1.  Communicate with your Away PA. 

Your Away PA will not work in your office, so you need to make sure that your communication lines are open. The Away PA needs to be able to contact you if she has questions regarding a task or a project. Many virtual assistants, by the nature of their job, are very self-reliant but you still need to make sure that your Away PA can reach you if needed.

2. Make instructions and expectations clear.

You need to make sure you give accurate instructions and the expectations are clear. The Away PA will work to please you but you need to make sure you know what you want from your Away PA and that these are explained.  Make sure you also set clear deadlines.

3.  Make sure you know what your Away PA's skills are.

Before you even hire a virtual assistant make sure you know the different skills that the VA has. This way you know if you can rely on your Away PA to perform certain tasks for you.  If you require a special task for your business make sure that the VA you hire can be able to perform the said task.  If the task is highly-specialied, be prepared to pay more to your Away PA. You cannot tell a web designer to suddenly manage your accounting books. You cannot ask an accountant to write web content for your business. You need to know your VA’s skills and assign the appropriate tasks.