Remote work removes the visual cues managers rely on in physical offices. You can’t see someone working late or notice when they’re struggling with a task.
Performance standards replace those visual signals with concrete, measurable criteria.
The DOLE Implementing Rules and Regulations for the Telecommuting Act require that remote and telecommuting workers receive the same performance standards, workload expectations, and evaluation criteria as onsite employees.
Standards also create fairness. When expectations are documented and transparent, evaluations become objective rather than subjective. Here’s how you can do that
Step 1: Choose Between Quantitative and Qualitative Metrics
You need both types of metrics to get a complete picture of performance. Numbers tell you what happened. Quality assessments tell you how well it happened.
Quantitative Metrics
These are the countable, objective measurements. Task completion rates, response times, output volume, error frequencies, and utilization rates are all counted here.
Qualitative Metrics
These measure competence, initiative, communication, and problem-solving ability. Qualitative standards might include responding to unclear instructions and proactively suggesting process improvements.
Step 2: Build Standards Around Clear Deliverables
Each performance standard needs three components working together.
The Specific Deliverable
State exactly what work product you expect. “Handle social media” is vague. “Create and publish 5 Instagram posts and 3 LinkedIn articles per week” is specific.
Avoid ambiguous language. Replace “manage inbox” with “respond to all emails within 24 hours and flag urgent items within 2 hours.”
The Quality Benchmark
Define what good looks like. For customer support, quality might mean “resolve issues completely so customers don’t need to follow up.” For content, it might mean “publish-ready after one round of edits.”
The Timeline Requirement
Specify when deliverables are due. Daily tasks need daily standards. Weekly outputs need weekly deadlines. Monthly work needs month-end targets.
Match measurement frequency to work cadence. Checking monthly metrics daily creates noise. Checking daily metrics monthly misses problems until they’re too late to fix.
Step 3: Set Realistic but Challenging Targets
Run a two-week trial period with proposed standards. Track results daily. Meet with your VA mid-trial to discuss what’s working and what feels off.
Real data beats assumptions. You might discover that 30 tickets per day is reasonable but 40 creates quality problems. Adjust before making standards official.
New VAs need different standards than experienced ones. Set clear expectations from day one but those expectations should ramp up over time.
Step 4: Weight Standards by Business Impact
Pick two or three critical standards that define job success. These are your non-negotiables and then assign critical metrics that account for 70% of overall performance evaluation. Secondary metrics make up 30%.
Step 5: Document Everything
Build a one-page reference document for each role. List every metric, explain how it’s measured, show the target number, and note the weight.
Performance standards belong in employment contracts, onboarding packets, and ongoing review documentation. Your VA shouldn’t discover standards during their first performance review. They should reference them daily.
Store the performance standards document where your VA can access it anytime. Include it in your team project management system, or shared drive.
Step 6: Build Measurement Systems
Standards mean nothing without tracking. Decide how you’ll collect performance data for each metric.
- Time tracking shows hours worked and task completion.
- Communication platforms reveal response times.
- Customer feedback systems capture satisfaction scores.
- Project management tools track deadline adherence.
Pick tools that capture data automatically when possible. Compile key metrics in one place. Your VA should see their current performance against targets without digging through multiple systems.
Step 7: Schedule Regular Performance Check-Ins
Meet consistently to discuss performance against standards. Review the numbers together. Celebrate what’s working. Address gaps while they’re still small.
Ask your VA what obstacles they’re facing. What resources would help them meet standards more easily? What standards feel off?
Performance reviews should improve systems, not scare off people.
Step 8: Plan for Standard Adjustments
Schedule time every three months to evaluate whether standards still make sense. Are targets still realistic? Do they reflect current priorities? Has the role changed in ways that require new metrics?
Ask your VA for input. They understand the day-to-day reality of meeting these standards better than anyone.
Step 9: Connect Standards to Growth
Meeting baseline standards keeps VAs in good standing. Consistently exceeding standards for three months might trigger a rate review.
Six months of exceptional performance should lead to incentives and expanded responsibilities.
Make these connections explicit. Your VA should know exactly how strong performance translates to career growth.
When VAs struggle with certain standards, offer training and support.
Respect Working Hour Limits
Performance standards can’t require unsustainable hours to meet. If your VA needs to work 12-hour days to hit targets, the standards are wrong, not the VA.
Build standards that fit within reasonable full-time hours, accounting for breaks and normal productivity fluctuations.
Making Performance Standards Work Long Term
Good performance standards evolve with your team. Start with clear, measurable criteria based on actual work outputs.
Test them in practice. Adjust based on real results.
The goal is mutual clarity.
Your VA should wake up knowing exactly what great performance looks like. You should be able to evaluate their work against objective criteria rather than gut feelings.
When both sides understand the targets, remote work becomes simpler. Expectations align. Feedback gets easier. Performance improves because everyone knows what they’re working toward.