While virtual teams can be incredibly efficient, trust me, I’m the bearer of that, they also come with unique challenges. So how do we make sure everyone is on the same page working effectively and meeting your business goals?
In this article, we’re gonna cover the following topics: setting clear expectations, communication tools, time management, managing and maintaining a positive work culture as well as performance evaluation.
As an online business owner, it can be tempting to want to handle everything yourself, but the truth is, delegation is the key to scaling your business.
Here are a few reasons why: it saves time, it increases productivity, it develops skills for yourself and your team, it boosts morale and it allows you to focus on core tasks.
Let’s take a closer look at each of these points.
At A Glance
Why delegate?
Delegating tasks to others can free up your time and allow you to focus on the most important tasks. By entrusting your team members with responsibilities, you can streamline your workflow and make the most of your time.
Delegating tasks can also increase overall productivity. By assigning tasks to team members who are best equipped to handle them, you can ensure that work is completed more efficiently and effectively.
Delegating tasks can also help to develop your team members’ skills and knowledge. By giving them new challenges and responsibilities, they will have the opportunity to learn new things and grow professionally.
Delegating tasks can also boost your team members’ morale by giving them a sense of ownership over their work and showing trust in their abilities. You can help to create a positive and motivated work environment.
Delegation allows you to focus on your core tasks as a business owner. By delegating tasks that are outside of your area of expertise or that you simply don’t have time for, you can free up your time and focus on what you do best.
What tasks should you delegate first?
As an online business owner, you have a lot on your plate, but delegating tasks to your virtual team can help to lighten the load and increase efficiency. But what tasks should you delegate?
I would say the simplest tasks go first. They’re easy to train and they’re easy to hire. Anything you’re doing repeatedly, say more than three times is worth delegating
Niche skills. For example, video editing or programming or graphic design. If they are super niche and you think that somebody who is an expert in it can better get it done faster than you outsource it, consider what things you are taking too much time to do. Is it designing? Then maybe it’s worth outsourcing it.
Here are a few ideas that you can outsource.
1. Administrative task
This could include tasks such as scheduling appointments, organizing files, or handling customer service inquiries. Delegating administrative tasks can free up your time and allow you to focus on more important tasks.
2. Technical task
If you’re not particularly tech-savvy, you may want to delegate technical tasks such as website design or programming to someone on your virtual team who has the necessary skills.
Marketing and social media work is something that can also be outsourced.
Marketing and social media can be time-consuming, so delegating these tasks to someone on your virtual team can be a great way to save time and reach a wider audience.
4. Content Creation
Content creation, I know I’m in the content creation space, and that is one of the first things that I’ve started outsourcing.
Whether it is writing blog posts, creating videos, or designing graphics, content creation is a task that can be easily delegated to someone on your virtual team as long as you give them proper instructions.
5. Research
Research. If you need to gather information for a project, consider delegating research tasks to someone on your virtual team who has the time and skills to complete the task effectively.
For instance, I would get someone on my virtual assistant team to help me research potential hotels to collaborate with, to pitch to, tourists to pitch to or even podcasts to speak at.
These are just a few examples of tasks that can be delegated to a virtual team. When deciding what tasks to delegate. Consider what tasks are taking up the most time, which tasks are outside of your area of expertise, and which tasks could be completed more efficiently by someone else.
As a content creator in the travel blogging and YouTube space, as well as creating content for my courses. Here are some of the things that I delegate. Writing, and formatting my posts on WordPress, graphic design such as Pinterest and designing lead magnets. Pinterest management.
When I was doing Pinterest in the past. Video editing is a big one. It’s the first thing that I would delegate because video editing takes up full days of work, which I personally am terrible at.
I cannot stand watching a video play 10 million times in front of me. I just lose the whole storyline. So that’s the first thing that I would outsource research or data entry work as well as scheduling when I was doing social media postings five times a week, I would outsource the scheduling work.
What I don’t delegate
Some of the things that I don’t delegate are anything strategy related. For instance, content planning, and SEO, because as a business owner, I like to have an overall look and have a say in the direction that my business is going. So anything strategy related always falls on me.
Besides, I love doing SEO. I would also edit my own articles after the writers have done it, so that I get the final preview before uploading it on WordPress for the readers to read. I would also, of course, edit the videos or provide feedback for the videos after the video editor has submitted the drafts.
Where to hire your virtual team?
So where to hire your virtual team? There are many popular sites such as Upwork, Fiverr even Freelancer. You can also go to Facebook groups and search for digital nomad jobs or work-from-home jobs, which is where I go to look for hires.
My favourite way of hiring is via word-of-mouth referrals from other people in the same industry. That’s where you get the best hires – through word of mouth.
Just take it from me. Ever since I was introduced to the world of delegation in 2018, I’ve seen freed up my time and allowed myself to be able to pursue things that I normally wouldn’t have the time to do.
I otherwise would’ve been buried in my laptop working on things that I don’t like, video editing or even editing photos, it’s not something that I thrive in. It’s not something that I find joy in, even though I like the end process. Consider delegation in your business. It might just change your life. Trust me.
How to manage your virtual team?
Now let’s talk about how to actually manage new hires.
1. Set clear expectations
The first step to managing a virtual team is to set clear expectations.
This could mean defining roles and responsibilities, working hours, the time zones that you’re in, whether you work on the weekends, outlining the goals of the team and each member and establishing a shared understanding of what success looks like.
Would it be a flexible or a part-time arrangement? would you be paying out hourly, weekly, or monthly pay? Are there probation periods involved? This clarity helps to ensure that everyone is working towards the same objectives and prevents confusion or misunderstandings down the line.
2. Communication tools
Communication tools, effective communication is key to the success of the team. But it can be especially challenging when working out with a virtual team. To keep everyone connected and informed.
It’s important to have the right communications tools in place. This could include video conferencing software. Project management tools such as Monday or Asana, ClickUp or Notion or Trello.
Instant messaging apps such as Slack, Discord, WhatsApp, and more. Personally, I like using Trello to manage my repertoire, my list of articles, as well as the statuses of each article, but I like to use ClickUp for task delegation.
3. Time Management
Time management. When working with a virtual team, it’s important to manage your time effectively to ensure that everyone is able to get their work done and stay on schedule.
This may mean setting clear deadlines, scheduling regular check-ins and finding ways to keep everyone accountable for meeting their commitments, such as using a billable hours tracker. Personally try to have weekly catch-up calls with my virtual assistants.
4. Maintaining a positive work culture
Maintaining a positive work culture. Virtual teams can sometimes struggle to maintain a positive work culture, but this is an important factor in keeping your team motivated and engaged.
This could involve regular virtual team building activities, open and transparent communication, and fostering a sense of community and connection among team members.
5. Performance Evaluation
Performance evaluation. Finally, it’s important to evaluate the performance of your virtual team on a regular basis. This helps to identify areas for improvement.
Recognize individual achievements, and make sure everyone is staying on track to meet your business goals.
In conclusion, managing a virtual team can be challenging, but also a rewarding experience.
By setting clear expectations, using effective communication tools, managing time effectively, maintaining a positive work culture, and regularly evaluating performance, you can build a team that is highly productive, motivated, and engaged.
Seriously, don’t be afraid to delegate. Just start small. The easiest task is first. The tasks that you can easily be the most hands-off first. That is how I was able to, as cliche as it sounds, travel the world full-time while getting shit done.
And honestly, it’s been such a game changer. Right now I’m managing content creation on multiple platforms from Instagram to writing blog posts to YouTube, as well as managing a course business where I teach SEO as well as service SEO clients. So if I can do it, you can do it too.
Go, bosses.
