Being ‘booked and busy’ is an aspiration all entrepreneurs have, and once you’ve reached this status, it can be a sure sign of your success. But often, the road to success is lined with great support to make it all possible. Some of the world’s most prolific entrepreneurs and executives wouldn’t be where they are today without the help of their executive assistants.
We’re lucky to find ourselves in times where good coordination and great technology make it possible to enlist such services in the form of a fully remote virtual executive assistant. The prospect of hiring one may be daunting since so much of your business rests on it. So, here we share a simple guide to hiring right.
Identify bottle-necks and timesucks
Once you’ve established that you need help with the day-to-day running of your business, the next step is to carefully assess the entirety of your operations in order to identify the areas that are causing hold-ups and/or consuming the most time. Now ask yourself, is this something an executive assistant could help relieve? And will this positively impact the business? Chances are, you’d answer a resounding yes to those questions.
Document processes
In the process of assessing your business operations, it will become apparent (if it wasn’t already) that there are certain protocols and processes that need to be followed within your organisation to ensure continued success.
It’s no use hiring assistance if the right measures aren’t in place to help them thrive. Documenting all your important business processes will be a vital step to give your prospective virtual executive assistant the best chance of succeeding. We highly recommend that you take the time and effort to complete this step before bringing a virtual executive assistant on board.
Do your research
There are various agencies out there that offer the services of virtual assistants, while there is also the option of sourcing a freelancer directly. The latter involves writing a job ad, putting out the call, and a lengthy interview process. Virtual executive assistant agencies, however, do it all for you. The important thing to have a handle on here is to look out for the agency’s screening process, track record, client testimonials, and to what extent they support their assistants.
Have a trial run
Once you’re ready to commit and have decided on an individual fit for your business’s needs, we strongly suggest that you have a trial period with your virtual executive assistant. This gives both parties the chance to evaluate whether or not it’s a good fit without the pressure of an immediate, long-term commitment. The one great advantage of going the agency route is that the best of them offer a free trial for exactly this reason.
A trial period will also give you a good idea of whether or not a virtual executive assistant is a realistic, sustainable option for you and your business.
Outsourcery offers best-in-class executive virtual assistance at affordable rates. Our virtual assistants and their clients benefit from access to a team of experts in digital marketing, social media, web design and much more. Get in touch to find out more.
