Are you thinking the time has come to enlist some support within your business?

Perhaps you have been thinking about it for a while and are just not sure where to begin.

Identifying the right Virtual PA really is no different to recruiting the right PA to be based in your actual office.  Working virtually, I do not see my clients face-to-face every day or even every month, but the importance I place on the overall working relationship is no different.

Here’s my Top 5 Tips:

1. Gut feel should be your top priority as how often is your gut wrong?
2. Get a good recommendation or use a trusted source.  Ask your contacts if they have had any experience of working with a Virtual PA – perhaps they can share their insights with you.
3. If a Virtual PA has not been recommended to you by someone you trust explicitly then arrange to meet them face-to-face and interview them in the same way you would recruit a PA into an office based role.  Ask for references and complete your due diligence by following them up.  Remember though, as a self employed business owner a Virtual PA will also be ‘interviewing’ you!
4. How important is industry sector experience or knowledge to you?  Is this a vital element or are you happy to invest the time to fully train someone new to your industry?
5. Be aware of your daily processes and business objectives.  Think about the activities that are preventing you from focusing on your core fee earning activities.  Write them down over the course of a few days and list them into categories – only I can do these; I can delegate these now; I could delegate these in time.  By completing this task you will have a clearly defined list of activities that you can delegate to a Virtual PA.

Do you have any other tips you live by when it comes to recruiting someone to join your team?  Share in the comments below.  Gut feel has to be my top priority to any working relationship!