Trello Basics: The ABCs in Using Trello

Ever thought of working with a VA? Or is having someone online giving you more constraint than convenience? Well, there's some truth to the latter. After all, working with someone online can be tedious, especially in terms of communication and giving out instructions.

But if you're an online business owner, you also understand that getting things right the first time could hit a few bumps. Thankfully, there are a lot of tools that you can use to navigate through these bumps or smooth these out so that you can visually communicate your instructions virtually. These cloud-based project management tools - *cough* Trello - are great for keeping track of project deliverables, who’s responsible for them (if you’re working with multiple people online), and of course, keeping track of when the task is due.

One of the coolest and savviest online project management tools that our virtual assistant team uses is Trello, a user-friendly and shareable tool that lots of business owners online also use in terms of working with a VA. But do you know what's more amazing than this? Trello is fully functional even with the FREE plan!

If you’re working with a virtual assistant or still planning to, and you haven’t met Trello yet, you're welcome! We'll get you started with the essential features and tools you must first learn to effectively use Trello.

Creating a Board for a Task

To fully understand how Boards on Trello work, let’s create a sample scenario. Your virtual assistant is helping you with social media marketing for two overlapping projects. Exactly how useful is creating a Trello board for these two tasks? Well, by having two Boards, you can separate the line of work or process about how you want to approach your project. You can create one for marketing strategy, and another Board for administrative management! That way you can separate and segregate the details and resources you need to perform the tasks mentioned.

Creating a new project on Trello is simple.

1. Click on the plus sign in the upper right corner and select Add>New Board.

2. Type in the project name.

Inviting Your VA on Board

Now that you’ve learned to create your Board, you can proceed to add your virtual assistant to the Board. Or if you offer services online, you can also use them to collaborate with your client and add them.

To add a team member:

1. Open the Board you’ve created and click on Add Members.

2. Enter your virtual assistant’s username or email address if your VA is not a member of Trello.

3. Advise your VA that they will receive an invitation link in their email address and once they click on it, they’ll be instantly added to your Board.

Adding and Assigning Tasks

The beauty of creating a Board in Trello is your ability to add and assign tasks to those who can access your Board.

To do this:

1. Click on Add a card found at the bottom of each board list.

2. Enter the name of the task you wanted to make.

3. Add details such as due dates, objectives of the task, checklist, and the process you wanted your virtual assistant to take.

4. Click on Assign if you want to assign the task to your VA and add your virtual assistant to the task.

5. Click on Subscribe for the tasks that are critical to receiving notifications and emails about it.

6. As necessary, add attachments and images to have clearer instructions.

Creating a Process With Your VA

Knowing the A-B-Cs of creating and assigning tasks on Trello is great, but it helps to set up a process with your virtual assistant first before you start on those tasks. Having a process with your team especially when you’re working on a new task is important.

It also helps to be both transparent with the task status. Instruct your virtual assistants to always update their task status whether they are currently doing the task or not. You can create a card for ongoing tasks and for tasks that are completed in this case.

Final Takeaway

Trello is overall a great tool for managing teams, especially for those who are working for you remotely. It gives a better overview of your projects as you can quickly assign and track your tasks to your virtual assistants.

These are just the basics of using Trello, and there are more in store for you if you get started with it! It’s very easy to use with its drop-and-drag interface. Want to learn more about it?

Start exploring Trello HERE!