3 Errors to Keep away from When Hiring a Digital Assistant

Hiring a digital assistant is a great approach to scale what you are promoting, however discovering the appropriate particular person to do the job shouldn’t be with out its challenges. If you happen to’ve by no means employed a digital assistant earlier than, you might be uncertain of the place to start out, find out how to delegate work, and find out how to get probably the most out of the partnership. Earlier than you begin the hunt to your new distant worker, let’s discover among the frequent errors made when hiring digital assistants so you may keep away from these pitfalls.

Mistake #1 – Not Setting Clear Objectives and Expectations

Digital assistants are expert in quite a lot of specialties—resembling information entry, bookkeeping, customer support, and extra—however they aren’t thoughts readers. Failure to speak clear targets and expectations can result in frustration on each side of the desk.

Your Objectives

Earlier than you even begin the hiring course of, it’s necessary to map out precisely what you’re hoping to realize from working with a digital assistant. Clarifying your targets early within the course of will enable you to slim down what you’re in search of, particularly the talent set wanted to successfully offset your workload.

Ask your self:

• Why do I want a digital assistant? Looking for assist is an efficient signal you’re overloaded in some facet of your day. What are you hoping to realize by outsourcing work? Extra freedom, extra focus? What’s taking over extra time than you’d like?
• What sort of help do I want? Digital assistants typically specialise in specific duties and job functionalities, that means you’ll must drill down precisely what kind {of professional} you want. Chances are you’ll want to rent a couple of assistant to satisfy your wants, however defining duties will result in higher productiveness for every particular person. Choices embody:
  • Bookkeeper: fee processing, expense categorization, and extra
  • Advertising and marketing Assistant: social media, content material creation, and extra
  • Private Assistant: calendar administration, journey preparations, and extra
  • Recruiting Assistant: screening candidates, posting job listings, and extra
  • Gross sales Assistant: CRM updates, appointment setting, and extra
• What number of hours of assist do I want per week? Estimate the weekly output wanted to get the job finished proper. Take into consideration how a lot time it’s taking you or your group to finish these duties, and what you’ll do when you get this time again.

Your Expectations

When you’ve outlined your targets, you’ll want to speak these expectations. It’s higher to over talk than to imagine your assistant will mechanically perceive what’s at stake.

When placing collectively your superb job description, make sure you embody:

• Your required talent set
• Your superb working association
• Your essential deliverables
• Your projected targets

Mistake #2 – Losing Time on Vetting, Coaching, and Managing Assistants Your self

One of many largest advantages of hiring a digital assistant is on a regular basis you’ll save, however the time spent hiring, onboarding, coaching, and managing distant group members can turn into a burdensome time dedication.

There are two strategies for hiring digital assistants:

1. Do it your self: You or your HR group can do all of the heavy lifting of posting a job itemizing, interviewing candidates, onboarding new group members, coaching on procedures, and managing ongoing efficiency.
2. Work with a staffing agency: Partnering with a staffing agency lets you discover a distant assistant with out you personally doing the work.

For instance, We Are Working presents a turnkey answer for hiring digital assistants, together with managing, vetting, and bringing on the appropriate candidate. We make bringing on distant group members a easy, seamless course of. Somewhat than spending your time on the hiring course of, we take that total course of off your plate, bringing you the expertise with out the effort.

We assist with:

• Employee choice: We Are Working has a community of over 350 digital assistants. We’ve put within the time to vet expertise, expertise, and {qualifications} of every particular person, that means everybody we work with is a succesful skilled.
• Onboarding and coaching: As a result of we have already got group members at our disposal, We Are Working can match you with a brand new assistant inside every week. We additionally deal with coaching people to your particular job wants.
• Monitoring and training: We use productivity-tracking software program to make sure your digital assistant is staying on monitor and on time. This removes any fear relating to worth and output. As well as, we assess work efficiency and supply ongoing coaching when essential for optimum high quality.

If you happen to’re seeking to save as a lot time as attainable when working with a digital assistant, partnering with a staffing agency is a great selection.

Mistake #3 – Ready Too Lengthy to Begin Outsourcing

Hiring a digital assistant could appear intimidating for many who’ve by no means outsourced work. Worries about the way it works or what it is going to be prefer to have a distant group member might stop enterprise homeowners from getting began.

Research present that 68% of US firms make the most of outsourcing with a view to develop their companies.

Outsourcing work can assist you:

• Develop at a sooner tempo
• Keep focus
• Ebb and movement by busy/gradual seasons
• Decrease working and staffing prices
• Nurture full-time expertise

However the longer you wait to deliver on extra assist, the tougher you and your group can be working to get all the pieces finished.

How will this added assist have an effect on my group? Take into consideration what else you and your group may accomplish if fundamental duties have been taken care of. Brainstorming productiveness targets to your full-time group is an efficient train for visualizing targets to your digital assistant.

If you happen to’re nonetheless on the fence about bringing on a digital assistant, write down:

• Initiatives which might be getting delayed on account of lack of time
• Present worker workload and morale
• Alternatives to raised make the most of your group’s skills

As an alternative of ready till your group is totally underwater with repetitive duties, create some respiratory room early on by hiring a digital assistant.

Your digital assistant is ready

Don’t make these errors when hiring a digital assistant: associate with We Are Working to simplify outsourcing repetitive duties. With no long-term contracts and all-inclusive pricing beginning at $11/hour, our digital assistants are able to assist what you are promoting wants. Schedule a free session for our group to completely assess your wants and supply a free estimate.