Introduction

Are you running your business, or is your business running your professional (and personal) life? Let’s see how a virtual assistant can help you build systems and SOPs and transform your business. 

Many professionals or business leaders in any industry field spend most of their workday on things that divert them from their core activity. They respond to emails one by one, try to detect errors in the way tasks are being done, and explain processes over and over again to new hires. In the meantime, their strategic decisions or plans remain in the queue.

That’s where a Virtual Assistant (VA) can make a change. And no, we’re not talking about AI assistants like Siri or a ChatGPT agent. We mean a real, human person. A professional who works remotely, on a flexible or full-time basis, to perform a broad range of administrative, operational, or creative tasks (to mention just a few).

One of the most cherished contributions a VA can make is helping you build systems and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs). 

But you might wonder how a Virtual Assistant can help you build systems and SOPs. What tools do they use, and what is the impact they can have on your business?

We have the example of one of our clients, Lisa, owner of a marketing agency (we changed her name for privacy reasons). Lisa was sinking into tedious onboarding tasks for new clients until she hired a Virtual Assistant. Her VA analyzed and documented the whole process, every step of it, from the first contact to the moment of the first campaign launch. The VA found some areas of improvement and documented a step-by-step optimized process into a set of SOPs. Within two weeks, onboarding time dropped by 40%, giving Lisa time to focus on her marketing-specific responsibilities.

In this guide, we’ll see:

• Why You Need Systems and SOPs
• How a Virtual Assistant Can Help Build Systems and SOPs.
• Tools That Empower VAs to Build Effective SOPs
• Real-World Examples & Case Scenarios
• Step-by-Step Process to Collaborate with Your VA on Systems & SOP creation
• Benefits You’ll Get 
• Conclusion
• Bullet Takeaways 

Before moving forward, let’s clarify the difference between systems and SOPs:

• A system is the method or framework you use to manage a certain area of your business, like inventory management or client onboarding.
• A Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) is a document that explains in detail and step-by-step how to do a particular task. 

In plain English, SOPs are the instructions that make the systems work coherently and effectively. Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) are the documented, step-by-step instructions that keep your business running effortlessly and flawlessly even when you’re not there.

Why You Need Systems and SOPs

Systems and Standard Operating Procedures or SOPs are the “drivers” that keep your business moving forward without losing direction and drifting away from your objectives. Both are equally necessary if you’re a solopreneur or managing a growing team. 

Creating and following clearly standardized processes is how you and your staff can work with consistency, efficiency, and meet the highest standards.  

If you don’t have structured business systems and clear SOPs, you risk:

• Miscommunication between your staff
• Slower onboarding of new employees or contractors
• Repeated mistakes that cost you time and money
  

SOP creation brings several benefits, for example:

• Workers always have handy instructions on how to perform their tasks
• Processes are easily scalable, so you can grow your business without chaos
• Training new hires takes less time, as they have it all documented in onboarding guides
• Improve quality control and compliance

According to a McKinsey Global Institute report,  workers spend nearly 20% of their week searching for internal information or reaching out to colleagues to help them with particular tasks. Yet, using searchable process documentation can cut search time by up to 35%.

How a Virtual Assistant Can Help Build Systems and SOPs

Virtual Assistants can be the architects of your business systems, helping you build the foundation of your business operations. They can detect the most repetitive and critical tasks, document them in detail, explaining how each task should be done, and monitor that the team always follows them.

So, a Virtual Assistant contributes to creating or improving systems and SOPs, which involves doing several related tasks, so they also:

• Detect repetitive tasks such as scheduling, reporting, and client intake
• Document your workflows in different formats (written and visual)
• Test the created SOPs to evaluate their clarity and accuracy 
• Update and improve SOPs as work processes evolve

It’s also quite important to clarify that Virtual Assistants also create and maintain many other types of documentation. This helps improve productivity, share knowledge, and communicate with clients, to mention just a few. Here are a few examples of such documentation:

• Knowledge base articles for your clients or internal use
• Templates for communicating with your clients 
• Internal process guides
• Compliance checklists
• Training manuals and tutorials
• Quality assurance checklists

Creating systems, SOPs, and other documentation is just an example of the Admin Work a Virtual Assistant does for you and your business growth. Discover how outsourcing admin work is a winning bet for business owners. 

Tools That Empower VAs to Build Effective SOPs

To create a useful, functional SOP, your Virtual Assistant needs to write the instructions in a clear, accessible, and easy-to-follow way. VAs can use a range of tools to help them with this task. Here is an example:

- Timedly – Our exclusive tracking tool for monitoring workflows and improving SOPs accordingly.
- Notion – A flexible workspace to store SOP libraries and team collaboration.
- Loom – A screen recording tool for visual step-by-step instructions.
- Asana / Trello / ClickUp – These project management tools are great for organizing SOP-related tasks.
- Google Workspace – It’s a large cloud-based storage space for easy access and shared docs.

Real-World Examples & Case Scenarios

Let’s look at some examples that show just how powerful systems and SOPs can be.

Marketing Agency SOP Overhaul: Lisa’s Virtual Assistant documented her entire client onboarding process in Notion, adding Loom videos for each step. This reduced onboarding time by 40%.
E-commerce Order Fulfillment: A retailer’s VA mapped out the order process, reducing errors by 25%.
Law Firm Compliance: A Virtual Assistant drafted onboarding SOPs, cutting ramp-up time by half and improving compliance audit scores.

Step-by-Step Process to Collaborate with Your Virtual Assistant on Systems & SOP Creation

To build successful SOPs, you should work in collaboration with your Virtual Assistant. 

Note that, as stated in an article published by Science Direct, an effective SOP must include the “who, why, what, where, when, and how” to perform a task. Therefore, your virtual assistant will have to perform a thorough analysis and gather precise information. 

Here’s a simple framework you can follow to get started:

1. Classify priority tasks: Focus on repetitive, high-impact processes.
2. Record the workflow: Use Loom or Zoom to capture how it’s done.
3. Draft the SOP: Your virtual assistant creates a written step-by-step guide.
4. Test & iterate: Ensure the SOP is clear and practical.
5. Store centrally: Keep SOPs in an accessible location on the cloud.
6. Review regularly: Update SOPs quarterly or when processes change.

Benefits You’ll Get 

At this point, you have a clear idea of how a Virtual Assistant can help you build systems and SOPs. But of course, you’ll probably want to have a deeper insight into how systems and SOP creation will benefit you.

When, after having captured the processes, your virtual assistant builds systems and Standard Operating Procedures, you’ll get measurable gains, such as:

• Fewer errors and more consistency: SOPs improve consistency through clear and standardized instructions. 
• Reduced employee turnover: Messy processes frustrate employees. 60% of them reported that bad documentation deters productivity. Businesses with good SOPs report 25% lower turnover rates. 
• Faster onboarding and training: SOPs simplify employee onboarding and noticeably cut training time.
• Less downtime and scalable operations: With SOPs, your personnel will save time from guesswork and from reaching out to colleagues for assistance. They will work more independently. Additionally, according to Plant Engineering’s Facility Maintenance Report, 12% of unexpected downtime is caused by operators’ mistakes. 
• Clear instructions diminish the possibility of human errors that can result in equipment downtime, safety threats, and subpar results. 
• Improved quality assurance: With well-written SOPs, workers understand the results expected for each step of any task. Meeting the quality standards maintains customer satisfaction. 
• Prevention of knowledge loss: SOPs keep institutional knowledge, so processes remain the same when there’s a staff change. 

Virtual assistants will bring you many advantages, not just the creation and improvement of systems and SOPs. We invite you to find out more by reading our article on 10 reasons to hire a virtual assistant. 

Final Thoughts

Your time is too valuable to be spent repeating instructions or fixing preventable mistakes, or wasting time and money in an unstructured manner. By working with a Virtual Assistant to build systems and SOPs, you set up a business that runs proficiently, consistently, and independently of your continuous oversight.

Let our Virtual Assistants at Virtudesk design and maintain the operational systems and SOPs to organize, optimize, and improve your business. Contact our team by calling us at +1(800) 470-8136 or fill out our short form to schedule a free discovery call.  

Bullet Takeaways 

• A Virtual Assistant is a human professional, not an AI bot.
• VA's help create systems and SOPs that augment productivity and consistency.
• Tools like Notion, Loom, and Timedly will make it effective to create SOPs.
• When you have your processes correctly and thoroughly documented, you’ll reduce errors, cut costs and improve onboarding.
• Delegating SOP creation to a virtual assistant will cut your operating costs. 
• Updating your SOPs regularly ensures long-term business scalability.