One of the fears I have seen business owners have when it comes to hiring a virtual assistant is that they’re afraid their VA isn’t going to be working when they should.

Your VA not working means wasted time and money.

Want my advice on how to make sure your VA is working when they should? Here’s how I do it:

1. Hiring

It really starts with the hiring process.

Yeah, hiring someone who ticks all the boxes regarding skills and experience is great, but what you want to see is the initiative. You want somebody who wants the opportunity and is eager to prove themselves.

Young and hungry.

This is one of the reasons why sometimes I don’t hire the top talent. If I can sense that they’re not excited about the chance to work for me, I move on to the next candidate.

I can always teach someone to gain more skills. That’s why we built VAsMadeEasy.

Training someone eager to work is easy. It’s much harder to make someone want to go to work every day.

2. Earning their trust

When your VA trusts you, they’re not going to be afraid of you.

They’re not going to disappear if they make a mistake, or when the task is too hard, or if they encounter problems that would affect their productivity.

They’re going to come to you because they know you will understand their situation and help them get back to work.

If they trust you, they will want to get back to work.
It’s hard to find a job in the Philippines.
It’s hard to find a good job, with a good boss.
When they find this, they don’t want to slack off. They want to keep you happy so they keep their job.
Not always…but most of the time.

3. Time Trackers

I’m not a fan of time trackers, BUT I acknowledge that they can be helpful in some cases. We even have one that you can use for free: TimeProof.

For example, if you have a customer service VA, you want them to be online when scheduled to work.

A time tracker could also be helpful if your VA is doing the same thing, day in and day out. At best, it would reassure you that they showed up during their shift.

What I don’t like about time trackers is that it doesn’t measure productivity. It doesn’t account for efficient workers or those who work smarter.

It also doesn’t consider workers who take more time but finish their tasks and do them better than anyone else.

Lastly, it doesn’t really force the VA to take responsibility for their work. They’re going to rely on the time tracker as proof of work without having to show any actual work. It’s easy to fake moving your mouse to make it look like you’re working. There’s software that does this for you.

Plus, time trackers breed distrust.

If you really want to know what your VA is doing, they need to send you a …

4. Daily report

I value productivity and work quality more than anything else. That’s why when I first started outsourcing, I made daily reports part of the job requirements.

What I like about the daily report is how it makes your VA take accountability for their work.

They have to show and explain the progress of their work.
They have to tell you why there’s no progress.
It’s their chance to show off if they did something really well or if they solved a problem on their own.

Most importantly, I know that they’re working because they’re sending me a daily report. A VA who’s not working won’t have anything to report.

5. Project management software

In addition to my VAs’ daily reports, I get notifications from our project management software. I know when tasks are completed. I see when I’m tagged in comments or tasks. I can see which tasks are moving and which ones aren’t.

Combined with the daily report, it gives me a clear picture of how my team works as individuals and together in projects.

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In my years of experience, a virtual assistant not working usually happens when there’s a problem with #1 and #2.

Good hiring steps can find you people who WANT to work. Young and hungry.
Earning your VA’s trust motivates them to keep working, even when they want to disappear.
When they trust you, they want to be productive and won’t have a reason to slack off.

Do you have other solutions?

John