The virtual assistant industry continues to expand rapidly across developing nations, particularly in the Philippines where over 1.5 million professionals now work in the BPO and VA sectors as of 2024. Small businesses globally are capitalising on this talent pool, not just hiring individual assistants but building entire remote teams to scale their operations cost-effectively.
If you’re considering building a team of VAs rather than working with just one, you’ll find the dynamics quite different. Managing multiple virtual assistants requires specific strategies that go beyond what works for a single remote worker. Here are five practical approaches that will help you build and manage your VA team successfully.
1. Delegate Leadership from Day One
Once you have more than three virtual assistants, trying to manage everyone directly becomes inefficient. You’ll spend more time coordinating tasks than focusing on strategic work.
The solution is straightforward: identify a team lead among your VAs or hire specifically for this role. Look for someone who already demonstrates organisational skills and clear communication. Philippine VAs, in particular, often have experience working in structured teams from their BPO backgrounds, making them excellent candidates for leadership roles.
Your team lead should handle daily task assignments, check-ins, and basic troubleshooting. This frees you to focus on higher-level decisions while maintaining oversight through weekly reports and scheduled meetings with your lead.
2. Set Up Clear Communication Channels
A single VA might work fine with just email and occasional video calls. A team of five or more needs structured communication protocols.
Start with these basics:
- Use Slack or Microsoft Teams for daily communication
- Schedule weekly team meetings at a consistent time
- Create separate channels for different functions (general updates, specific projects, urgent items)
- Document decisions and important information in a shared drive
Your team lead should manage these channels day-to-day, escalating only what requires your attention. Set clear guidelines about response times – for instance, all messages should be acknowledged within 2 hours during working hours.
3. Create Self-Service Training Resources
Training one VA personally takes perhaps 10-20 hours. Training five VAs individually would consume a full work week. That’s not sustainable.
Instead, invest time upfront creating training materials that VAs can access independently:
- Record Loom videos for common processes
- Build a knowledge base using Notion or Confluence
- Document standard operating procedures (SOPs) for recurring tasks
- Set up a buddy system where experienced VAs help onboard new team members
Update these resources quarterly to keep them relevant. The initial time investment pays off quickly – what once took 10 hours of personal training can become 2 hours of self-guided learning plus a 30-minute Q&A session.
4. Build a Balanced Team with Complementary Skills
When hiring your first VA, you need someone versatile who can handle various tasks. When building a team, specialisation becomes valuable.
Map out the main functions you need covered:
- Administrative support (calendar management, email handling)
- Content creation (writing, graphic design)
- Customer service (support tickets, chat responses)
- Technical tasks (data entry, CRM management)
- Social media management
Hire VAs with primary specialisations but ensure they have secondary skills for backup coverage. For instance, your content writer might also handle basic social media posting, while your admin VA could manage simple customer inquiries.
The Philippine VA market offers strong candidates across all these areas, with many professionals having 3-5 years of experience serving international clients.
5. Implement a Project Management System
Email chains and spreadsheets work for managing one VA. They create chaos with five or more.
A proper project management platform becomes essential. Popular options that work well for VA teams include:
- Asana – excellent for task-based workflows
- Monday.com – visual boards ideal for tracking multiple projects
- ClickUp – comprehensive features at competitive pricing
- Trello – simple card system perfect for smaller teams
Most platforms cost $10-15 per user monthly as of 2024. The investment is worthwhile – you’ll save hours weekly on coordination and reduce missed deadlines significantly.
Choose one platform and stick with it. Switching systems disrupts productivity and confuses team members. Train everyone thoroughly on your chosen tool and establish clear conventions for task creation, status updates, and deadline setting.
The Simplified Approach: Working with a VA Company
Building a VA team independently means handling recruitment, contracts, payments, and management infrastructure yourself. It’s doable but time-consuming.
Working with an established virtual assistant company like Virtual Done Well streamlines the entire process. We handle sourcing, initial screening, and can provide pre-trained VAs who already work well together. All team members work from our Davao offices, ensuring reliable internet, proper equipment, and professional oversight.
This approach particularly suits businesses wanting to scale quickly without the administrative burden of managing multiple independent contractors. You get the benefits of a dedicated team while we handle the operational complexities.
Moving Forward
The shift from one VA to a full team marks a significant growth point for any business. Success depends on having the right structures in place before you scale. Start with clear leadership delegation and communication protocols. Build your training resources early. Choose team members strategically for skill balance. And invest in proper project management tools from the beginning.
Whether you build your team independently or partner with a VA company, these fundamentals remain the same. The Philippine VA market offers exceptional talent ready to help your business grow – the key is managing that talent effectively.
Ready to discuss building your own VA team? Contact Virtual Done Well to explore your options. We’re available via our offices in Australia, the United Kingdom, and the Philippines. Learn about our charity initiatives to see how we give back.
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