How do I make sure my VA is performing?

One of the most common complaints I get when I talk to people about outsourcing is it’s too hard to understand if my outsourcer is actually performing.

In today’s video I’m sharing the top tools a guy that has over 86,000 hours experience uses and how you can gain complete CLARITY on your outsourced team and how well they’re performing.

If you’ve never Outsourced then this is an important video for you to watch as I cover the Foundational ways you should use to make sure your VA is performing.

 

Transcript

Hello and Welcome, David Judge here and in my last video I spoke about the top tools you can use to stay in touch with your VA.

In today’s short video I’m going to take it to the next level where I discuss and answer How do I make sure my VA is performing?

Now if you haven’t had a VA before I want to you keep watching as you’ll gain valuable insights on a couple of Do’s and Don’ts around outsourcing.

The 2 Extremes of an Outsourcers Performance

When we look at the question ‘How are they performing’ you can actually interpret this in so many different ways and in my experience this comes from 2 totally different extremes.

From the one extreme it’s cause they’re outsourcing and they want to make sure they’re taking good care of and upskilling their person (this is how I work with my team).

On the other extreme (and more commonly) it’s because they’re not totally confident that their VA is getting the jobs done and they think the whole promise of getting a outsourcer isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

So, lets get into this and really delve deep into how you can make sure your outsourcer is getting the work done and how you can measure their performance.

The Top 5 Ways to Track Your VA’s Performance

First things First… when you looking at outsourcing you need to first of all invest a little time in understanding the tasks you would like them to perform.

1 – Identify the Tasks

In a previous video I actually cover in detail how to identify what a VA can do for you so make sure you check out my website for that post.

In all honesty this is a critical step as it helps establish the foundation for your entire relationship and makes sure you’re getting total value from the outset.

So make sure you invest the time in laying out those tasks at the beginning.

2 – Lay Out the Expectations

Ok, second… Lay out the Expectations.

What’s really funny is when I’m approached by a person that already has a VA and asks me to help bring them inline with the tasks guess what.. they haven’t laid out the expectations.

The common issues here are:

1 – No NDA signed (so they’re not protected)

2 – They don’t have a set start or finish time (what’s called flexi time). I very rarely allow this as I find most people work best under a repetitive structure

3 – They make friends, which then allows room for the outsourcer to take advantage of you (now this isn’t just outsourcing, if you make friends with most employees it can go pear shaped and this is again another reason we manage VA’s for clients)

4 – They don’t ask the tough questions. I always want to know if there are any reasons I may have issues down the track and I ask!!! For me and my clients we outsource overseas, so I want to have that peace of mind and ask at the beginning

5 – You don’t make it clear that they can’t work with other clients or stuffing around on my coin. When you’re working for me, during my hours and I’m paying you, work for me, only!

The reason I actually follow this model now, is in the beginning I made these exact mistakes and paid for them every single time.

Now I’m not a total dictator as my team needs to own and grow, but I do keep these simple rules in place.

3 – Break the Tasks Down into Manageable Bites

Next, I break the teams tasks in weekly buckets. Ok, so this next one is a bit of work and is the reason I have supervisors who oversee each VA for me.

It does help keep your team member on track, highlights any important tasks for that week and gives them a worksheet to refer to when you’re too busy handling other stuff (and I’m telling you that will happen and it’s cool to know they’re being productive and ticking away while you’re handing what you need to).

4 – Track The Results

Ok, the last point. Watch their performance and track their results.

I always mention to VA’s that we’re watching their performance and I offer feedback.

How do I do this?

There are many softwares you can use to do this, and the 2 I use are Hubstaff and Google Drive.

Hubstaff lets me see snapshots of their screen and measures their keyboard strokes and mouse movements and Google drive is where you can place your weekly tasks.

They can also put how long it takes for them to complete a task and you can look an guage based on your own experience. Again this takes a small amount of time at the beginning but will make them almost totally independant down the track.

5 – Outsource Your Outsourcing

A bonus is to put a supervisor above them to grow and monitor their performance which is what I offer when you employ a VA through me 🙂

Ok, so that’s it and I tell you if you implement these key areas you’ll have an airtight method to getting your Outsourcer to perform.

In the Next Video

Ok, the next video we’re going to talk about –

How much should I pay for a VA and / or Outsourcer

This is a really interesting question as the prices totally vary and we’ll discuss the concept of getting what you pay for.

If you have a question you would like me to answer make sure you get in contact and I love to hear from you.

As always this is David Judge talking outsourcing and showing businesses how to get more done, keep your costs down and Enjoy your life.