Subcontractor Agreements for Multi-VA Firms...

When it comes to your multi-virtual assistance company, you want to be sure that all of the people who are working inside of your company sign a subcontractor agreement.

This agreement should contain a non-disclosure / confidentiality clause to prohibit them from sharing details about your client’s work and the work done inside your company as a whole.  This protects your business as well as your client’s businesses and can become a selling point when talking to potential clients about working with a team.

The other part that you want to be sure it includes is a non-compete clause.  Ensuring that a new team member can not come into your company and walk away with your client list is really important.  Your client list is where your business revenue lies and needs to be protected.  It’s also a good idea to limit your team members to only seeing projects that they are involved with versus seeing the entire list at all times.

The best way to get a subcontractor agreement in place is to hire a lawyer to draft one for you.  This will ensure that you are properly protected in your state / province and will ensure that it does not contain any loopholes or false language.

To get ideas on what your subcontractor agreement should contain, here are a few sites that feature sample subcontractor agreement templates.  Again, it is advised that you get a lawyer to draft your subcontractor agreement as templates do not always hold up in court.

• http://www.biztree.com/Templates/Subcontract-Agreement.html
• http://www.docstoc.com/search/free-subcontractor-agreement-forms
• http://www.agreementforms.org/Contractor-Subcontractor-Agreement-Form.html

(As with any legal issue, please seek the counsel of your attorney.  They will be able to advise you on the best practices to take.)

Managing Virtual Meetings...

If you decide to grow your virtual practice at some point to include more than 1 person or you want to host successful meetings with your clients, you will want to take advantage of some of the technology that is around you.  This will make these meetings more efficient, less time consuming and far easier to conduct.

The first thing to think about when managing a virtual team is a project management tool. This will help you with your meetings as well as you can check in on open to-do’s, milestones / deadlines and project messages that may not have been answered yet.  The project management tool that we currently use and recommend is Basecamp.  Basecamp allows you to setup a project and add as many people as you like to it.  It keeps all of your communication and files for that project in one place.

The second thing to think about when managing a virtual team is voice communication options for meetings. Most of my virtual team meetings are done over the phone.  For group calls, I highly recommend using a bridge line service like FreeConferenceCall.com.  This way, you can all call into one line and have a group discussion while recording it for any members of the team who can not be present.

The third thing to think about when managing a virtual team is alternative communication options for the meeting itself and for afterward. For this, we highly recommend and use Skype.  Skype allows you to create group conversations that can be tagged with a topic which makes managing type chat much easier.  Skype will offer your team the instant chat that is sometimes needed for quick questions.

The final thing to think about when managing your virtual meetings is the agenda. In Basecamp, you can setup something called a Writeboard.  It’s not a bad idea to create a Writeboard for each meeting and allow that Writeboard to be edited and contributed to by the team.  This will give your meetings some structure so that when you get on the phone, everyone’s time is valued and everyone’s concerns, thoughts and questions are addressed.

If you manage or organize virtual meetings, what other tips do you have to make them successful?

Your Virtual Assistance Business Back-Up Plan...

What would happen if you got sick or had a family tragedy and were unable to work?

The thing is, it’s really, really important to make sure you put something in place and make sure it’s done well. Backup your files for your clients and store them in a centrally accessible place. Make sure you have documented the most crucial things you do should your client have to step in and do it. Also, make sure to leave phone numbers and e-mail addresses with your clients for at least one of your family members so he/she can check in on you should they not hear from you in awhile.

Those things I mentioned work well if you are by yourself but this backup plan works even better when you have a team. It’s really vital to make sure you have one team member in your business who is familiar with everything. In my own business, that person is Trina. She knows my clients inside and out, how to do the various tasks that I do for each of them, where to access certain information should I not be able to tell her, etc.

Having a backup plan isn’t just good for your business but it also provides your clients with comfort knowing that you have things under control should things go out of control in your life.

Whatever your backup plan is, make sure to communicate that with your clients so that they know where to turn should something go terribly wrong.

Things to include in that backup plan are:

• Important access information for both you and your clients
• Emergency numbers to use should something happen to you|
• Step-by-step procedures or explanatory videos that will illustrate how to do some of the things you do for your clients
• Someone for your clients to communicate with in your absence. This could be a business coach, an assistant, a family member or anyone else who can help out that client during your emergency.

So, I want you to all take a more active approach to systems and begin looking at the things you do from a larger perspective. Think of your time as your most valuable asset and do everything you can, every single day to protect it.