The founder of cloud software Way We Do, Jacqui Jones, says it’s paramount that you don’t get taken off course by virtual staff.
She recently set a job on a fixed fee and posted it to Odesk, hiring a freelancer from New Zealand for the task. However, he argued that a fixed fee was no good in case she didn’t approve the final output and decided not to pay him. He also wanted to use a different tool to the one stated in the brief.
“We agreed for him to work on an hourly basis, and for him to use the tool that he was experienced with. After 11 hours of work, the output wasn’t usable and we paid over $US330. Needless to say, we ended the project.
“In hindsight, we should have stuck with the project fee and offered to pay a deposit to demonstrate that both parties were sharing the risk.”
She also regrets not following her own procedures for hiring off-shore staff.
“I didn’t spend enough time with him upfront educating him about the project and standards required. And I didn’t get him to work on one small part of the project first to test his ability before proceeding.”
After many trials and tribulations, Rob Whyte has good virtual staff. It’s imperative to motivate them and understand how different personality traits are crucial to the right selection of candidates, the director of The Mortgage Gallery says.
“Our staff is motivated by acceptance and respect within our business, and to know their input is valued and welcomed, like most staff.
“Through support and training, they grow pride in the job as they deem themselves a fellow staff member of an overseas business and proudly promote and support through their own networks,” he says.
Like any staff member, you need to make sure you extend some trust to virtual workers.
Toney Fitzgerald has been using a virtual assistant since 1998.
“You’ve got to be gracious in business. You need to extend some trust toward them, or there’s no way it’s going to work out.
“That means that once you’ve got a good working relationship established, let them get on and do the job for you. Don’t constantly hassle them about minor things.”
