Love the Change: Why Virtual Assistants and Clients Should Embrace Growth & Open Conversations
As professionals, we all know that change is inevitable in regards to business whether your company is restructuring or trying out new tools or strategies. This can also apply to how your relationships evolve within your organization. As a business owner, if you are hiring a new virtual assistant or creating a new role, these are changes your company is about to endure. However, they do not have to be uncomfortable!
Much like personal relationships, these changes require planning, collaboration, and communication. What can you do as a business owner to make these transitions more manageable, not only for your employees, partners, and your virtual assistant but also for your own peace of mind?
The answer is to embrace growth, learn to love the change, and practice letting go.
On the other side of this equation, virtual assistants have to constantly evolve and adapt according to clients’ needs, so they maintain a sort of resilience when it comes to changes in operating procedures. While it is a default for virtual assistants, it can still be challenging!
Let’s dive into some insights that can help business owners and virtual assistants strengthen the working relationship and embrace change.
Remember that Change is a Sign of Growth
When business owners have to create new roles, delegate some of their workload, or re-think a marketing strategy, these changes can create frustration at first. It may not feel like you’re growing, and in fact, it may feel like you’re taking several steps back.
Let’s say you’ve offboarded your last marketing expert, so you’re back to the drawing board on content ideas, what social media platforms to optimize, or how many newsletter audiences to utilize.
How can you flip the script? Think of these pain points as signs of needed growth. What wasn’t working with your last marketing expert was for a good reason. You still have the vision, but now you need the right partner to implement your ideas.
What you’ll gain at the end of the transition is a sense of resilience in your business. You’ll see that you can tackle anything that comes your way, and you may even begin to love the change.
On the VA side, these changes are par for the course as they already manage several clients in one work week, and therefore, they adapt to different business mindsets throughout any given day. It is the virtual assistant’s job to understand that change is good.
However, VAs have their own challenges, such as when a client decides to change their workflow. This may conflict with the virtual assistant’s schedule. With enough planning ahead and communication beforehand, this type of change can be overcome. That way the client and VA can continue their working relationship with no interruptions.
Open Communication is the Key to a Strong Partnership
Just like in personal relationships, making changes without open communication can cause tension. When planning to pivot, make sure you are communicating every step you’re going to take. This can prevent your client-VA relationship from breaking down or causing both parties to part ways.
How to practice open communication during a transitional time?
- Do regular check-ins with your VA so you can prevent misunderstandings and assumptions. Set up a weekly meeting so you can properly align expectations for the next week, month, or quarter.
- Create action items for yourself and your VA. Then, go over any unchecked items in each weekly meeting.
- Outline the goals for the long term. What roles will you be onboarding? Do you need to change your website domain or website builder? Are you doing an email domain migration? Look at the long-term projects you need to get done, and communicate the game plan with your VA.
The virtual assistant can help with this transition by practicing active listening, giving constructive feedback, and communicating with transparency. Additionally, if the VA is also going through changes on their end, it is their responsibility to make sure the client knows ahead of time so meetings can be adjusted and expectations can be reset.
Evolution is the Natural Progression of Success
When changes are needed for both the client and the virtual assistant, they can be seen as alerts or signals for where to go next. If you resist these transitions, you can miss out on the lessons and the next steps to take.
For example, if you do need to part ways with your virtual assistant, but instead you choose to sweat it out for the next six months, the tensions could be greater by that point. If you do not evolve for yourself and your business, you may be ignoring the natural progression of success. Alternatively, if you are hesitant to bring on a virtual assistant or another employee, you may be missing out on opportunities to focus on higher-level goals and a chance to embrace growth.
For the virtual assistant, if you are resisting the changes that your client needs to make, this is an opportunity to reflect on your own roadblocks. Do you have the capacity to continue with this client? Are they making changes that align with your workflow? As a business scales up or expands, so does the virtual assistant’s role within the company.
Love the Change
Learning to “love the change” is not easy for any professional relationship. It requires a mindset shift, embracing growth, and open communication in order to ease the transition. Hopefully, these insights can help you strengthen your partnership in the long term.
If your client-VA relationship can survive these hurdles, then consider it a win! You’ve evolved into the next era, built resilience as a business owner, and learned the art of letting go.
Learn more about how you could benefit from working with a VA by visiting our “How It Works” page!
In January 2019, Lauren began working with Trusty Oak as a virtual assistant. She loves helping her clients build their social media brands, and she also assists with project management, email marketing, and blogging. Lauren also worked as the Trusty Oak Social Media Manager from March 2020 to March 2021.
In her spare time, Lauren writes her own music, plays her flute for her partner’s studio sessions as well as for other independent musicians and producers, and she performs at venues in New York City.