Streamlined CEO

What to Have in Place to Effectively Bring on a Virtual Assistant

• Karalee Gault • Season 2 • Episode 3

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Unlock the full potential of your business by integrating a virtual assistant with efficiency and ease. From my own transformation from a general VA to an executive assistant and operations manager, I'll guide you through creating a robust system using tools like ClickUp for task management and Slack for seamless communication.

Discover how to craft a forward-thinking quarterly plan that empowers your VA to take charge of tasks and supercharge your productivity. This episode isn't just about getting help; it's about building a powerhouse team that thrives on clarity and smart strategy.

Diving into the mechanics of your operations, we conduct a revealing assessment to pinpoint exactly where your team's performance stands. CEOs, this one's for you: It's time to shine a light on your current operational strategies and see if they truly make the cut. With an expert external perspective, we'll map out a tailored action plan complete with deadlines, all aimed at refining your processes for maximum effectiveness. Whether you're nurturing a growing business or steering an established enterprise, this conversation is your springboard to operational excellence with your virtual assistant.

Grab your delegation guide here: https://theproductivityimpact.com/landing/delegation
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Karalee:

All right, today we are diving into what to have in place to effectively bring on a virtual assistant. I have been a virtual assistant in some capacity for over four years. I've had no systems and tried to bring on some support and I have had the three pieces I'm going to be diving into today in place. And let me tell you the experiences do not compare in the slightest. So having these three pieces in place will absolutely make this transition of sharing your business tasks with another human much more simple and streamlined for you as the CEO and for your virtual assistant. The experience you have with your team members is monumental to how you feel about releasing that money to them every single month and how your virtual assistant shows up for you in your business. So I don't personally do all the tasks of a VA anymore. I've kind of up-leveled myself to an executive assistant and the vibe is so different, but in a good way. But I wouldn't be the executive assistant and operations manager. I am today, without those experiences, as a general VA. So I'm grateful for those but even more excited to share those with you today. All right, so let's dive into these three pieces that will be beneficial to you and your virtual assistant to have in place. Okay, so the three of them are a task management system, a communication system and a plan of action for the next quarter. There are so many more things you should probably have in place as well, but we're just going to start with these top three things that will get you moving in the best way possible. So we're going to dive into each one of these in more detail, and then there's also a series on this over the next couple of weeks to be able to dive in even more.

Karalee:

Okay, so a task management system is the first piece that I highly recommend having in place. Okay, and of course, I'm recommending it because you need to keep all those things for you and your virtual assistant that is going to work for you. You need to keep those things organized and in a well-organized place, right? So a well-organized task management system can help you and your virtual assistant stay on track, have line of sight without micromanaging, and have all the resources in one place and save you from having to answer so many questions long term. So, plus, this actually saves you and your virtual assistant a lot of time and, as business owners, we all know how strategic we get to be with our time right. So if we can save some, let's do it right. So if you don't have a task management system or you're not in love with what you're using now, I'm going to recommend that it be ClickUp and I've tried 40 plus project management systems over the years and I'm recommending ClickUp because I love ClickUp for one and so many of my clients do as well. But it can also grow and scale with you, easily allows a team to support you and is very customizable. So, who knows, it might be a match made in heaven. And if you find yourself without a clear way to track to keep track of tasks and processes, I recommend a ClickUp VIP week with me so we can get your ClickUp set up in five days. Yep, you heard that correctly Five days. I'm talking one-on-one time with me to 100% focus on you, your business and your goals, to really make ClickUp the central hub for business that you desire to grow with you as you continue to scale your business and bring on more team members. So a task management system is just one of those huge pieces to have in place to make sure that when you bring on a virtual assistant, it is very effective.

Karalee:

Okay, so the second one we're diving into is going to be a communication system. You're going to want a clear way to communicate with your virtual assistant. That's outside of this task management system. Communication can make or break this. Like. I'm serious, there needs to be clear parameters around communication. As the CEO, you need to communicate what these expectations are right from the beginning and give clarity when things don't seem to be going the way you'd imagined. Ensure you also ask your virtual assistant what feels good to them as well. You both need to feel good about this working relationship. It's a two-way street, okay.

Karalee:

I have had clients ask me for a weekly review of the tasks completed that week, with the amount of hours used as well. I have had clients ask me to CC them on every email so they have line of sight with all the communication I have with their clients. I've had clients ask me to give them my plan of action for the week. Many CEOs just need to know that you got them covered, and this is a way of giving you your space but also ensuring things make sense to them. Yes, everyone needs to feel good about working together, and these are just some examples that I have personally that have made everyone feel much more at ease when adding to the team. Okay. So now I personally recommend Slack for this communication system because it's so simple to use, but my two favorite things are the save for later and there's also reminders in there and the transcription on voice notes. Okay, I love transcription on voice notes. It's like game changer. Plus. It's simple to add your virtual assistant to different client channels if they need to communicate directly with a client or if you want to ensure communication stay clear for different projects by creating different channels. There are other software you can use, like Voxer or Telegram or good old fashioned email as well, but I'd highly recommend something that can grow with you nonetheless. And, of course, you guys both feel good about it.

Karalee:

So the last one we're going to talk about, the last part we're going to focus on a plan of action for your next quarter. All right, and this needs to be a clear plan of action. You want to effectively delegate to your virtual assistant, so when you know what the plan is, it makes it much simpler to do just that. So planning out the quarter looks different for absolutely everyone, but when you have a plan for the quarter, it allows your virtual assistant to see what they can take off your plate just by knowing the plan. Things don't always have to be set in stone, but having at least a flexible plan allows you, as the CEO, and the virtual assistant, to ensure you're supporting each other in a way that makes sense for business growth.

Karalee:

If you're someone that likes to fly by the seat of your pants, bringing on a virtual assistant isn't going to fix this. The virtual assistant may be able to help you keep on track, but it's not their job to keep you in line. It's their job to support you with what you tell them you need. Okay. So having a clear plan of action can be game changer for you to be able to collectively work together with another team member Okay.

Karalee:

So here are some action steps that you can walk away with today. So action step number one if you don't have a task management system, get one. Okay. Hands down, get one. I recommend click. Number two if you don't have a clear way to communicate with clients and team members, find one. Okay, find one today. I recommend Slack. Number three if you don't already have a plan for the quarter, set aside time to plan out your quarter. Like, set aside the time to figure out when that's going to be today.

Karalee:

Okay, let's not delay on these things, because one day you could wake up and suddenly you needed to bring on a virtual assistant and you don't have these things in place. But you know what Every single one of these things, as a CEO, is going to support you. Before you have a team, when you have your first team member, when you continue to grow, all of these things are you're going to need right from the beginning. And if you don't have them yet, starting right now like what's a better time than starting right now? Right. So having these things in place before actually bringing on a team member is actually ideal, okay.

Karalee:

But if you are a CEO that already has a team, evaluate these pieces and are they working well and let's create a plan of action for you. All right. So are they working well? If you already have this team and you're like, yeah, I have some of these things in place, but they're not I don't know, are they working well for me? If that's you, you are that CEO you can even grab a full operations assessment for you CEOs. That's who I'm talking to. I already have a team and you simply need someone to come in from the outside and tell you what needs streamlined, how to streamline it and add a timeline for completion for getting those things taken care of. If that's, you grab a full operations assessment and I'm going to come right into your business and we're going to dive deep into your operations and see what in the world needs to happen next. So that's all for today, but this is the first episode of many this month all about bringing on a virtual assistant effectively. All right, I'm going to see you next week.