Free guide
Why your VA keeps going silent.
Most silence isn't a bad hire. It's a gap in expectations. Use these five questions to find yours, then have one conversation to reset.
Step 1
Five questions. Pick the one that hits home.
- Does your VA know what a timely response looks like to you, in specific terms?
- Have you shown her what proactive looks like, or only asked for it?
- Do you have a shared system where task status is visible without asking?
- Could your last piece of feedback have landed as disappointment, not direction?
- Do you know her workstyle? Does she know yours?
The one that made you wince is your first conversation.
Step 2
One conversation. Three things to cover.
Response time
Tell her exactly what you need. Not "timely responses." Give her a number she can hit.
"If I message you during your working hours, I need to hear back within two hours, even if it's just: I saw this, and I'll follow up by 3pm."
Initiative
Define proactive out loud. She can't meet an expectation that only lives in your head.
"When you finish a task and have time, here are the things I'd love you to take on without asking."
When she's stuck
Give her explicit permission to tell you. Silence often means she's afraid to say she's stuck.
"If you hit a wall, tell me. Send what you have and where you got stuck, and we'll figure it out together. That's not failure. That's how we work."
Step 3
Write it down so it sticks
Put your answers in the We Say This, Not That message guide. It's a free Google Sheet you fill in with your VA, so she knows what to say, what to ask first, and when to bring you in.
Still not sure where the gap is?
Bring your situation to a free 15-minute call, and we'll find the gap together.
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