How Do You Train Your Virtual Assistant...and...What Tasks Do They Do For You?

Actually, that is why I like replacemyself.com so much because he already had a bunch of tutorials setup that you can pass right along to your VA. But I hear ya, when you are outsourcing some of this stuff it can be a beast writing it out.

I cant train anybody untill I get one. i know that there are a few companies out there, but can you tell me which you use please? Or if there are some I should avoid?

I require that all of my remote staff go through a basic management course I have to prepare them for their position, no matter what it is.

I use video to train all my VA's, part of my hiring process it to ensure that they have fast enough internet to be able to work effectively so I've not ran into the issues others mentioned above. Step by step guides are also helpful if I have the time to put them together.

Hi magentawave,

What I do is try out the method first. That way, I will experience all the things that my VA will need to know. Then I will write down all that I have done. Then I hire 3-5 trial VAs. I usually negotiate for a lower price for trial. Then the VA or VAs that get/s things done remains.

I agree with you Matt, with regards to hiring VA, I suggest to hire a company instead of a freelancer. An outsource company has a supervisor who manage the productivity and quality of work. You can also directly communicate with your staff real time, you can even choose your preferred working schedule so you can discuss your project and train your staff as well.

If you're looking for VA, you can always check us out. see sig for more information.

Hi Steve,

Great question about hiring VAs. My first experience was through Elance and I was very lucky to come across a company in the Philippines who had a team of VAs. I could refer her to details to you if you want? Just send me a PM.

In response to your question about how to handle not so good English type of assistants, the best thing to do is before you hire them, get them onto Skype and speak with them first. I've found that when I ask them to come onto Skype and get them to talk with me and also if they have a video cam, ask that to be on as well, then I usually find the best virtual assistants.

Remember you are interviewing people to work for you, whether it be full time or part time. Hope this helps and if you have any other questions, feel free to send me an email.

Thanks.

Hi.. here are some advices that I would like to share.
First, before you hire a virtual assistant, make sure to test their capabilities and ask them what tasks are they capable of doing. (well of course, you should set for your criteria.) An interview must be initiated.

a) If a person is experienced, why not ask for the previous client they have worked for .. maybe some previous links where they have written an article or previous u.r.l that they have set up a website. Anything that could assure you of their perfomance level.

b) Try to communicate with them through a phone call or web meeting. Try to talk to the person before hiring them . Hearing them communicate with you should mean a lot. A person who knows how to speak english well, is capable of writing good content.

2) If his internet connection is slow, you may want to use skype - you may share your screen or you may want to use gotowebmeeting for some conference and online tutorial.
3) Sharing of documents through replacemyself or googledocs.

Hi Steve,

Also, I wanted to address your other question:


The system I use to manage, train and communicate with my V.A's is all done through a project management software called ActiveCollab. I've customized this system to have the tutorials and tasks laid out there so when they need to access "training" they will just click on that tab and review what needs to be done. Therefore it's always going to be there.

Furthermore, inside the system there's also sections where you can setup your projects and have milestones and step by step instruction for them to follow.

I've included some links below to the video training that I give to my members to use this system. I'm happy to share this with you as it will most likely help a lot of other people as well:

1. How to add projects and assign virtual staff
2. How to setup milestones and tickets
3. How to setup pages and training modules

Now once your system is setup and in place, it's as easy as using a screen capture software (something similar to JING), but uses less bandwidth called Screenr. It's online based and can be saved straight away. Just send the link to your V.A once you've completed your tasks.

Another thing to add, I usually do my screen recording, then I have it typed out next to it, just so that it's really clear. Most of my text that I comment below the video is in point form stating clearly what needs to be done. Here's an example of how I approach this:

----- sample task for V.A -------
VIDEO LINK:

Hi <VA name>

Please complete the following task after you have watched the video:

1. Add new image to X,Y,Z
2. Remove the text on page 9
3. Transcribe tutorial 5
and so forth.

Once you have completed this please mark this task as completed.

If you have any further questions, please don't hesitate to ask.

Thank you.

--- end of sample task --------

Hope this helps you Steve.

Thanks.

Hiring a VA is one of the tasks I have on my list for this year. I've been putting it off as I wasn't sure where to start- so now I know a bit more!

One of the things I tend to do as I smarten up my own processes is write notes for myself so I can remember how to do it again next time. I suppose this sort of thing could be passed onto a VA as a manual?

Hi.

I've used videos, plr material, documents I've received in membership sites and some other written material to train mine.

Unless your video was really big/slow/whatever I cannot imagine what kind of internet connection they have that cannot view it. If their internet connection is too slow for videos, how will they be able to work with software etc? Also, if the internet connection is that slow loading websites etc may also be a problem and it may be a problem for him later to do the tasks you assign to him...

just my thoughts...

You could pay someone to transcribe the videos that you've already created so that you don't have to write it out yourself. I have several VAs in the Philippines and they're always able to watch my videos.

I guess you can't assign them any tasks that are video related.