A common reservation people have with hiring virtual team members is the onboarding process. Onboarding is a challenge for any new team member, but especially for those that are remote. How is it possible to onboard someone who isn’t near you? In this blog post, our team will give you the tips we give all of our clients who work with our virtual assistants.
Set Up a Detailed Resource They Can Refer To
We commonly see success during the onboarding stage when the virtual team member has access to a detailed resource. Anything you can use to share the most important things about your business will make a great resource for your virtual team member. We like using Google Docs, Trello, or a Word Document to share this information.
When creating this detailed resource, think about the tasks your virtual team member will be doing. This will help you understand what they need to know to be successful. Usually, these are things like your branding guidelines, logos, an outline of the tasks they will be doing, and information to access any tools you use. They may also need access to your clients’ information so they can contact them. Be sure to ask your virtual team member what they will need in order to be successful as well. You may be surprised with what they ask for.
Have Regular Meetings
For the first few weeks, it will be important to have regular meetings with your virtual team member. In-person team members have the benefit of having their leaders in the next office over. However, when it comes to virtual team members, they don’t have this benefit. So, it’s important to have one or two weekly meetings with them. Even if they don’t have a question for you, it can still be helpful to check in and make sure everything is going well.
You don’t have to schedule regular meetings once your team member is completely onboarded. See how many questions or roadblocks they bump into with bi-weekly meetings. Also, be sure to make yourself available through a messaging platform like Slack or Google Hangouts for fast questions.
Don’t Give Them All Their Tasks at Once
There’s nothing more stressful than being thrown into a new position with a full schedule. This doesn’t allow the team member to slowly learn their role and fully understand each task. So, it’s important to gradually give them more tasks over time. Once they start to learn how to do everything, then it’s time to fully onboard them.
Be Patient
Above all, it’s important to be patient. There are so many benefits to hiring a virtual team member, so don’t let a slow onboarding process frustrate you. Keep in mind how difficult it can be to learn a new business. Try to put yourself in their shoes and understand how much information there is to know. When they have questions or recurring issues, use that as feedback for future team members who you will onboard.
Onboarding Your Virtual Team Member
Going through the onboarding process with a virtual team member doesn’t have to be a challenge. With the right virtual team member and a good amount of patience, onboarding can be a fun process. Your Assistantly Virtual Team Members come with our Perfect First Week schedule so you will have a successful onboarding process!
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