsibilities that make sense for you.
This might include managing emails and diaries, preparing documents, organising events, maintaining databases, updating websites or providing general business administration.
Some clients have a very clear idea of what they want to delegate. Others prefer to start with a few straightforward tasks and build from there.
There's no need to hand over everything. The aim is to take away the jobs that are taking up your time, not to change the way you run your business.
We'll agree on the hours, rates and working arrangements before getting started, so everyone knows where they stand.
3. Getting everything set up
Working remotely doesn't mean working in isolation. We'll establish the best way to share information, documents and access to the systems I need to use.
Depending on the work involved, this might include shared folders, Google Drive, Microsoft 365, project management tools or access to particular software.
Security and confidentiality are important, so we'll agree on appropriate access arrangements rather than sharing passwords casually.
I'll also need to understand a little about how you like things done. Do you prefer emails to be formal or friendly? Are there particular ways you like documents formatted? Are there people I need to know about or processes I should follow?
The more I understand about your business, the more effectively I can support you.
4. Letting me get on with it
Once everything is in place, the real work begins.
You can start passing over agreed tasks, and I'll get on with them within the hours we've arranged.
We'll establish how you prefer to communicate, whether that's email, telephone, video calls or a combination. Some things might need a quick conversation, while others can simply be added to the task list.
You remain in control of your business and any important decisions. My role is to make your working day easier by taking care of the administrative tasks you've entrusted to me.
And if something isn't quite right, we'll talk about it and make adjustments.
5. Building a working relationship
Like any working relationship, it gets better as we get to know each other.
Over time, I'll become familiar with your preferences, your systems and the way you work. Tasks that initially need a little explanation will become much more straightforward.
You might also find that you start identifying other things you could delegate. Perhaps there's a report you prepare every month, a mailing list that needs regular attention or an event that would benefit from a little extra organisational support.
We'll review things as we go to make sure the arrangement is still working for you.
So, is it time to hand something over?
You don't need to be a big business to benefit from having a Virtual Assistant. Sometimes just a few hours of support each week can make a real difference.
If you're spending too much time on administration, putting off jobs you'd rather not do or simply struggling to fit everything into the working week, it might be time to consider a little help.
At Admin By Lucia, I provide friendly, flexible administrative and personal assistant support for creatives, musicians, independent professionals and small businesses.
You don't need to have everything figured out before getting in touch. We can start with a conversation and work out what would make the biggest difference to you.
Interested in finding out more?
Get in touch with Lucia and let's have a chat about how I could help.