Yan Knudtskov Nielsen, a GetFriday client and the Founder & CEO of Yan&Co in Copenhagen, Denmark is narrating his Journey with Virtual Assistance. Read from the beginning of the journey.
How to use a service like GetFriday effectively, some of my key lessons learned
Utilizing the help of a virtual assistant comes with a lot of responsibility, I believe. But, if you respect some “basic” rules you will quickly get to a point where you’ll be hands-free on a lot of tasks as your VA will catch on and tasks will become routines.
Here are my pointers on using a service like GetFriday effectively.
1. Remember the human aspect
First of all, keep in the very front and center of your mind that your VA is a person. He/she isn’t a robot and probably does not have god-like abilities (although Jaya does seem to have that sometimes, haha!). I like to think of my assistant of as much of a co-worker as if I’m sitting next to someone on my team.
2. Put your tasks and processes on paper
Begin describing your tasks and processes, make sure you break them down in to steps.
Questions I like to ask myself during the creation of these is “How do I know this information” and “How can I provide the most unambiguous description possible”.
I highly recommend using a tool like Asana, Process Street or similar systems that makes the above easier and makes revising process easier as well.
And one very important thing: Test your processes. I like to put on my “I don’t know anything hat and try to do EXACTLY as I’ve described” as this have a tendency to reveal to me what I’m missing.
3. Communication is key
As with most things remember communication is key. Spend those 5 minutes being articulate about the descriptions. It will pay off in the long run I promise you.
4. Trust but verify, at least in the beginning
Don’t expect everything to go smooth and go on holidays after handing over the tasks. In the beginning verify that the tasks were completed as you wanted.
And keep a calm mind when something isn’t as it should, chances are you most likely messed up something in a description or something was ambiguous. And even if not, remember: We all make mistakes. I most certainly do – all the time. It’s the correcting of small failures and mistakes that in the end make up a greater whole.
You can choose to respond in a way to solve the issue at hand and then you will have saved time in the future. Or you could just become frustrated and write an annoyed email. I most certainly recommend the first option.
5. Remember, making processes is a process
Be willing to invest yourself and some extra time in getting it right. Yes, it will require an initial investment of time but remember that each time your assistant completes a task you just saved precious time. Time you can spend on other things important to your.
6. ”So, how do I know which tasks to send?”
A mentor of mine introduced me to a very simple question: “Does this task energize me or drain me of energy?” When I heard it that really was all there was to it. We all like to spend our time doing things we enjoy and to me this question was a key in identifying just what those things are.
Moving onwards I’d like to say a huge thanks to GetFriday, because my life and business is improved because of these guys and girls existence and the services they provide.
It enables me to do more of the things I love, like business, travelling the world, serving and helping people and businesses with code and strategies as the tool, training and blogging about WordPress and related topics (in Danish).
I am able to do this because I know I have an awesome team behind me, both in the form of GetFriday and my team from Yan&Co. Without these guys and girls, I simply wouldn’t be able to do the stuff I do, in the way I do them and enjoying it and I’m grateful I have every one of them.
If you have any questions feel free to connect with me and I’d be happy to talk!
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