subject: Online Task Management Tips For New Virtual Assistants [print this page] Once we have selected a new virtual assistant to work on your team, the first thing you want to do is make sure that you give them that underarm throw, a really easy task very early on as part of your online task management. Show them what to do. What I mean there is, I'll record it on Camtasia or ScreenFlow exactly here's the process of what it is that I want you to do. I'll record it and document it. I'll also give them, where I can, some written notes as well.
Usually what I'll do is I'll get a notepad and I'll write bullet points of everything that I'm going to cover in the video. Then I'll record the video and I'll use the bullet points in the notepad to make sure I stay on topic. Then I send them a video; in the PS, I write PS here are the notes from the video, bang. So they've got a little bit where they can jump around and they don't have to go backwards and forwards between the video. Record them, come up with an online task list, show them exactly how to do it. Let them do it with you, so the first step when teaching someone how to do something, is, here let's do it together and you'll show them. That's why I record the video. Then we'll do one together.
If they're in the office I'll sit down and do it with them, otherwise, if they're virtual, you do the work and then you get back to me and let me know how you went.
Then I'll let them do it on their own and I'll provide feedback. So at that point I'll say, right, go ahead, do the work, send it back to me and then I'll review it and then once I review it, I'll give them some feedback points as part of doing online task management. If there are some feedback points, I will get them to do the task again. Then they'll do it again and I'll give them more feedback points. Then if there are still feedback points, I'll give them those and then I'll say go do it again. I basically will keep on doing that to the point at which they do the task perfectly with no feedback.
So this is like a process that we've gone through and developed and I think it is important. This will save you hours of heartache. So record them, show them how to do it, let them do it with you, then let them do it on their own, give them the feedback and then the final thing is every now and then, you'll review it. Then the very final step after that is then they have to teach someone else how to do it. Once they do that, then they'll start to record videos and then they'll become that person who then has people underneath them to train them. But you've got to first learn how to do online task management yourself.
