Virtual Assistant Assessment

September 14, 2008

Assessing the job that a Virtual Assistant is doing for you is tricky.  A virtual assistant assessment begins with asking yourself, Have I been clear on the tasks and outcome I expect?

I am sure it was clear to you.  But look at what you asked and imagin not knowing your business or what you are thinking.  Is it clear for someone else?

Assuming that you answer yes to the self assessment question, here are the assessment questions you have to ask after working with a virtual assistant for a while.

  1. Did the VA ask questions when he did not understand something clearly?
  2. Did the assistant acknowledge work requests quickly so you knew what was going on?
  3. Did the virtual marketing assistant understand the task AND the Marketing Goal?
  4. In what quality are the tasks completed?  Are they doing bare minimum or going the extra mile.
  5. Are the hours spent on your task reasonable?  Are you paying for the VA to learn?
  6. Are the virtual tasks done in a timely manner?
  7. Do you get reports back and proper followup from your Virtual Assistant?
  8. Are there errors in your copy?  If the VA is writing blog posts, how is the grammar and spelling?
  9. How do you feel?  Are you confident in your Virtual Assistant’s ability to get things done or do you feel like you need to watch them every step of the way.  This improves with time, but if you do not feel like you can count on them, you should try another virtual assistant.

Several things will make it very hard for you to be successful with any assistant at all.

  1. You did not clearly define the task and realistic outcome.
  2. You did not clearly let them know how you like to communicate - frequency, reports, etc.  A virtual assistant may not want to bother you if they view you as busy.
  3. Pay - if you are bargain hunting for a cheap virtual assistant, keep in mind you will probably get what you pay for.  Occasionally you may find a diamond in the rough, but it will cost a lot of energy and bad experiences while you look.
  4. Assuming expertise - Virtual Assistants are frequently experts in some areas, but you should not assume they are the same as a professional consultant.  For example, our Virtual Buzz Assistants assist you in executing your marketing plan, they are not a buzz marketing agency that will necessarily craft a fantastic plan for you.

You get the idea.  Sometimes a virtual assistant will just not work out because they are not good at organization or doing the tasks you need.  Sometimes there is just a breakdown in communications or a personality conflict.  The key is to do a virtual assistant assessment and do a self assessment and see if you can improve the process and outcomes.  When you think of the effort that goes into hiring a new employee with orientation, training and weeks of getting up to speed, a virtual assistant has to jump over those issues and provide value to you much faster.  Clarity is your best friend.

And doing a virtual assistant assessment makes sure you find the virtual assistant that is right for you.

- Thank You!

Posted by Ron McDaniel | Filed Under Blog 

Comments

2 Responses to “Virtual Assistant Assessment”

  1. Litmos - Online Training « Ron McDaniel on September 15th, 2008 6:04 pm

    [...] I have a new post about how to assess a virtual assistant in a post called Virtual Assistant Assessment - Over on the Virtual Buzz Assistant [...]

  2. Jeff Yablon on September 15th, 2008 11:07 pm

    EXCELLENT!

    This in particular is a killer:

    >>You did not clearly define the task and realistic outcome.

    Amazing, wonderful article . . . Bravo!

    Jeff Yablon
    President & CEO
    Virtual VIP

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