Trust is vital when using a Virtual Assistant. It’s one of the elements you need to build a great working relationship with them. The more transparent your Virtual Assistant is with where their time is being spent, the more likely you are to trust them. So it’s in both your interests that your Virtual Assistant tracks their time.
Why does a Virtual Assistant track their time?
If they’re working with multiple clients, a Virtual Assistant needs to get efficient with their time. They need to be able to not only know how much time to block aside for each client but also track where that time is being spent. They don’t want to be going over on time, as it negatively impacts their time management and their client’s wallets too!
Time tracking is also transparent. Clients can see from the tracking reports how a Virtual Assistant is allocating their billable hours. It’s also a great way to know the length of time tasks take. Often tasks will take a Virtual Assistant a lot less time than they’d take you to complete. This is partly due to their ability to focus, but also due to their knowledge and skill around the task too.
How do they track their time?
There are several different ways of tracking time, from the basic through to technical. This includes project management tools, basic tracking apps, gadgets and good old fashioned pen and paper.
What’s important is that your Virtual Assistant tracks their time and give you a breakdown of time spent. Here are a few ideas of the types of time tracking they may use.
Toggl
Toggl is simple and easy to use. Your Virtual Assistant will clock in and out whenever they’re working on your tasks. You then get an exported report that shows where the time was spent. It is available as a web or mobile app, as well as a browser extension. It syncs across different devices too, so it’s easy for your Virtual Assistant to track time spent, regardless of where they’re working from.
Timeular Tracker
The Timeular Tracker is a top tech tool. It’s a polygon with wireless Bluetooth connectivity connecting it to the software on your computer. Each face is assigned to a specific project, so your Virtual Assistant just has to flip it to the relevant face to start and stop the timer.
Simple Excel spreadsheet
And let’s not forget the humble spreadsheet! Because your Virtual Assistant doesn’t need to use fancy timer applications or gadgets to track time. What’s important is that they’re tracking where their time is being spent. Many financial software platforms allow you to manually input hours worked, so you’ll still get a rundown of the time spent on your projects and tasks. Your Virtual Assistant simply tracks their time on the spreadsheet before transferring the data over to their invoicing platform.
There are so many different ways to track their time, but ultimately, it doesn’t matter how they do it. What matters most is they’re transparent with where their time is going, and you receive a breakdown of that time. That way, you can ensure you’re getting the best out of your Virtual Assistants time, can see where you may need to invest more time and money, automate your business more, and start to build on the levels of trust and transparency you have with your Virtual Assistant.
If you have any questions about working with a Virtual Assistant, or would like to explore how I can help support you and your business, do get in touch. You’ll find my contact information here.
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