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It’s not because I don’t want to be disturbed, contrary to what some of our virtual assistants (VAs) may think.
Have you ever received a message that made you wonder why it was sent only to you and not to anyone else? This happens to me all the time with our VAs, consuming 80% of my time, which could have been devoted to more important tasks.
If a VA sends a message only to me and no one else, then I assume the VA thinks I’m the only person capable of answering that question, reviewing that task or addressing that issue. However, this is almost always not the case.
If you work in a team, you should learn how to work effectively as a team member.
In any form of team communication, there is always the person responsible, the person accountable, the person consulted, and the person informed. It’s called #RACI, and it’s in our Level 1 training, which every new team member undergoes.
#RACI means that you can send each message to a maximum of four people, but you don’t always need to send it to all four people. However, there is almost never a reason to send it only to me.
Being the CEO, my team should inform me about what’s going on, so I’m the “I” in #RACI. They should copy me but never message me without including other people. This means they should put my email address in the Cc field.
When they include me in the loop, they should ensure it’s something I need to know. This is because I receive thousands of messages a day. And if VAs could help trim that down by not including me in trivial matters, that would be great.
To be honest, I prefer not to be included in the loop. I should only be copied when something has gone wrong, and I have to come to the rescue. I would love to see a time when I don’t have to do that either, and this will only happen once we have quality people in place.
Who should VAs message directly? They should message the person responsible for taking action or making a decision, and always copy the person who is accountable and the one who needs to be informed.
It’s so simple, yet many VAs continue to make the same mistake. My hope is that I will never have to refer them to this post.
Dennis Yu
Dennis Yu is co-author of the #1 best-selling book on Amazon in social media, The Definitive Guide to TikTok Ads. He has spent a billion dollars on Facebook ads across his agencies and agencies he advises. Mr. Yu is the "million jobs" guy-- on a mission to create one million jobs via hands-on social media training, partnering with universities and professional organizations.You can find him quoted in major publications and on television such as CNN, the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, NPR, and LA Times. Clients have included Nike, Red Bull, the Golden State Warriors, Ashley Furniture, Quiznos-- down to local service businesses like real estate agents and dentists. He's spoken at over 750 conferences in 20 countries, having flown over 6 million miles in the last 30 years to train up young adults and business owners. He speaks for free as long as the organization believes in the job-creation mission and covers business class travel.You can find him hiking tall mountains, eating chicken wings, and taking Kaqun oxygen baths-- likely in a city near you.