This article is an excerpt from my eBook, “Delegate or Automate, A Simple Guide To The Virtual Workplace.” 

You are now working with a remote worker or a virtual team member, congratulations! But the cold, hard truth is that you need to be patient with remote team members when working with them in this setup for the very first time. Here’s why.

Setting realistic expectations:

Your virtual staff won’t learn everything in a week or even two weeks. It took months (maybe years) for you to learn what you know now, and there are still things you might not have had time to learn. So be gracious with your trainee, meanwhile being aware that there is a thin line between a new learner and a slow one.

If it takes you 30 minutes to edit and proof an article but it takes them an hour on their first few tries, that is normal. But if after two weeks it still takes them an hour to edit and proof one 500-800 word article, they’re using up too much valuable time to complete a fairly simple task.

Along the way, offer your trainee feedback. Are they working well? Do you like their work? Is it too far off from what you asked for? Also, take time to understand their learning style. Everyone is different. You might learn by reading an article, but she might learn better by watching you do it (via screen share) and then trying it herself.

If you’ve ever worked for someone else or been an ‘employee’ then you know what it’s like to have a boss. You might have also personally experienced the significant differences between someone who acts like the aloft boss and a boss who is more of a leader.

A boss will tell you how to do it, but a leader will show you how. A boss will take all the credit while a leader will give credit where it is due. To the point, bosses are  more focused on getting the job done thinking only of themselves. A leader will take the time to motivate and empower you as you grow in your role.

Who would you want to work for, the boss or the leader? Now who do you think your virtual assistant would rather work with?

This doesn’t mean you let them get away with being late all the time, or always accept excuses for this and that. There is a difference between being gracious and being a pushover. Gentle correction when it is needed it good for anyone, so do not shy from it.

“If something comes up and you’re not sure how to bring it up, treat the issue like a sandwich. Start with positive feedback, talk about the issue,and then finish up with another positive mention.”

Example: Anne, I want to talk to you about something briefly. I love how you are willing to speak up and offer suggestions for how we can improve as a team. However, your suggestions come off harsh and aren’t overly helpful since you don’t include more information as to how, specifically, we can improve. It sounds more like criticism. I hope you can work on this. Meanwhile, please do keep up the great work on the[project], I like how it’s coming along!

As an employer, you now have a duty of care. You are not just paying someone to work for you. You are employing another human being who has their own life, family and dreams. You are responsible for more than just their salary (we’ll cover a bit of that in the next chapter).

“Clients do not come first. Employees come first. If you take care of your employees, they will take care of the clients.” – Richard Branson, Founder of Virgin Atlantic

Your VA will take better care of you, your business and the tasks you give them as long as they’re fit to do so. If they’re exhausted and cannot find balance in their life, their performance will suffer. This is not your fault, obviously (unless you’re running them into the ground asking for 60 hours a week). BUT, by actively listening to them when you check in on them from time to time, you can help offer them options that help them build a better lifestyle.

When you ask them how they are, if they often mention being exhausted, you might like to offer them to come in an hour or two later (but also make up that time by staying later as well). When your VA feels like you’re really listening, they will feel cared for and in turn offer their absolute best.

Managing a team can be challenging in any work environment but even more so with a remote team. As a leader who has been working with a fully-remote team for five years, the most challenging aspect is helping to balance everyone’s workload.

Even today, it’s sometimes hard to know when my team are overwhelmed with work or handling a relatively relaxed load. The best way to keep tabs on this is to insist on transparency.

If you use collaboration tools with real-time chat and a combination of private messaging and public channels, train your team to use public channels as much as possible to you all have a feel for how busy a certain team member is. Having shared to-do lists and project management tools also helps keep workload transparent and visible to all team members.

Create a culture and a system where your team knows to let each other know if when their workload is low, and they have time to help with other tasks. Equally important is to let them know to ask for help if they are getting overwhelmed, burned out or need support.

Often the best way to know how someone is doing is just to ask them, so as much as possible schedule time to have a regular 1:1 catch ups with each of your team members. I hope this helps!

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If you enjoyed reading this and found the information helpful and want to read more, you may download Gina Romero’s book “Delegate or Automate, A Simple Guide To The Virtual Workplace.”  for FREE.