Data Protection changes are coming in May 2018. (GDPR)
This is going to be particularly challenging for Virtual Assistants.
People who outsource to VA’s are going to need to get ready for this too.
When is the best time to get started GDPR?
It is going to be challenging to design a compliant business that is still profitable and manageable.
It doesn’t help that we are still missing guidance and interpretation on many of the terms. Knowing exactly what is needed on every front is going to take time.
Talking Your VA about Data Protection
Some Virtual Assistants are already thinking about Data Protection and slowly doing what needs to be done to get ready.
Others are saying “I won’t do anything until the final details are known”. No-one knows when the final details will be published.
Do nothing until the final details are known?
There isn’t a lot of free time in the boss’s diary.
If you are anything like me it is booked weeks ahead with work for customers, and sorting out the things I already have to take care of.
A last minute project means weekend and late night working
It also means a lot of stress and anxiety if you don’t know exactly how much work you are going to need to do.
One year in, we are still waiting for some of the detail. There is no time like the present!
Do your Data Protection in bite size chunks
Why not do what can be done now to get you ready for Data Protection and GDPR changes?
Now is a great time to scope out where the land lies, what is high risk and what is a low risk for your business.
Now is a good time to work out what is most and least likely to cause problems in terms of the real flow of information in and out of your business.
If you are receiving information from clients and working with associates too, this is going to be something that takes a while to understand.
Use your Data Protection map to plan
There are some things we know need doing now and you can do them at a time that suits you.
When the final detail of guidance are published you can drop the final pieces of the jigsaw into your existing map and plan.
Why stress about Data Protection?
No weekend working. No last minute crisis. No sinking sense of uncertainty as you go through the year.
I am starting the work now for my own business as are many Virtual Assistants who have chosen to join our foundation groups and get ready.
Any changes as a result of GPDR or Brexit or any other thing, can easily be made at the right time.
You won’t be struggling to do it all at the last minute
Check your insurance policy
If you carry any kind of professional indemnity, data loss or online insurance you are going to have to satisfy your insurer that you are ready to act within the new Data Protection rules.
Data Protection is going to be an ongoing changing thing over the next few years for all sorts of reasons, and the best thing to do is to accept that change is inevitable and create systems and processes that anticipate this and respond to this.
Will Data Protection change your onboarding?
You are going to have to look at how you run your business and handle your own data, but also how you onboard new clients to avoid illegally processing data. If you work with associates you are going to have to look at that too.
It’s not easy to think about all of that and keep your business going. For some of us, it is easier to do it in a group.
Find out more about low-cost GDPR support
The KoffeeKlatch Data Protection programme includes one year’s support. It is not designed to get it all done now, but to slowly gather what is needed and do it as each part becomes obvious – at least to those of us who read this sort of stuff and enjoy it. For more information on groups and options click here.
