How to Decide What to Outsource to Virtual Assistants
Juggling multiple tasks and managing your time at once to ensure productivity is a challenge. There are so many important things you need to do, yet 24 hours a day is just not enough to accomplish it all. The lack of time for other things is probably one of the reasons why you think a virtual assistant might be the solution to your pressing dilemma.
You are right. If this is the case, the most convenient thing you can do to relieve the stress brought by your gazillion responsibilities is outsourcing some of these tasks to virtual assistants. Outsourcing will help you maximize your resources and ensure that you get back your time.
If you want to know how to outsource and what tasks you can outsource to virtual assistants, this is the article for you. We prepared a step-by-step guide to help you decide what tasks to outsource to your future virtual assistants.
Table of Contents
Step 1: Write Everything Down
One of the main reasons why entrepreneurs seek help from a Virtual Assistant is because they want to free up some of their time. The first step to determine what you can outsource is to write all down all tasks that are currently eating up your time.
From there, write down the rates you are willing to pay and the expertise you need from a virtual assistant. Doing so will give you a clear view of what you really want and make it easier for you to choose who to hire.
Taking note of your needs will serve as your deciding factor in choosing most of the tasks you’ll have to outsource and the number of virtual assistants you need. This step ensures that you see the worth of outsourcing, and you can easily decide on different options available to you.
Step 2: Group them into Categories
Categorize every task in your business according to its relevance in operations. You can divide these tasks into four categories:
- Things you don’t know how to do
- Things you hate doing
- Things you don’t have time to do, and
- Things only you can do
Create a rough list of the priority tasks out of this step, and it will kickstart your outsourcing game. These sample categories will rid you of the hassle of enumerating each task and possible confusion. Ensure that you are clear with the categories and don’t miss any critical duties within the business.
You can also use this time to assess your needs and wants as a working individual or entrepreneur to get a clear view of the kind of service you will need from a virtual assistant. With this, you can find ways on how a VA can help you become more efficient and improve your business.
Step 3: Make SOPs
Writing down all your standard operating procedures (SOPs) is helpful in deciding what to outsource to virtual assistants and in building an organized standard operating procedure. This step will benefit you and your future virtual assistants.
Be clear and concise with the tasks that enable your business to operate. List them all down, describing how they work and their impact on your operations. With this, you will realize the value of accomplishing these tasks to your productivity and how viable it is to outsource them to virtual assistants.
Also, it is best to take note of the time frame of each task when you do it or when a VA takes over. Measuring the time will give you a view of the probable costs of the labor and how many days it would take for someone to generate quality output. The recorded time will provide you a baseline for your future virtual assistants to follow and comply.
Step 4: Create a Budget Plan
Having a budget plan set specifically for having virtual assistants will help you decide on what tasks to outsource and how you negotiate rates with your future VAs. A budget plan also ensures that you will not go overboard with your costs and expenses.
Dismissing the creation of a practical budget plan can reverse the significant effects of outsourcing to virtual assistants. Instead of benefiting from lower costs and more time, you might be working twice as hard just to meet your targets.
Remember that your goal in outsourcing is to minimize costs and improve productivity personally or within your organization. Make a budget plan out of factual data, strictly follow it, and filter top priority tasks to outsource that will yield exceptional results.
Step 5: Take an Outsourcing Course and Make a Decision
The last step in this guide is to enroll yourself in an outsourcing course. If you plan to invest in outsourcing and in virtual assistants, you might as well learn from the experts to get best practices and avoid mistakes as much as you can.
The internet is full of people you can trust and those who will take advantage of you. Taking an online outsourcing course from a proven and tested outsourcing school will prevent this from happening and will guarantee you high productivity.
Outsourcing courses will make everything extra easier for you. They can provide a roadmap specific for your hiring needs, a list of tasks that you can outsource, places to find quality virtual assistants, templates for SOPs, and many more.
Conclusion
Anyone can outsource tasks to freelancers or virtual assistants. Outsourcing is not limited to entrepreneurs and CEOs since VAs cater to almost all functions that their clients require. Outsourcing will help people like you take back time and generate quality output from outstanding virtual assistants.
You foster growth when you learn to let things go and trust other people to do them for you. It does not mean that you will no longer be as hands-on as you once were. Instead, it is a sign that you are smart enough to utilize more ways to become efficient and productive in your.
About the Author
Connor Gillivan is currently an Owner of OutsourceSchool.com. He has been building businesses with virtual teams for the past 10 years and recently exited FreeUp.net in 2019. He regularly shares his advice on scaling companies online and has been featured on 200+ websites. He resides in Denver, CO.