How to Track Your Virtual Assistant

• Screencast Video; A screencast video is a recording of your computer screen. You can do a task or process and record it for a virtual team member to watch and reference later. This can dramatically cut down on the time it takes for a virtual team member to learn a new process or task. We use screencast-o-matic, but there are a number of free options out there.
  
• Detailed Instructions; Detailed instructions are just that, detailed. Keep in mind, this may be the virtual assistants first time performing this task in the way you want, so there will likely be questions and a learning curve. The better and more detailed the instructions are the less time it will take for the virtual assistant to learn and become proficient in performing the task. A screencast video is the best option for this when applicable.
• Examples; Having examples for the virtual assistant to reference will help clarify what you expect and give them something to check their work against.
• Due Date; Having a due date is one of the most important elements a task can have. This will set the expectation you have for the completion of the task, without one and you leave the urgency up to the virtual assistant who has other tasks that might have a more urgent time constraint. Don't put yourself at the back of the line, set a due date.
• Approximate time a task will take to finish; Knowing how long a task should take will help you gauge the effectiveness of the virtual assistant. It will also set an expectation for the virtual assistant; if they find it's taking a lot longer to complete the task then you specified, they can follow up with you to see if more training or clarification is needed.
• Check Back; The Check Back is when a virtual assistant does part of your task and checks back with you to make sure they are doing it correctly. This will allow you the opportunity to check their work and see if added training or clarification is needed. This also will help guard against a virtual team member spending 4 hours on a task that they're doing wrong. You can catch mistakes early and correct them before too much time is wasted.

I hope you have a better idea of what a virtual assistant can do for you, and how to solve most of the potential problems. As the leader of your business, the success and failure ultimately rest with you. The more you know about how to effectively use a virtual assistant the better you will be at using them to their full potential.