The 5 Habits of Working Productively With a Virtual Assistant

Working productively with remote teams may be seen as a great challenge after pandemic times  but as we get used to the new normality, it is becoming easier for us to think about remote work.

Something that a few years ago seemed unthinkable mainly for large companies, thanks to the pandemic it soon had to become a reality to ensure the survival of many businesses around the world.

It is no secret that in order for the global economy to continue to function even at a certain level, businesses had to adapt more than ever to the digital era and leave very little to physical operation, which is how tools of all kinds began to be more available so that people could work from the safety of their homes.

BPO Companies And The 2020’s Challenge

If we had thought of a large contact center company with offices in at least 10 countries in the world and only one remote work program, it was very difficult for us to imagine that 90% of their operation would begin to be teleworking by 2020, but that is the case with some large BPO companies.

Although it has been demonstrated with the results obtained in 2020, that teleworking is an optimal way to fulfill the same functions as in a physical location, there are still people reluctant to integrate this way of working, however, seeing that the digital era came to strengthen, one by one, they have had to learn to manage their businesses with a digital base.

That’s why it’s advisable to maintain an apprentice attitude and update your knowledge basis every little time.

We have observed in our company that there are certain principles to take into account when thinking about the optimal functioning of the relationships with remote workers.

Let’s review some of these principles:

#1 Working Productively Begins With Clear Goals

Before you can work with anyone in your organization, you need to be very clear about the roles of each member in each department.
One of the biggest complications with remote workers tends to be the lack of clarity in the tasks to be assigned, so always, our first recommendation is that you have very clear what you want to achieve, in how much time and what tasks are necessary to meet your objectives, thus it becomes much easier the fluidity in the work and you can focus on your business working properly and every day you get closer to your goals.

#2 Take Care of The Legal Details to Start Working Productively

After you are clear about your goals and the tasks to be assigned, you need to find out what your local laws say about hiring staff in a particular country, and whether and how the laws of your country apply to this person.

If everything is in order to proceed with the hiring, it is very important that you handle confidentiality contracts and probation periods.

As well as the hiring of any other personnel, it is necessary to establish the rules of the game, to talk about the responsibility of each party at the beginning of the working relationship; this is definitely something primordial to start the execution of the tasks.

Under no circumstances do we recommend starting work with a person without at least a signed confidentiality agreement.

#3 Working Productively is Having Great Communication

As we mentioned before, it is very important at the beginning to have clarity about what your goals are.

In that way, you’ll know what tasks you must assign and to whom.

Clear communication is a top priority to assure that everyone knows exactly what they have to do, how, and when.

Be clear about task descriptions, priorities, deadlines, and talk to your remote staff about it.

To maintain good communication it is also important to think about the way. Even though you have remote workers it does not mean that they do not need to see or meet with you, in fact, planning one or two weekly meetings is optimal to discuss details of task execution, check monitoring, results and adjust what is necessary to get closer to your goals every day.

#4 Transparency is a Big Part of Working Productively

When you are getting involved with a new worker it is completely natural that you do not yet fully trust them, it is with time and results that you will be able to build trust.
In the case of remote workers, the most recommendable thing is to have tools that help you maintain transparency in the processes.

In order to start building the foundation of trust you need to have a solid team, we recommend the use of some for planning, organization, and monitoring, so you can keep track of the work that your remote worker is doing.

#5 Choose the Right Tools

Just as communication is important, so are all the tools used to create communication bridges, the execution of the tasks, and the monitoring of them.
In that sense, we have some preferences when it comes to using tools for processing, however here we share a list for you to evaluate the ones that work best for you:

Communication:
Chanty
Glip
Microsoft Teams
Zoom

Tasks:
Asana
Batteri
Focusmate
Trello

Monitoring:
Clockify
DueFocus
Harvest
Time Doctor

As you will see, these are essential recommendations for any business that wants to adapt to the digital era.

At There is Talent, we have a team of VAs and customer support agents ready to meet your company’s needs.

Book a strategic call with our director, Claudia, it’s completely free and you will be able to know the proposal we have for you!