When I hired my third VA, I did what most people do. I recorded a bunch of training videos, sent them over, and assumed she'd figure it out. Two weeks later I was still answering the same questions and doing the same tasks I thought I'd delegated. Nothing had actually changed.
Since then, I’ve learned some important lessons.
You cannot passively train a VA. They need to shadow you in real-time. Not watch a video of you doing something. Actually sit (virtually) next to you while you do it live.
Don’t expect them to pick up everything after the first 1-2 times they watch you do something. Remember when you started your first job? Remember how long it took you to actually start contributing meaningfully?
Most corporate or desk jobs have a 90-day ramp up period where the new employee is still in the learning phase and isn’t contributing fully. Why would you expect something different when hiring a virtual employee?
The whole process takes longer than most people want to spend, but it's the only thing that actually sticks.
The other thing that changed everything: I stopped solving their problems.
When a VA comes to me with an issue now, I ask one question before I do anything else. "What do you think we should do?" It forces them to think instead of just waiting to be told. Over time, they stop bringing me problems and start bringing me solutions.
The last piece is accountability, and this one's non-negotiable. Every task needs a close with a bow on it. When our team does a task, they don’t just come back with "I did it" but "I did it, here's what happened, and here's how I made sure it won't be a problem again." We call it return and report.
Slow training and real-time shadowing. Then ask them to come up with the solution to their own questions and close every loop.
That's the whole system. It's not complicated, but most people skip straight to "just watch this video" and wonder why nothing changes.
Do you have a VA? Respond and let me know how you’ve handled the training.
Until next time!
Logan
