I’ve had it happen to me.
You hire a new VA.
They start out great.
Great work.
Fast turn-around times.
High quality.
Then something happens and everything slows down.
Quality declines.
You know you hired a good person…you went through the process at www.OneVAAway.com and followed the steps.
What went wrong?
There are a number of scenarios and usually a simple solution.
Scenarios:
1. They took on too much in their life. Whether this was a second job or a side thing from being a full-time mom, maybe they took on too much and after a few weeks it just caught up with them.
2. They don’t understand something. If they’re unsure of something, they’ll be extra cautious and hesitant.
3. They have a personal problem. Could be sickness. Could be family issues.
4. Their computer is super slow. (this is easily solvable)
5. They took another job. (this is not a good situation)
6. They really hate the work they’re doing. You don’t want to employ someone who hates their job…do something to try to fix it. Change their role. Hire someone else to do this role.
7. Some outside situation is making things really difficult. It could be the weather. Sometimes the heat in the Philippines is unbearable. Maybe if they could afford to turn on the air conditioning sometimes it would help.
Solution:
The solution to all of these is to find out.
Ask.
It amazes me how many people just make assumptions about the person they hired and just fire them without ever asking “What’s going on?”
Seriously, I can’t tell you how many problems I’ve solved by just asking.
“Hey, what’s going on? Your work was so good for a while and then I noticed it slow down. What’s up?”
“Hey, your work has been slower the past few weeks. Have I done something wrong? I think you might need help. What can I help you with?”
“Hey, I noticed the quality of your deliverables has gone down. What’s affecting your work?”
“Hey, You haven’t responded for a few days. What are you stuck on?”
That last one:
“What are you stuck on?”
has solved so many problems for me. I know it’s not magical…but it feels that way to me.
If you do your hiring right, you should be pretty sure you have a good person. Going through the hiring process again is tough.
Asking them what they’re stuck on is the easiest solution.
If you’re having this problem, ask your VA what they’re stuck on. Then reply to this email and let me know what happens.
If you’ve done this before, reply and tell me what happened?
John