Are you doing work you know you should hand off? Do you want to make progress in your manufacturing business but everyday tasks are crowding your schedule? Connecting with virtual teams might be the answer. When you set out to find and engage with virtual talent, there are some things to take into consideration.
First, consider your mindset. You have to be ready for someone else to do your business tasks for you successfully. In other words, you have to not only know what it is you want to hand off, but you must be willing to let go of it too.
Second, consider the types of tasks you are ready to outsource. One suggestion Chris Ducker of the book Virtual Freedom suggests is to create three lists of work: work you don't like doing, work you don't know how to do, and work that you know how to do but you really shouldn't be doing.
Here are some examples of tasks:
Answering Customer Service Emails / Tickets / Chat Support
Calendar Management
Appointment Scheduling
Travel Arrangement and Planning
Creating / Managing Spreadsheets
Preparing Powerpoint / Keynote Presentations
Voicemail Checking
Sending Client Invoices
Basic Bookkeeping (MYOB, XERO & Quickbooks)
Project Management & Training Tasks
Web marketing - lots of elements to that
Engineering work
Scheduling support
Virtual team members can be a major resource for your manufacturing business. I encourage you to spend some time considering your needs and then seeking out opportunities to connect with and hire a virtual workforce. For more on finding and engaging with virtual talent, head over to Episode 35 of Leading the Factory Forward for additional insight and strategies.
