Aaagh, some consulting jargon from the old days…’outsourcer preparedness’ sounds like some form of Harry Potter-esque magic trick.
So I’ve finally (after several weeks of researching, searching & then several more weeks of waiting) been assigned my new VA – Shinu.
This will be the first time I’ve had someone working for me (unless you count the husband) in my own business. I’ve managed plenty of people in my days as a management consultant but there you have all sorts of guidelines & policies to follow. Managing my own VA will be different. I’ve been reading in various books & blogs about the DOs and DON’Ts of how to work best with a VA so I’m going to be spending the next few days ensuring that our relationship is going to be a successful one.
Here’s some of the things I’ve done & will be doing…
- Created a new email folder to file all correspondence between me & my VA.
- Already filed emails/tasks in the folder that I’d like them to do – many of these will be repeat tasks.
- Creating email & document templates that I’ll ask him to use for certain tasks.
- Created some Camtasia video tutorials of some of the key tasks I’ll be asking him to complete (such as blogging/Typepad tasks).
- Creating separate user accounts/login details for some of the online services he might need to use.
I’m sure there are others but for now that’s quite enough to be getting on with. Please let me know if you think/know there’s anything else I can be doing to ensure our success!