Having made the excellent decision of working with a VA, there are a few things to think about as to how to proceed with tasks in the most efficient way possible. There are a few common mistakes made that can make working together harder than it needs to be and the cause of a few teething problems. Below are some ideas to think about to ensure working with a VA is as painless and smooth as possible, and of course efficient!

1. Communal Calendar - There are some really good ones such as Google calendar which are easy to set up. You can grant access to your VA who can then set appointments for you, reminders and ensure you never miss an appointment again. A communal calendar is definitely an absolutely vital tool when working with a VA.

2. Get them to repeat the task back to you in an email - Having your VA misunderstand a task can be incredibly frustrating, particularly if it uses up valuable hours that you are paying for. Rather than using the phrase "If you have any questions, please contact me," it is far more sensible to request that the VA rephrase the task in an email back to you (or over the phone if you are communicating this way). This way you both know that it has been understood which will ensure time and energy is not wasted.

3. Ask for updates every few hours - You don’t want to find yourself in the position where you have set a task, expecting it to be simple and quick, and your VA comes back a week later saying they’ve completed it and it took 15 hours! To avoid this, ask for an update after a set amount of time. If the task is a research task, perhaps set it at 3 hours. If it is a longer task, perhaps ask for an update after 5 hours. This way you will have no surprises waiting for you at the end of the week.

4. Ask for weekly reports - A weekly report is a good idea so you can keep a firm grip on things. If you have more than one VA, it could easily get quite confusing and difficult to remember who is doing what for you. It is sensible to ask that your VA sends a very simple document at the end of each week with the name of each task that has been allocated, a brief description and the status. Also you could ask that the time spent on each task be recorded. This will ensure you always know exactly where you are with each VA and their tasks.

5. Skype - This is brilliant because it allows you to talk to anyone, wherever they are in the world, for free. It is simple to download on to your computer (you will need to buy a headset if you don’t have one already). Ensure that you and your VA both have this set up so that it is possible to make a phone call to them for free. It also has an instant messenger feature similar to MSN which can be used effectively.

By implementing these few simple ideas, you will be able to work and communicate with your VA easily and efficiently wherever in the world they are located. This will ensure peace of mind on your part too as it is certainly not the intention for a VA to add to your stress load or work load for that matter. Good luck and enjoy your new found freedom!