7 CORE SYSTEMS

Hi, my name is Michelle and I've been a VA and location independent since 2005. I have a team of global virtual assistants.

IN THIS CLASS

• Coordinating Projects & Clients.
• Providing Support.
• Using Social Media.
• Secure Password Sharing.
• Collaborating With Files.
• Providing Instructions and Tutorials.
• Discussions and Messages.

Systems need to be given careful consideration - some could save you considerable amounts of money, others can considerably increase your business expenses.

When choosing systems OVERALL COST comes first, FEE comes second, e.g. a free system might sound appealing initially, but it could end up costing you $100 a month.

And sometimes choosing a system at $47 a month, which has more automation can end up costing just that - $47, paying a higher fee can sometimes be a better investment.

But it's not uncommon for the free and low cost solutions to beat the higher priced systems, depending on your needs - so it's important to know your needs and then review and trial your options.

In this class I'm going to run through the core systems specifically for working in a team and how to get started in each one, to give you the building blocks of how we use them, for you to then build on.

ACTIVE COLLAB

A project management space will act as a dynamic place to manage tasks, delegate to your team and collaborate with clients.

You'll need a task area, time tracking, discussions and notes/pages - plus permissions for hiding the tasks area from clients.

Ideally look for a system with fair prices on projects and users (clients and team members) as this can easily bump up pricing.

GETTING STARTED

• Create instructions for adding tasks.
• Instructions for processing tasks.
• Guidelines for liaising with clients.
• Instructions for logging time.

Once you've got a full team in place, to free up your time appoint someone on the team to oversee each project - just checking in, being available for questions and doing quality control.

ZENDESK

Having a support site will enable you to make excellent use of your team, as it's one of the easiest things to outsource.

Choose a support desk where you can set up different departments for different emails and apply permissions for users.

It helps to manage and process your own support site for a week or so when you first start using one - this will help you to understand how it can be best utilised.

GETTING STARTED

• Create templates for generic support.
• Create templates for technical support.
• Create templates for forwarding support.

Add generic questions to your public FAQs e.g. Can I pay you by credit card? How can I send large files?

If they require customisation, e.g. with passwords or personalised data, use Macros.

Create workflows for technical support questions, to help the team resolve them.

Create a template for everything that needs to be referred, for example, "Thanks so much for your question, I've passed this onto [name] for further assistance. In the meantime thanks so much for your patience."

SPROUT SOCIAL

It can be seamless having your team take care of social media when you have the right system and detailed instructions in place.

You're ideally looking for a system that handles multiple accounts, at least Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, something that can curate content (Feedly?) and allows you to manage public and private messages.

GETTING STARTED

• Create a profile and add accounts.
• Use the system yourself for a week or so.
• Create instructions for primary tasks (video is best).

GETTING STARTED

• Retweeting and sharing.
• Content curation and scheduling.
• Scheduling unique posts.
• Facebook, Google Plus and LinkedIn.
• Replies, mentions and direct messages.
• Exporting reports.

Train one team member to use the system and then from there you'll be able to have them train others.

PASSPACK

For peace of mind - for yourself and clients, a secure password sharing system is a great investment for your team and clients, plus it has many other benefits as well.

It will keep your passwords organised, and categorised, plus it adds value to your service through providing an added 'perk' that the client doesn't have to worry about.

GETTING STARTED

• Add your passwords.
• Create instructions for your team.
• Share the passwords individually, or as a group.

As a general rule I'll add each password in as client initials and then system e.g. Joe Bloggs Twitter login would be JB / Twitter - then share with the appropriate individuals or groups.

GOOGLE DRIVE

Sharing files online is the only way to ensure that you and your team are working from the exact same version of the files.

Save money on 'storage size based' project management systems by adding links in project tasks and discussions, rather than uploading the files there.

You can also set permissions, for example let's consider an article, you may want to give the writer and client editing capabilities, but the person posting can only view.

GETTING STARTED

• Create a shared team folder.
• Share with your team.
• Add subfolders (clients).

When you add anything to the shared folder you'll automatically be sharing everything inside with the whole team, you can then add individual clients to their own folders or documents.

INTRANET

No team is complete without a centralised area where all the internal company instructions, guidelines and other critical information can be accessed.

When we create tasks we'll often link to the instructions in the Intranet, rather than put them on the tasks themselves.

This means that updates and changes can be made in one central location, as often instructions can serve multiple purposes on different tickets.

GETTING STARTED

• Create a systems manual.
• Create a team manual.
• Create an internal processes manual.

Keep adding to your Intranet, prioritising clear and concise instructions that you can outsource to your team.

Make sure the instructions (video or written) are kept up-to-date and relevant to your business. If/when they require updating, add notes.

You can also add a calendar so your team can mark their holidays and time off or who's covering who in whatever situation.

UNISON

There are times when you or your team will want to communicate, but it won't always be appropriate to update a task or support ticket.

Sending emails will work but their are 3 issues - you'd have to copy people in, they aren't quick to send and if you want to add someone to the conversation you'd have to forward them the whole set of emails.

Using a system designed to send quick messages, and include multiple team members, organised by client or project can save bunches of time and create a far more productive working environment.

GETTING STARTED

• Make sure all your team members have been added.
• Create rooms (or individual conversations for each client).
• Add the appropriate team members to the rooms.

We also have a room for weekly meetings, where each week we create a new discussion inside the room, with the week commencing date on it - we then use that room / discussion for all quick messages to individuals or team members.

Having your team use this kind of facility also keeps you in the loop about what's happening across your business, so although you may not be tagged in every interaction, you can log in anytime and check out what people are chatting about - this gives you great insight into where things could be improved.

Tutorials, instructions and templates can all be found inside the "System Guides" area of The VA Apprentice Programme.

THANK YOU!

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