Hiring Virtual Assistants? Here's What You Should Remember

If running your business makes you feel extremely stressed out and exhausted, then perhaps it's time for you to hire virtual assistants or VAs. Hiring VAs is one of the most effective and inexpensive solutions if you don't have enough time and energy to micro-manage everything. Because all work and no play make Jack a dull boy, you should find someone who can take care of mundane yet essential aspects of running your business.

However, keep in mind that outsourcing is not a magic pill that will solve everything. According to experts, you shouldn't expect a plug and play solution when you hire a virtual staff. As with highly skilled professionals, take note that each virtual assistant has his (or her) own expertise. Therefore, you shouldn't put absurd expectations on your VA's shoulder when you enlist his services.

For example, if you hired someone to provide you with SEO services, don't expect that person to also do accounting or administrative tasks for you. After all, it is rare for virtual assistants trained in search engine optimisation to be also adept at bookkeeping and other similar tasks. Be as realistic as possible and avoid asking your VA to do something that is beyond his skills and capabilities.

It is also important to give your virtual staff some time to get themselves familiar with their new work environment. One of the fundamental rules of outsourcing is that you should take the time to train your VAs in your systems and processes. For instance, if you've hired a copywriter, show him previous articles so he can pick up the tone and voice of your write-ups and produce content that is similar to the ones your company has published before.

Meanwhile, vague instructions can cause backlogs and make the job of virtual assistants more difficult than usual. So be a good boss and always give clear instructions, especially when delegating a new task. Also, encourage your virtual staff to contact you and ask you questions if there is something about the project they don't understand. Always remember that clear communication is essential to the success of a project.

And finally, to ensure a strong and harmonious relationship between you and your virtual assistants, treat them as you would treat a regular employee. Take the time to get to know them better and compliment them for a job well done. Also, make sure that you pay them on time. You certainly don't want them worrying about paying their bills if their wages get delayed because it can affect their focus and work quality.

More Australian Law Firms Hiring Virtual Assistants and Outsourcing Legal Services

These days, there have been an increasing number of law firms that are employing virtual assistants. Recent reports have revealed that some of the nation's law firms are considering establishing outsourcing centres to meet client demand for price cuts. It was said that the plan is similar to the one made by Herbert Smith Freehills, which uses a wholly owned centre in Belfast in the United Kingdom to reduce the cost of document management and review by taking advantage of the much cheaper cost of doing business in the neighbouring area of Northern Ireland.

 

Over the last few years, small and big businesses from different industries have either established offshore offices or hired remote staff to fill roles and accomplish tasks that were traditionally done in-house. Because of the rising costs of services and commodities in the country, many business owners find it practical to employ such strategies. For instance, you only need to spend several hundreds of dollars to get good SEOservices from experts outside Australia. But if you're going to hire a local expert or consultant, you will have to spend at least twice the amount.

Multinational firm Elevate Services, in particular, said it intends to build an outsourcing centre just outside the nation's capital to efficiently undertake legal work for a number of local law firms. According to Liam Brown, the company's founder and chairman, the company will be staffed by lawyers and other employees in a location that would enable the "anchor firms" to monitor their work.

Elevate, which has offices in the United States and India, will also make use of virtual assistants, technology, and cloud computing. The company firmly believes that such tactics will allow Australian law firms to be more flexible while maintaining, or even increasing, the quality of their work as well as reducing operating costs.

Hiring virtual assistants or remote staff is indeed beneficial for one's business, regardless of whether you're in legal services, retail, or information technology. In fact, EOH Holdings, a well-known company in South Africa, said its revenues have grown by 38.4% over the last six months after having outsourced the firm's IT requirements to remote assistants.

As such, it isn't surprising why companies like Elevate Services are seeking to take advantage of the benefits of having virtualassistants and offshore staff. By letting other people take care of mundane and non-essential tasks, law firms can better take care of their client's needs while keeping operating costs down.