How to Delegate to your Virtual Assistant – Part 1

In this two part series, we’re going to help you learn how to delegate to your Virtual Assistant.  

Excuses about delegation

Do these “don’t delegate” excuses sound familiar?

• • • “It’s faster just to do it myself.”
    • “Other people can’t do it as well as I do.”
    • “I don’t have anyone else available to do it.”

Those are each sometimes true—but together, they’re hurting your ability to focus on the $1,000/hour activities.  When you waste your time on low-value activities, you’re making life harder for yourself—you get stressed, you risk burnout, and you’re hurting your company’s potential to scale.

Why delegation is hard

Delegation is hard because it requires trusting others. Trust doesn’t come naturally to everyone, and it’s hard to build trust when you’re overloaded already.

It’s not just trust—delegation is hard from a technical standpoint. That is to say, delegation is complicated—it requires practice, and access to resources.

Here’s the list of 12 delegation steps we’ve identified, if you’re the delegator as a company leader:

1. 1. 1. Recognize that you can’t do the task yourself—or shouldn’t do it.
      2. Consider the components of what to delegate to your VA, so you can hand the tasks over to them.
      3. Identify how you’ll later integrate their deliverable(s) into your own workflow, if applicable.
      4. Identify the skill set(s) required, to define the role(s).
      5. Decide how you’ll communicate tasks to your VA.
      6. Transfer knowledge to your VA about the goals and specs to consider, including sharing access to relevant resources.
      7. Pre-schedule a check-in with your VA at an appropriate time, to review before the deadline (especially if this is a new relationship or a new task).
      8. Do the mid-way check-in.
      9. Share constructive guidance as appropriate.
      10. Get the final deliverable.
      11. Confirm QA on the deliverable.
      12. Integrate the deliverable into your workflow, if needed.

That’s a lot of moving parts! Fortunately, you don’t have to do all 12 steps each time.  Delegation gets easier with time, practice, and your Virtual Assistant.  

Stay tuned for How to Delegate to your Virtual Assistant – Part 2

Aim2Assist is here at your service when you want to free up that time. You can learn more about our services and monthly plans here.