I was reminded on a call this week about the importance of having the *right* support in your business – and so I wanted to share with you one of my favorite checklists from the THRIVE Hiring System.

• If you are HIRING (aka – you are the boss) – use this list to determine if the people on your team are truly doing a good job for you (or not.)
• If you are BEING HIRED (VA, OBM or otherwise) – consider this list from the perspective of how you can serve your clients in the best way possible so that they simply can’t imagine doing business without you!

Check the ones that apply, and if need be, look to make improvements that will truly create a strong working relationship. (I’m of the opinion that most stuff is fixable, with the right amount of communication and intention.)

• They over communicate – never leaving you to wonder if they received your email/request.
• They tell you if they can’t meet a deadline and work to find a new deadline that will fit both sides.
• They under promise and over deliver.
• Things are getting done and with very little time and energy from you.
• You feel at peace knowing you are being looked after.
• Continue to read on blog here…
• You feel a sense of pride that they are on your team.
• Your level of stress is reduced knowing that they are taking care of things.
• You feel comfortable and a new sense of excitement for your business and what you are creating.
• You find yourself easily letting go of things that were previously difficult to do so.
• You don’t need to delegate … things are looked after before you even think of them.
• Commitments are looked after, stuff is organized and flowing.
• They ‘take inventory’ of your needs without you even realizing it.
• They essentially create their own job description with little input from you (they just know what needs to happen next).
• They ask you questions that demonstrate they know you, your business model and understand your goals and priorities.
• You start to work on projects you thought you’d never have time to do.
• You are spending more time “off” – rather than sitting at your computer working all the time.
• You look forward to telling them about your new ideas to get their thoughts and feedback.
• Every time you find yourself having to make a decision, you know you have someone to bounce things off of.
• You start to realize you have very little to do with the day-to-day functions of your business – instead you’re working ON your business.
• You feel like you can take a vacation again and your business will be just fine in your absence.
• You look forward to learning new strategies and implementing them in your business … you now have someone else to do it for you!
• You start to feel very comfortable with investing in additional areas to build your business.
• Your profits increase (over time) and business ‘is good’.

This simply makes me so sad.

We work so hard to build our list of leads and get new clients – which is of course important – but we don’t focus enough on what happens once we connect with these people. The stuff that goes on “behind the scenes” in the business.

This is what I call the Leaky Bucket Syndrome – when we focus so much on getting more “into the bucket” but neglect to make sure that that bucket itself is whole.

You can get all the clients in the world, but if your systems aren’t set up properly to engage and serve those clients, they will end up leaking right on out over time. A highly frustrating, painful and ultimately avoidable scenario.

It all comes down to systems… I just heard some eyeballs roll. Yes I know, the word “system” may make your eyes glaze over. Systems are so boring right? I disagree, not when you understand what a system actually is.

You can essentially break down a system into 3 parts:

• The process – documented steps to accomplish X
• The technology – what tools can be used to automate parts (or all) of the process?
• The people – who does what can’t be done by technology?

In other words:

Systems allow you to create a business that functions smoothly, effectively and freely – so that you (and your team) don’t have to spend all of your time putting out fires and trying to keep up.

Here are some examples of what happens to you and your team when you are suffering from Leaky Bucket Syndrome – perhaps you can relate?

• You have those middle of the night moments, waking up in a cold sweat thinking “omg, did X get done? yikes! I don’t think it did…”
• A client emails your team saying “hey, I just bought X but didn’t recieve it… what’s up with that? I think I might want a refund…“
• You realize that a team member didn’t do something that you emailed them about a few days ago - and now YOU have to scramble to get it done on time.
• There is simply so much work to be done – little things like booking clients for coaching calls – that the important stuff falls to the bottom of the list.
• You feel like you don’t know what everyone on your team is working on, and wonder if stuff is getting done at all?
• You have a certain way that you want things to be done – but it seems like everytime someone else works on it that they do it wrong.
• There are things that you do on a regular basis, but it feels like every time they come up again you have to reinvent the wheel and figure it out from scratch.
• So many to-dos keep coming up at the last minute in projects, and your team is starting to get seriously frustrated with a seemingly constant flow of “urgent, need this now!” requests.

These are all examples of holes in your bucket – and they are truly draining. Mentally, emotionally and financially.

The thing is you guys – ALL of these things can be solved with the right systems in place. And let me say up front, this isn’t about fixing people – 9 times out of 10 something can be fixed by tweaking the system vs. blaming a person.

So what to do about Leaky Bucket Syndrome? Never fear, in Part 2 of this article series I’m going to give you some concrete solutions you can implement to start plugging up those holes.

I remember about 2 years ago now when I decided that I was ready for the next level in my business. Up until that point I had pretty much been a DIYer – I literally did everything there was to do in my business (and quite honestly enjoyed it – I’m a tech geek and I love doing stuff.

Then my coach said to me “Tina, if you want to walk your talk then it’s time you hired your own team…. get help for yourself”

That was literally a bop over the head for me (or a ”duh” moment quite honestly.) And yet I knew he had hit the nail on the head. Not only was it impossible to do everything I wanted to be doing moving forward, it simply wasn’t the best use of my time to be updating websites and sending broadcasts and such.

And so I started proactively building my team… and i’m at the point now where I simply couldn’t imagine doing it without them (nor would I want to quite honestly.) These guys rock, and so I wanted to brag on them a bit here today.

Tiffany Johnson – she is officially my Online Business Manager which means she takes care of “all the day to day nutty stuff that goes on around here.” And she’s darn good at it. Not only does she make sure stuff gets done but she gives me a slap on the wrist from time to time, ie: “No Tina, we can’t launch 8 things at once”…. hehe.  Tiffany also LOVES being an OBM and loves supporting the OBM industry at large, which means the world to me and to the folks in our programs as well. Together we are our own grand experiment of what it means to grow a biz and support each other in our roles/responsibilities. We have lots of fun together and actually look alot alike too.

Ana Hillis – our VA “behind the scenes” extraordinaire. Ana works directly with Tiffany and helps to get stuff done. She takes care of alot of the things that keep our engine running for various programs, making sure stuff gets sent out on time, chasing folks down for info, etc. Plus she has a knack for product creation (one of her specialties) – so if you need someone to help create various products and such Ana is your gal. Note that I’ve never actually talked to Ana – believe it or not – she has only ever worked directly with Tiffany (one of the benefits to having an OBM!) and yet I feel totally connected and supported by Ana. She rocks.

Marki Talley - web techy gal and ezine producer. I’ve actually known Marki for many long years now, since we met working together at CoachVille circa 2002. Marki has been around these halls for many years now, once upon a time as my “helping out with a bit of everything” gal and has since shifted her focus to more techie/wordpress work. However I wouldn’t let her go away totally, so she agreed to stay on to help produce/send out my ezine… phew! I have yet to throw a techie project at her that she couldn’t figure out, love that.

Tanya Watson – video recording & production. She records, edits and produces all the video recordings for our various trainings and programs (including our week long OBM Certification program.) Once upon a time I used to record my own videos, now i’ve “slapped my own wrist” and Tanya is the one to do it all from A to Z. End result? We get complete recordings for all our stuff loaded up and ready to roll.

So how about you? Who are the awesome folks that make your engine run? Do tell.

It’s important to accept that working relationships will end – even if we don’t want them to. If you are the business owner there will be members of your team that come and go. If you are the OBM, VA or other type of support professional you will have clients that come and go for various reasons.

In this video I discuss when (and why) a good working relationship may need to come to an end:

I heard the same complaint a couple of times from business owners last month re: their virtual team members… and you know me, when I sense a pattern like this I need to dig in and find out what’s going on.

What they shared with me was:

“Things started out great with [NAME], but over time things have been slowly falling  apart – I’m not getting what I need anymore and I’m not sure what’s going on.”

When I hear something like this I can’t help but wonder what is going on to cause this? And – more importantly – how can we fix it? (As per my problem solving nature.)

In my experience, it’s important first to understand the *why* before trying to fix it – to really get to the root of what is going on. This isn’t about playing a blame game at all, it’s about understanding the bigger picture of what is going on for both the business owner and the virtual team member.

If you are feeling like things have been “going down hill” here are a few possible reasons (and suggested ways to fix things):

• Growth in Your Business – As your business grows, the workload of your team grows as well. I think sometimes we forget this, and keep expecting our team members to be able to keep up the pace regardless. If there has been a lot of growth in your business, it may be time to get some additional help in place and expand your team.
• Growth in Their Business – Many virtual support professionals have multiple clients and it can be hard to “juggle” everything. Every virtual support professional goes through something I call the bursting point – where things are growing, they are getting lots of work and are super busy… to the point where it almost becomes unmanageable. Even with the best of intentions, they start to drop the ball, causing frustration for you (and them!). If you suspect this is the case, have a good talk with your team member and ask them what they would like to do to fix the situation. If their business growth is the issue, they need to be able to come up with a solution. (And if they can’t it might be time to part ways.)
• Boredom – If someone has been working with you awhile they may simply be getting bored. We all crave challenges and growth. I remember back in my corporate recruiting days when we would interview people and ask them “why do you want to leave your job?” You would think money would be the top reason, but it was actually that they were bored and needed something more challenging. If your team members are getting bored, talk to them about taking on new challenges in your biz, and bring on someone else to take the “boring” stuff off their plates.
• Anger – In my experience most virtual support professionals will bend over backwards to help their clients – it’s part of what makes them great at what they do! This also means that many virtual support professionals aren’t good at setting boundaries and saying no, even when they want to. And so they may be holding some “hidden grudges” for things that we’ve been asking them to do, last minute projects, etc… and we may not even know that there is an issue. Over time this kind of resentment can start to leak out and may affect the quality of work. It’s not a spiteful thing per se, it’s just that they may be feeling tired of the way things are going and powerless to change it. Having a conversation to clear the air can be helpful here, but depending on how deep the issue runs it may not always be enough to fix things.
• Personal Stuff – Sometimes it has nothing to do with work at all. There could be personal challenges/issues that are going on in someone’s life that can be affecting their work. There’s usually not much we can do to fix these situations, but an honest conversation can really bring the truth out so that it can be dealt with.

Regardless of the issue, the solution is quite simple – have a conversation. Ask your team member/s what they feel is the problem. See what they would like to do to fix it… and if it ultimately can’t be fixed (as per my 3 strikes rule), then it may be time to part ways.

Received this question from Wayne Lindholm just yesterday:

I’ve recently led a Not-for-Profit from physical office space in on state to virtual, on-line space. My biggest question revolves around keeping a ‘high touch’ to relationships in a virtual model?

In my experience the key to high-touch in a virtual world is simply to keep the lines of communication open. Have regular calls with the team (at least once a week) – could even use something like skype or oovoo to do video calls where the team can see each other. Keep the flow of email going so people see “conversation” happening in their inbox. Maybe even connect with each other via instant message throughout the day (if that’s not too distracting for the team.)

I’ve worked virtually for over 10 years now and people have always asked me “don’t you get lonely being at home by yourself?” The answer is no, I’ve never felt lonely because I’m always in communication with the people that I work with, even if it’s just for fun. Not seeing people doesn’t mean you have to lose the connection.

I’m curious, what makes you feel connected to your virtual colleagues/clients?

Tiffany and I on a San Fran trolley

As many of you know Tiffany Johnson is my wonderful Online Business Manager and has been working with me  in this role since January – the OBM’s OBM as it were (hehe).

We’ve had a really busy year with launching the THRIVE Hiring System, doing 2 Online Business Manager Trainings, the OBM Mentorship and such… and along the way a few things have been falling through the cracks. Mainly because we have been so busy (as many of you know, launch time can be a gong show!) and also because I haven’t clearly shared with Tiffany what is most important to me in the work we do together. That last part is the key really… if I don’t share this, how can she support me and the biz in the best way possible?

Now that we have a “breather moment” in the business we are revisiting some of these things and I made a list of what I really need from Tiffany to support both me and the business in the best way possible. I thought I’d share this list with you to give you a sneak peek into what goes on in my brain… and I know you guys love seeing the real-deal stuff right?

These are the “must haves” for me – things that really frustrate me when they fall through the cracks. It’s worth noting that not everything is a must-have, that will be different for each business owner based on who we are and what our business offers. Stuff will fall through the cracks from time to time – nothing is perfect! – but you also need to be aware of your “must-haves” in order to make sure you get the support you need. (Especially if you are a recovering control freak like me, hehe

And it’s also worth nothing that Tiffany and I have already chatted re: this and she came to the conversation with some new systems to prevent any more ball-droppage. Which is why she rocks (and no, you can’t have her .

What is most important to me is:

• Sending out reminders for calls – I’m a really big believer in overcommunicating with our clients and want to make sure we are in touch with them on a regular basis re: upcoming calls, resources, recordings and such. I know that I love to get these kinds of reminders when I’m participating in something, and so I like to do the same for our clients as well (vs. assuming that they will remember about a call… many times they don’t). It’s really important to me that we send a reminder the day before a call (and again the day of in some cases) and that we also send a follow-up email after the call with a link to the recordings, etc.
• Testing to make sure things work – Whenever we make an update to our websites, I want to make sure that the process actually works. For example, setting up a Teleclass page, actually going through the process of signing up ourselves to make sure that the thank-you page is correct, we get the right “welcome” email and that the person ends up on the right list in our system.
• Following steps as outlined in the SOP - We have a really great SOP guide set up with details on the “how to’s” for many of the things in the business (SOOOO important for any biz to have). It’s really important to me that the steps are followed as outlined and the proper templates are used… therwise steps get missed and things may fall apart.
• Reviewing for “old” or outdated information – If updating a website doing a quick review to check on outdated information – past class dates, references to old pricing or promotions and just generally things that don’t make sense anymore. I love having an extra eye on that stuff as I think it looks “ick” when pages are full of outdated info (what I call a ghost town webpage).
• Keeping an eye on the money – Making sure that payments are going through, and if/where there are any declines, they are being followed up on. (We’ve always been really good about this stuff, but I’m surprised how many business owners actually let this slip through the cracks… should be on everyone’s list, imo, and is something that an OBM can help with.)

As I read this list I also couldn’t help but wonder… am I being too picky here? I know I can be a control freak and have to be aware of that, but then I also know there is a difference between being picky/controlling and having high standards for your business. It’s really the latter here that is at play and I invite you to do the same for your business. Let folks know what you really want and need from them to support you… it’s the little things that really do count over time.

If you are hiring an OBM, VA or other team member, let me ask you – what is the most important stuff they can do to support you and your business?

If you are the OBM, VA or otherwise – is there anything else you could be doing to perhaps take things up a notch, and truly make yourself indispensible to your client?

I’m tickled pink to introduce you to the amazing gals in my Online Business Manager Mentorship program. Each of these ladies has invested a significant amount of time, energy and heart in becoming an Online Business Manager and serving their clients in the best way possible.

I’ve done a short video interview with everyone in order for you to see a “smiling face” and get to know them a bit better. And of course for you to be able to connect with your ideal OBM should you be looking to hire someone to provide this high-level of support for you and your business.

>> Click here to meet them 

“The 5 Ws of Hiring or Becoming an Online Business Manager”

Join me for a free call on Tuesday, September 21st
>> Click here to register