If you follow me on social media or subscribe to our regular newsletter, you’ll already know that I recently took the next step in growing Kellie Simpson Business Support; I hired a Virtual Assistant to be my PA!
Emma and I are coming into our third month of working together and it’s been a fantastic experience so far. Not only has a weight been lifted from my shoulders, I’ve also been able to get a clearer view from the other side of the fence – I’ve been the client, taking on my own PA.
Now, don’t take my positive experience to mean that Emma just swooped in with a cape on and shrunk my ever-growing to-do list by 80%. What I’ve learnt over the years and especially now I’ve been ‘on the other side’ is that to make the most of any business support, whether employed or outsourced, you’re going to need to make a small investment of time and effort to make the most of your new team member.
They’re going to need some important tools and information from you and I thought it would be great to share with you exactly what I needed to prepare to get Emma into a position where she had everything she needed to make her role with me a blinding success.
Sharing Passwords
You won’t get off to a great start if your new PA can’t log into anything. We’d suggest having a good think ahead of your PA starting about which systems they might need access to. Without having ease of access, projects and tasks may be delayed whilst waiting on you to answer the question: ‘what’s the password for XYZ’.
How can you manage this securely? We’d suggest using a password management system for this so that passwords are encrypted and shared safely. We love Keeper; you have full control over which passwords each member of your team has access to and you can be confident that your sensitive data doesn’t fall into the wrong hands by being shared via email, WhatsApp, and post-it notes.
Sharing documents, templates and systems
Will your PA need access to documents to be successful in their role? It’s likely you’ll need to share some documents with them and you might choose to do this via Google Drive, or Share Point if you’re a Microsoft user.
You might need to share brand guidelines or branding images/logos and spreadsheets for your PA to record data or perhaps you already have Standard Operating Procedures so they can get straight into tasks (if you’re not sure how to create those, look at our blog post on creating SOPs for your law firm).
You’ll also need to give your PA access to your standard templates so that they can provide the admin support that will free you up to grow your business.
Set your Legal PA up with their own email address
It’s likely that you’ll want your legal PA to get in touch with clients on your behalf and to help to keep your diary and inbox under control. To do this, set them up with their own email account and give them access to your inbox and calendar with edit rights.
This means they’ll be able to schedule meetings, rearrange them if a client or you request it, and respond to queries on your behalf. Not only that, with their own email address it looks like they are a part of your company and it helps to keep their emails separate too.
Give your Legal PA the right tools to succeed
With the above in mind, your new team member should be ready to get started. Having a good think about which tasks your Legal PA can do for you is essential, and then work from there to see which tools they may need. When taking on my own PA, I found having access to tools, systems and information went a long way in making a success of our new partnership. There was just one thing that was far more important…
Communication is key
It’s the golden thread that runs through any business and is at the centre of everything you do. It’s no different when you take on your own PA.
Giving them the channels (and communicating which is best for you – email, WhatsApp, Slack, for example) and the opportunity to ask questions is vital as is communicating important information on tasks such as deadlines, and exactly how you like things to be done.
That’s not to say that this is a one-sided relationship; good communication means that your PA can give you useful suggestions to help move your business forward. Emma has been able to automate systems for me and provide insights from her own experience with a range of clients and your PA can do the same for you.
Once you get into a good rhythm together and understand how the other works, you’ll be able to seamlessly set tasks, confident in the knowledge that your PA has all the tools and information they need and the ability to ask questions if required.
When you take on outsourced PA support with Kellie Simpson Business Support, you’re provided with an experienced member of the team who is ready to take action and help you grow your business.
Our team can hit the ground running with ease if you’re able to share all of the above and communicate effectively with them. Just ask some of our clients! If the time is right for you to get our expert support, book a chat with me now; we’ll formulate a plan together to get the most from your new PA.
