In the Virtual Mentoring Program (and in the Virtual Training Program that came before it), we’ve long shared two documents: The Virtual Assistant’s Bill of Rights, and the Client’s Bill of Rights.
The idea behind their creation was to help blast apart the inherent patriarchal relationship most admins have known as employees. where the “boss” is always right (or at least, always the boss and always in charge), and the admin has very little power or equality in the relationship. We wanted to give credence to the reality that one of the people in the relationship doesn’t have to be “less than” the other for the relationship to work, and that both could have rights in the relationship that would allow them to feel empowered and whole in the relationship.
I’ll post one this week, and the other next week. While the Bills of Rights are proprietary, consider whether the standards they contain are standards you currently have applied to your practice. If not, I very much suggest you add them–they allow you to, in part, show up as the professional you are, and as an equal in the business relationship with your clients, :)
Virtual Assistant’s Bill of Rights
1. The right to be treated with respect
2. The right to be seen as an equal, and a partner; to be listened to and taken seriously
3. The right to work with clients of my choosing
4. The right to say no without feeling guilty
5. The right to not know it all and to seek help
6. The right to ask as many questions as needed
7. The right to make mistakes
8. The right to be paid fairly and in a timely manner
9. The right to do work that jazzes me
10. The right to work with people who completely see the value I create in their lives
In truth, it isn’t as much about equality, as it is in equity–each side giving and getting in equal measure in different ways. But equality–the notion that the two in the relationship are standing on a level playing field, both with things to contribute, and both with things to lose, matters.
What others would you add? I’d love to know!
