Episode Summary

In this episode of the Make Space for More podcast, host Melissa Swink and guest Marissa Rether (Senior VA on the Melissa Swink & Co. team) discuss the importance of building trust with virtual assistants and the challenges of letting go of control in your business. They explore the mindset shifts necessary for effective delegation, the significance of clear communication and expectations, and actionable steps to foster a successful working relationship when you’re working with a virtual team. Tune in to learn why trust leads to freedom, allowing business owners to focus on growth and scaling their operations!

Key Highlights:

• Building trust with your virtual assistant is crucial for success.
• Letting go of control can be intimidating but is necessary for growth.
• Clear expectations help set the foundation for a successful working relationship.
• Communication should be frequent and proactive to avoid misunderstandings.
• Delegating tasks you dislike can free up mental energy and time.
• Feedback is essential for improving the working relationship with your VA.
• Establishing standard operating procedures (SOPs) can ease the delegation process.
• Trusting your team allows you to focus on higher-level tasks.
• Successful delegation leads to business scalability and reduced burnout.

About Our Guest: 

Marissa Rether holds a BA in psychology and has spent the past decade supporting entrepreneurs and building businesses—first as a Professional Organizer and now as a Virtual Assistant. Her passion lies in system strategy, and whether she is integrating a tech stack or supporting a course launch from behind the scenes, she is always seeking opportunities to improve efficiency.

In her free time, she can usually be found on her 80-acre homestead in Northern Ontario, Canada. She enjoys reading, hiking, and, most importantly, spending quality time with her family.

About Melissa:

Melissa Swink, Founder & CEO of Melissa Swink & Co., has a team of virtual assistants who provide administrative and marketing support for small businesses and non-profits.

Since 2012, Melissa and her team have helped more than 100 businesses grow through the services they offer, and she is dedicated to helping entrepreneurs create profitable, scalable businesses they love.

Her work is all about doing what works (and eliminating what doesn’t) and driving real, measurable results. Visit www.melissaswink.com to learn more! 

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Hi everyone, welcome to the Make Space for More podcast where we talk strategies for growing and scaling your business in a way that's authentic and aligned for you. I'm your host, Melissa Swink, and In today's episode, I have a very special guest joining me today. Please welcome Marissa Reether, one of our senior VAs on our team. And I'm really excited about today's conversation and Marissa and I have been exchanging messages back and forth.

in preparation for our conversation today because I want to continue to bring information that's helpful for business owners, entrepreneurs, executive directors, professionals around the world who are really interested in working in tandem with an assistant, building a team. And sometimes we get in our own way when it comes to developing the skills of really delegation and leading a team. And so today we're going to focus on

building trust with your virtual assistant or team, depending on where you're at in business or where you're at in your career. We might be talking about learning to work with one person or we might even be talking about working with a full team. But then also the second piece of that is letting go of control. Now, if you just panicked when I said letting go of control, I promise you to stay in the conversation. It's gonna be worth it. It's not gonna be as scary as it sounds.

And I want to reassure you that I certainly identify as being a control freak myself. And so before we dive into all of these details, I want to formally introduce Marissa so you can learn a little bit about her. And then we're going to dive into building trust with your VA, letting go of control. We're going to talk about why is this so difficult, but also why is it so important?

that we continue to be intentional about the work that we're doing with our assistants and our team, why it's helpful for our own growth and the success we want to achieve. But then almost more importantly than anything else, what are some of the things that we can do to move forward and continue to develop this skill? So all of that being said, Marissa Reether holds a BA in psychology and has spent the last decade supporting entrepreneurs and building businesses, first as a professional organizer and now as a virtual assistant.

Her passion lies in system strategy and whether she is integrating a tech stack or supporting a course launch from behind the scenes, she is always seeking opportunities to improve efficiency. In her free time, she can be found on her 80 acre homestead in Northern Ontario, Canada. She enjoys reading, hiking, and most importantly, spending quality time with her family.

Welcome Marissa. Thank you so much for joining me today. And I know we have been talking about having you on for quite a while and we finally made it happen.

We did. We did. Yes. Thank you for the warm introduction. I'm very excited to dive into this topic.

Awesome, yes. And so I know that just sharing a little bit more about your career, you started as a professional organizer and then kind of naturally progressed into the VA world and you've been in this industry now for more than 10 years.

I have, yes. Yeah, I founded a professional organizing company in 2013 and kind of simultaneously did that while supporting small businesses virtually behind the scenes. And yeah, it just kind of felt like a natural progression. I feel that the two industries are actually more related than people would think.

Yes, yes, absolutely. And so through the course of that time, so this is now like going on 12 years for you. I forgot that we started our businesses within about a year of one another, which is super fun. So you and I have between our careers and certainly, you know, with supporting and mentoring, you know, team members that we work with, we have seen a lot of things we have, we have worked with a variety of clients.

Yes.

We did.

We have worked with a variety of team members, a lot of different industries. And so I think there's a lot of experience to lend to today's conversation. Yeah, so I was thinking about this as we started talking about the idea of being control freaks and like, how do we let go of some of that, but then also build trust and really even thrive on working with an assistant. And I laughed because when I was thinking about

Absolutely. Yeah.

going back to the early days of when I started my business, and I don't know if you can certainly relate to this because we've been doing this for a while, is for the first six years or so, I worked on my own. So from 2012 to 2018, I worked on my own. I did all the things in my business. I worked with my clients. I did the accounting and the invoicing behind the scenes. I did the marketing when I had time. I was really resistant to building a team because

Well, we can get into why this is so hard because I think these are some of the key traits, but it was a big intimidating step because I had so many thoughts around getting others involved in the work that I was doing and will they be able to do it as well? There's just so much fear that comes into that.

There is, there is. And it's funny, I want to say for the first probably six years, I actually worked myself as well. And then finally relinquished a little bit of that control and started delegating and outsourcing some things that, you know, I didn't really enjoy doing. And it's, it's funny because there's that saying, like, if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself. And it's just simply not true. Nor is it feasible really, as you grow and scale.

Mm-hmm. Yeah, so you brought up a really good point like DIY mindset so where I'm located I'm located in Green Bay, Wisconsin here in the US and so I'm in the Midwest and so I think that there's a much deeper and green idea of do it yourself So if you want things done, right do it yourself You don't want to hire people because you don't want to babysit people, you know, it just sounds

night.

like a drag where you all of a sudden have to watch somebody's every movement because they're gonna do something wrong or they're gonna steal from you or whatever things have been put in your mind. And so it has not been a natural thing for me to see other people hiring out work. My family was, it was always, we do things ourselves in this house. I don't know if you had that same experience growing up.

Yes.

Yes, absolutely. Absolutely. I heard that phrase a lot. If you want something done right, have to do it yourself. It was something that was almost ingrained and that it takes some time and it's a process to let go of that control.

Yeah, yeah, I didn't even think that we were going to go into this during the conversation, but it is that programming for so many years. And you hear things, even if you don't necessarily agree with it or believe it yourself, you've heard it so many times that it's below the surface in there somewhere. Yeah. So why do you think, and I have a list here and I know we have talked about this extensively, why do you think it is so hard to let go of that control?

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah, that's a good question. So I think this one's tough for all of us. You you start a business and your business is your baby and you put all your time and your energy into it, right? And handing over the reins to a stranger can feel really scary and really intimidating.

I think that when you've been doing everything yourself, it feels like you almost have to maintain that level of control to keep the standard. And I'm looking at you type A's. mean, I see you, I am you. I know Melissa, we've talked about this before that we are both, yeah, both very much.

raising my hand by the way. For those who are listening and not watching on YouTube, I'm like, yep, all of this.

Yeah, yeah, so it's hard, right? And I know that you and I have talked about how a lot of entrepreneurs and business owners came from the corporate world and how that can kind of play a role into this need to kind of like maintain control because a lot of us, you know, worked in corporate and we left that world.

because we wanted more control, right? Whether that was control of our schedule or control of our time. And now giving away some of that control almost feels like you are taking a step backwards in a way. But I can assure you it is not, not in fact a step backwards.

That is super interesting that you let in with the word control. We wanted more control of our time or for me it was that and wanting more control over the work that I did and who I chose to work with and so control over those decisions. But then the other side of that word is freedom though too because we talk about I wanted more time freedom to be able to work the hours I wanted to work.

Mm-hmm.

I wanted the freedom to be able to choose who I work with. So it's interesting how control and freedom are interchangeable for, think, the way that a lot of us ended up as business owners.

Yes, absolutely.

Yeah, so business is our baby. So we leave the corporate world where we're being told what to do and we have a lot of, depending on your experience in the corporate world, you may have worked with people you didn't enjoy working with. You might've had some terrible bosses. You might've had some great bosses, but overall there were certainly limits to what you could and could not do. And so then,

It's, going out on my own. I see this opportunity. I want more freedom. I want more control over my own life. We have this business. It's our baby. And then we get to that point where we can't do it all. We're starting to get the pressure of, there's only so many hours in the day, or there are things that I know I need to be doing that, or that the business needs me to do, and I'm not good at that myself. All of a sudden we find ourselves here. So just continuing before we jump to some of the solutions.

other reasons of why it's just so hard to get others involved in what we're doing.

Yeah, I mean, I think it all just goes back to, you know, wanting to maintain that standard and that level of, I keep going back to that phrase of you want something done right, you have to do it yourself. But I think it's often like a mindset shift that needs to happen, right? So you need to kind of like shift from seeing, you know, reaching out for help and delegating and outsourcing. Some people look at it as like,

Mm-hmm.

weakness and you know I need support because I can't do this on my own, but I almost think the shift needs to happen where you're almost looking at the support as like a growth strategy because you can't, if you want to scale you can't do everything yourself. You and I, you and I both know this.

Right, right, absolutely. I think some of the things that were going through my mind, because it is a huge mindset shift and that needs to change really before you even start working with a virtual assistant or an executive assistant or some other types of team members in your business, I think some of the things for me, number one was I was very protective of my clients because I had a really close working relationship with them.

And so I was thinking they only wanted to work with me. Like if I bring somebody else in, they're gonna be like, I don't wanna work with that person. And then they're going to cancel their services. And then my business is going to plummet. Like I think that we do fall under the assumption that we are the magic in our businesses and clients are only interested in working with us.

and

That's a great point. Absolutely. Yes.

Yes. And then the funny thing was, that, so again, speaking from my own experience, when I started bringing in team members, I found that really at the end of the day, clients just wanted support. They needed help in whatever area that you're helping. Wherever you're helping people, really the solution isn't necessarily you personally. The solution is the concept or the solution is the knowledge or the expertise.

That's right.

That's right.

it's not necessarily all on your shoulders. And so it was shocking to me when like, I would say well over 95 % of my clients were like, oh yeah, so and so is great. And I'm like, oh, what was I so resistant to for so long? You know, it was just so interesting. I think the other thing too is that we have this fear of being responsible for others mistakes. Like, so here's the, so we, just illustrated like,

Mm-hmm.

We think we're the magic, but really there are so many wonderfully talented people out there. And then it's like, well, what if something goes wrong? Like, what if I hire the wrong person? And they, you know, irritate my clientele. And then all of a sudden my reputation goes downhill. Like we have so much, we have just have so much fear built up in our minds. I don't know if you've heard clients say things like that, or if you've heard things like that in the past as well.

Sure.

I have, yes. It's almost like a spiral you get into, right? Of like convincing yourself that this isn't the right move. And I feel like it's almost like a protective mechanism because again, you're afraid to let go of that control and you're afraid of what will happen, but more often than not, you'll do it and you'll reap the benefits. mean, trust equals freedom, really.

Yeah, yeah, 100%. I think the last thing when I really thought about why are some of the reasons that people hold back from beginning to work with an assistant or if they are hesitant to start building a team, it's also a big intimidating step of cross-training and getting somebody else set up for success because I think

So much of what we do lives up here, especially when we're working solo is up in our heads or we've got handwritten to-do lists and we don't really have things in a tangible place where someone else can step in and move the business forward. So I think that's also a big intimidating step as well is how can I possibly transfer this knowledge to somebody else? I'd rather just.

It'll take me longer to explain it again, so I might as well do it myself. Tomorrow, I'll explain it to so-and-so, but for today, I'm just going to handle it myself.

for sure and I think that that's something that we see really often when we start working with new clients is, you know, we're like, hey, I can support you with this task and we often are met with, yeah, you know what, it's really quick for me to do, I already know how to do it, so I'll pass that off eventually and I think that there's, you know, some action steps that you can take to help relinquish a little bit of that control and build that relationship so that things are getting done the way that you want them done.

Yeah, absolutely. And like I said, we are not just going to talk about here's all the reasons why people are control freaks and here's all the reasons why it's scary to begin working with a team and releasing control and delegate. We are going to get to the solutions that we recommend and we guide so many clients through. But before we make that jump, know, really we want to take a pause and remember and revisit why is this key? Because a one person operation

Yeah.

is not scalable or even if you work in an organization where you're one of however many people on a team, you're really sabotaging your own growth if you don't learn how to work with others and how to relinquish some of the busy work because every role, every position includes busy work. Yes. Yes. What are some other things, Marissa, that you've seen

Yes, that's true.

with clients or maybe even in your own experience, like why is this so important to get over those fears and release some of that control?

Yeah, I think that when you trust your VA and outsource and delegate and all that fun stuff, it allows you as the business owner to focus on the bigger picture, right? So instead of getting stuck in the weeds and the day to day and like you said, that busy work, you have like more time to focus on like creative tasks or strategy. You're able to, you know, give your attention to the revenue generating activities.

and scaling your business instead of being stuck in your inbox and responding to emails as an example. And I don't think that you can grow and scale without burnout unless you have a team that you can trust.

Absolutely. Right now, I am reading the book 10X is Easier Than 2X by Dan Sullivan and Dr. Benjamin Hardy. Now, I'm not all the way through the book, so I can't fully articulate a full summary of the book. But basically, the idea is if you want to go 10X, and that might sound like a big scary step to people, but if you really want to go next level, whatever that might mean for you, or you have something like

Hmm.

Maybe for you, it's, I've always wanted to write a book or I want to speak on stages or I want to launch a course. Maybe you're a coach. so like whatever that next exciting step is for you. And it's kind of like a someday thing. Basically what this book is talking about is you need to learn how to release 80 % of what you're currently doing so that that 20 % that you're really good at and that you really love.

what you get to then become, you know, the main focus and the main devotion of your time that you have available. And so, so I keep thinking even in my own terms of what is my 80 % and how can we, how can we move forward from that? So I think that's something important to think about. Like do you want to be doing the work that you're doing right now forever?

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

I mean, Marissa, what if you stayed a professional organizer for the last 12 years? How much different life would look if you had stayed in that one role?

you

Right? Yeah, I love that. feel like that's a very thought provoking question. The 80 % of the 80-20, absolutely.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah, I know like even for me personally, if I never would have taken the step to start building the team, if I were still a virtual assistant, working completely on my own, I know that that would have meant staying in the feast and famine cycle longer than I needed to because what would happen, and this is very, very common, is that when we are busy and we're working with clients as business is going great, we're just kind of doing all the things.

Melissa Swink (19:14.316)

and then all of a sudden a project wraps up or a client moves on with maybe hiring an in-person assistant, whatever natural progression happened over time, then all of a sudden income drops. And then you realize that you haven't been marketing or doing any sort of sales. And so there's nobody in your pipeline. And then you've got to go out and drum up more business in order to replenish that income. Like it was just this up and down roller coaster.

Even if you are the best at what you do, if you don't have anything, you know, following that project that you're currently working on, or if you don't have anybody to backfill that client that you're, you know, wrapping up your work with, here we are.

Absolutely. Yeah, that's something we see, something we see quite often for sure.

Absolutely. So moving on to some of the action steps. So Marissa, in your experience, and we've talked about this as well from a couple of different angles, certainly, what are some of the behaviors and action steps that you can take to build trust with your virtual assistant? But also we have talked about this from another angle as well, which is like, what are some of the traits that our most successful clients have?

in common or what are some of the habits that they've built that has made working with a virtual assistant and their team just so much more successful than the average.

For sure. think clear expectations is a really, really big one that pops up. When we start working with new clients, we often come in not knowing much. We know what their business is about. We've often reviewed their website and have a basic understanding of what their business is. But when it comes to delegation and tasks, we need as much information upfront as possible.

Always encourage clients to set clear expectations. And that means everything from like deadlines. When do you want something by? Do you want regular updates along the way? Communication preferences. So like, do you prefer to be contacted via email? If we have a quick question, would you like a Slack message? Where do you want the final draft sent to? Even gosh, quality expectations. I work with some clients who

have very varying expectations when it comes to the work that they want to see. I'm trying to think of an example here of even writing content. Some clients are like, hey, I just want a very rough outline to work from, curate some ideas where other clients want a completely polished draft. And I feel like when the client sets clear expectations and when the VA also encourages them to set clear expectations,

It just sets the working relationship up for success rate from the start.

I love that. I love that. So there were two things that you had said that really jumped out at me. And actually the business retreat that I went on right before I started building the team where the coach who was hosting really encouraged me like, cannot possibly sustain this. You really need to look at getting some help in the business and even for yourself in order to continue growing or you're going to stay in this stage forever and ever. Amen. And one of the things that they talked about was this is what done looks like.

Yes.

So, you know, and we've run into this even with, especially, we'll use graphic design as an example. Sometimes people have a hard time articulating what they want visually. And so showing us even some examples of here is, you know, here's a graphic that I like, or here is a color scheme that I like. You know, so sometimes it's a matter of showing an example, like,

Yeah.

when this document is created, I need it to include X, Y, and Z, or providing examples as much as possible in the beginning. Also, the other thing that I thought of as you were talking is a good VA will ask you for some of those clarifying questions. Don't feel like you have to imagine all the possible things that they might need to know. This is a way to develop a working relationship.

Thanks

Yes.

It's not necessarily all on your shoulders to have everything perfectly ready to go.

That is so true, absolutely.

Yeah, so you talked about setting deadlines and clarifying expectations. Going hand in hand with that are clear standard operating procedures. Yes.

Yes. Yeah, when we start working with new clients, especially if you're having a hard time letting go of control, I think that turning the task at hand into an SOP or standing operating procedure where you break down the task step by step.

you tell the VA exactly what to do, and you're also kind of sharing exactly how you like it done so that you still have almost a little bit of that control and you're rest assured knowing that the task is in good hands. And I don't think it necessarily has to be like a Google Doc or written form. This could be like a loom video where you're sharing your screen and you're walking through the tasks that the VA can watch it and follow and replicate those exact steps.

I think that writing SOPs helps minimize confusion, number one, but it also helps the VA work more independently. And like I said, just leaves you rest assured that they'll be doing the task exactly the way that you want them to.

Mm-hmm. Yes, absolutely. And I'm glad that we're talking about standard operating procedures because again, this can be an intimidating step for a business owner or really anyone to start training up somebody else in order to take over some of their responsibilities and the things they have on their plate. But one thing that's helpful is you don't have to do this all on your own. Again, I always had the idea that I had to have everything perfectly wrapped up with a bow.

Hmm.

So was about two years into owning my business and I was going to be out for about eight weeks. And so I hired two people to help do some of the recurring work that I was doing for clients. And I was working with a business coach at the time and he told me to create a manual of the way that these tasks are done. And so I can tell you, Marissa, I spent the entire summer doing like a

Word document, like step one, go to this program, step two, click on this. It was exhausting. It zapped my energy. I hated doing it. I knew it had to be done because baby was coming and I was not gonna be working, but it was, like the process was so tedious and painful that it really made me hesitate. Like, my gosh, if I hired people like for real, I don't know how I'd ever do this.

I bet.

right?

And so when I was at that retreat, the coach had pressed me, what is your next step with building a team? I'm like, well, I have to create a manual. She's like, no, no, no, stop. She's like, have your VA sit next to you or in this case, go on a Zoom or a Google Meet if you're working virtually. She's like, record the conversation, walk through the task that you're handing off and have that person go back and create an SOP.

for you to review, maybe make a few tweaks and then move on. Like have them sit with you once and then have them work on the documentation or creating the video for doing that task. And my mind was blown when she told me this.

Yes, yeah, it's so true. I, a lot of people, when we're like new clients, when we're onboarding, we'll say things like, oh, no, I don't have anything documented. And it's like, it's okay. A lot of us as VA is really enjoy creating SOPs. And that's what we're here for, right? Is to, if you walk us through, we'll, you know, make a detailed step by step list of everything that needs to be done. And it's funny because we work with so many different

types of businesses. We also have a unique perspective when we're working through SOPs like, hey, did you know that we could eliminate a step here or potentially automate a step? And we might bring additional insight to your SOPs that you might not even thought of.

Right, exactly, because we've been doing the same thing over and over and over again for so long that we don't even see all the angles or the possibilities to improve upon what we're doing. Yeah, it's a total blind spot. Now, I also want to share here when I was thinking about some action steps, like how do we continue to build trust? How do we continue to let go of control for our own benefit? Right? That's the big picture here for our own benefit.

Yeah.

That's right. That's right.

And so if you're hearing this going, like we've been focusing on these are things that you are currently doing that you are going to relinquish control and hand over for somebody else to take over. Now on the flip side of this, there also might be things that you want to delegate that number one, you hate doing or that you don't even really know how to do very well yourself. So I'm going to use an example here. One of the very first things that I personally delegated

not talking about client work, was social media. Okay, so I can write, but it takes me a while. It's something that I really have to get into the right frame of mind in order to do. And I was finding that I would take so long to write a single social media post. And then when I finally got what I thought was like the perfect messaging, then I'd have to go out and find, this was, I would use a stock photo, because I didn't even have brand photos at the time. So go out and find a stock photo, and I'd,

post it and we get some reactions, some likes or maybe some comments. And then the whole effort was so exhausting. Three weeks would go by before anything else would go online. And that was one of the first things that I delegated habitually was like, need support on social media. I need a consistent presence. I need a polished and professional presence. But I let go of that control. So while we've been focusing on up until now,

handing off things that you know how to do and you do it well and giving to somebody else. There's also the other angle of getting somebody involved in tasks that you have no desire or knowledge to do on your own.

Yes, yeah, I feel like that's always a really good place to start. Because a lot of, I mean, you have a team and there's so many people on your team with unique skill sets, so why not pass off the thing that you hate or the thing that you're not good at to somebody who is an expert, you know? Yeah, I absolutely recommend that for.

We do that a lot in the area of bookkeeping as well, where clients will tell us, like, hey, I have not updated my QuickBooks in six months, and they mean categorizing transactions and things like that. Or they're like, I'm behind on my client invoicing. And those are usually things that are easier to hand off because you are not so close to it. You don't have a hand in it on a day-to-day basis. So really from there, it's a matter of hiring somebody who

Yes.

Number one has the experience in that area, but also loves doing it. Like one of the things that I ask VAs about in interviews is if there are three things that you would love to do all day, every day, what are those three things? And I really want to make sure that that's the type of work I'm sending their way because then I know they're going to thrive in that area.

Absolutely. I also feel like as a business owner, the things that you hate doing or like you said, the things that you're putting off often take up like a lot of like mental energy, right? And when you finally, you know, pass it off to somebody, it's so like freeing to just not have to worry about it anymore.

Yes, absolutely. Again, if you're hearing this going, I really have a hard time getting people involved in the work I'm doing with my clients or this work is really, really important to me, I'm really hesitant to hand this off, I encourage you to keep working through that, but maybe don't start with the thing that is near and dear to your heart. Maybe start with something that, like Marissa said, you've been putting on the back burner for so long or it's something you have no idea how to do.

Like for me, that might be SEO on my website. Like I have no desire or real knowledge to go back through my website, make sure we have all these meta descriptions and all these things, key wording behind the scenes. Like I'm not realistically going to do that. That'd be a really easy thing for me to hand off to somebody else.

For sure, for sure.

Yeah, yeah. Other action steps that you can think of, Marissa, and I certainly have a few more here as well to help people just move forward with their delegation journey and get unstuck from where they're at right now.

Yeah, would say communication is a big one. I know we talked about clear expectations, which kind of goes hand in hand. But I think communicating early and often, especially when you're just kicking off your relationship with a VA, is really important. I know that with your team, we always encourage virtual assistants to have a recurring call on the calendar with clients so that there's just always an upcoming opportunity to connect with them.

And I think it's important from the business owner's side to not wait for problems to arise before addressing them. So let's just.

Love this.

Yeah, like I'm almost thinking of like back to that graphic design example. Like if there's something that you know that you like or don't like, communicate it. I don't think that there's ever a time when you like shouldn't communicate something to a VA. It could even be like a word you don't like using in your marketing or a date you don't like being booked for calls. I think that the more information you can provide the VA upfront, especially when you're first starting to work together, the better.

And I think that it's always good to check in regularly, have these consistent meetings without overstepping the boundary of micro managing. I think it's important to give the virtual assistant space to execute tasks and that they'll reach out when they need support.

Absolutely. Yes, the communication piece is something that we actually have written in our contracts just to give people a glimpse behind the scenes. Number one, we basically require them to talk with us at least once a month. Now, this is at a point where the client and team are working very seamlessly together. This is like advanced level. Should you decide that

Good night.

The work that you're doing is very routine and ongoing. There aren't a lot of miscellaneous tasks or projects popping up and you want to connect once a month just to check in. That's the bare minimum that I request from our clients when they work with our team. Now, in the beginning, I highly recommend at least once a week, depending on the type of business that you have and your work style, maybe even more frequently than that, depending. Like sometimes a quick 10 or 15 minute

check and call in the morning. Here's what I worked on yesterday and here are some of the things I need support on based on the meetings that I had. Maybe there's some follow-up tasks. Maybe I need to send that person a thank you note for that introduction or just different things to hand off or looking at the week ahead is something that I encourage clients to do with their VA's as well. Take a look or do you have a presentation coming up in the next few weeks? That helps to give the VA

an opportunity to kind of anticipate your needs as well or make suggestions more importantly on how they might be able to help you.

Definitely, yeah, I feel like anytime, I don't wanna say that relationships get off to a rocky start, but anytime it feels like there's a little bit of disconnect, we often find that it's a lack of communication. definitely, yeah, communicating often is the key to success with your VA.

Yes. Yep. So prioritize your working relationship with your VA, especially in the beginning. That's going to be crucial because you want them to understand how you work and how you communicate and also just all the backend details about your business so that they're able to tailor their support to your needs. then micromanaging is definitely, it's interesting. Marissa, in your opinion and what you've seen, we talk about

Yeah.

know, SOPs and setting expectations and ongoing communication. When do you think that starts to creep into micromanaging or like what, how are you seeing this, especially in more of a virtual or a remote working relationship?

Yeah, you know, it's funny because I feel like I actually felt more micromanaging, like working in like corporate versus working as a virtual assistant. And I think it's because when you do, you know, these action steps that we've talked about in our chat today, you're setting the relationship up for success and the client doesn't feel the need to micromanage because you're building that trust from the start. But I think like,

in the in a normal world like hovering and you know wanting to know exactly what you did today and exactly what steps instead of almost like a higher level overview of what's being done. I feel like there can be a little bit of like micromanagement creep in that sense. And then what happens and the reason you know I stress not micromanaging is I feel that the VA almost doesn't feel the space to do what they do best and

I feel like that's when you're almost like getting off to a rocky start and they do.

We start second guessing everything because it becomes a game of how would this person do it, not how do I think it needs to be done. And again, there are standards there. Don't get me wrong. I hope that I'm articulating the difference, but I have seen this where it becomes somebody is constantly second guessing what they're doing.

Exactly.

Yes, absolutely. Yeah, it's almost like the lack of micromanagement gives the VA the freedom and the ability to do what they know is best for the client and to work within the parameters that they've been given. And I feel like those are often the relationships that work most seamlessly together, right? It's when there's like a mutual trust both ways.

Right, exactly. And the thing to keep in mind too is that nothing, you ultimately will get the final review and approval on work that's being done. So I love giving people the freedom and flexibility to approach the work in the best way that they believe based on your needs and their expertise and what needs to be done. And then let them present that work to you, give them constructive...

All right. Yes.

feedback when needed. And then, you know, maybe it gets to a point where even if they get a project 95 % done for you and you make a few little tweaks at the end and then bring it across the finish line, that's still so much better than you spending hours and hours and hours doing that project from scratch yourself.

Yes.

That's right. Yeah, I like what you said. I think it's important not to confuse micromanagement with, you know, providing feedback, especially as a VA myself. I do believe that feedback is gold and I always tell people like as much feedback as you can provide the better. So I'm glad I'm glad you said that.

Absolutely, absolutely. Well, Marissa, it was so great to have this conversation and I hope that all of you listening have found it helpful. Like I said, Marissa and I, between the two of us, we've probably helped well over 100 clients over the years and worked with many, many team members. And so I was really excited to bring this conversation today. It's almost like a confessions of a VA behind the scenes kind of thing. Like here's some of the things that we see clients struggling with.

And here's what the most successful clients are doing and how can we learn from all of this. So I really appreciate you coming on today.

Yes, thank you so much for having me.

Absolutely. And next week we will be back with more tips and tools for strategies for growing and scaling your business beyond you. So thank you for listening today and we will be back with more next week. Have a wonderful day everyone.