Oh, when you’re running around like a headless chicken, it’s hard to stop things from falling by the wayside.

To entrepreneurs and business owners: It’s best to realize early that you don’t have the time to do everything on your own. You’re focusing on the less important stuff when you’ve got a long list waiting for you. How are you going to get out of this?

Bring in outside help—a real remote professional who can do a better job than you can, taking care of the admin stuff and all the extra workload you can’t carry.

That’s what we’re going to talk about in this article: what virtual assistants do, where to find them, and some tips on how to manage them effectively.

Let’s dive in!

A Virtual Assistant in Today’s Predominant Virtual World

The reality is that we’re living in a world where virtual assistants are making a huge impact on how businesses operate. How did they become so popular?

COVID-19, that’s how. The global pandemic created a major shift in work habits. This transition allows companies to outsource help from all around the world, and that created a rare opportunity to scout top talents for the job without a heavy financial burden.

This has coincided with the rise in popularity of virtual assistants in all industries.

What Type of Virtual Assistant Do You Need?

When considering a virtual assistant hire, it’s important to understand that your VA can also be recruited by other companies for their business needs. These are contractual workers who are tasked with completing a project or an assignment at an allocated time of the day.

So, when you’re deciding whether to go for a full-time or a part-time VA, you have to weigh in factors such as the nature of work, scalability and your organizational needs.

If you’re working through a heavy workload that requires a dedicated presence, having a full-time VA will give you instant collaboration, consistency and stability, especially since you’re working in an overlapping time zone.

Moreover, full-timers are more scalable if you’re planning to really grow the business.

A part-time VA, on the other hand, works best for sporadic, less demanding activities such as mundane, repetitive work that don’t need your constant attention.

Virtual assistant part-timers would suffice for seasonal demands that require more flexibility.

What are the Duties of a Virtual Assistant?

Perhaps the greatest superpower of a virtual assistant lies in their ability to adapt to the ever-changing demands of your business. Whatever it is, administrative work or content management, a VA’s duty matches your needs of the day.

Here are some of the tasks that you can delegate to your new remote worker.

• Schedule appointments
• Travel planning
• Email management
• Customer support
• Handle corporate presentations.
• Database management
• Conduct online research.
• Accounting
• Take notes and create transcriptions during meetings
• Manage the content calendar and produce new content.
• Digital marketing
• Social media management
• Create social media graphics and edit videos.
• Identify potential leads.

As you can see, virtual assistants can be more than just virtual executive assistants. They have specialized skills that allow them to handle more complex responsibilities.

Find out the practicalities of hiring a virtual assistant for bookkeeping.

Challenges of Working with a Virtual Assistant

As great as they are, virtual assistants still come with a few challenges. But don’t worry, these stumbles are not without a fix.

Time Zone Differences

This is probably the greatest challenge for business owners when working with a diverse team. After finding your VA, you’ll soon realize that your star remote worker is 8 hours behind your work day. How are you supposed to communicate with them during your shift or when you need them ASAP?

How to Solve the Problem:

If you have a spread-out team, you should learn to be an effective asynchronous communicator. This means working without having direct contact with your workers. How is that possible?

You can communicate with them via email or video conference. The point is that you don’t need to communicate with them at the same time. Organize team meetings around a schedule that works for everyone. This will ensure that every team member can participate at a time when they’re most alert.

Finally, treat your global virtual team as if you’re all working in the same office building. This is the kind of mindset you need to adopt to stay organized with your time and responsibilities.

Productivity Issues

Working remotely? For sure, you’ve had your doubts regarding productivity, as has everyone else who is new to this concept. You don’t have a direct line of sight during your VA’s day, and micromanagement is not really an option. 

How to Solve the Problem:

The first thing that you should do to make sure your employees are productive is set clear expectations from the get-go. 

If they know what is expected of them, they’re most likely to meet or exceed those expectations. But even after you’ve clearly set those expectations, it’s important to allow your employees to go about their work however they want to go about it.

It is also crucial to teach your virtual assistant effective time management. Let them find a happy medium instead of just constantly working and getting burned out.

If all else fails, there are plenty of productivity tools out there that you can leverage. But remember not to overdo it; use it wisely. These platforms can help you track your VA activity in real time and address issues promptly.

Misunderstanding/Miscommunication

Without direct communication with your virtual assistant, it can be difficult to ensure that your workers have a clear understanding of their job.

In a remote work setting, employees work from different time zones, which makes it harder to be on the same page. When left unchecked, it results in misunderstanding and confusion. Eventually, you’ll end up losing your once-solid remote worker for good.

How to Solve the Problem:

The best way to avoid communication issues is to choose the right communication channel. There are a hundred tools out there; for sure, you can find one that is accessible and fits well with your organization. Make sure everyone uses it.

And one more thing: keep the door open. This means always maintaining transparency in the workplace. Be there for your remote workers and encourage them to put forward their views openly. Doing so will keep them satisfied and make them more productive.

Tips On Finding the Right VA for the Right Job

There are millions of remote professionals on various freelance marketplaces—a virtual assistant in Madagascar, the Philippines and India—the talent is bustling. But while that offers plenty of options for you, it also makes picking the perfect VA quite overwhelming.

Don’t get us wrong, many of these freelance websites are reliable, but relying on just the “reliability nametag” isn’t the best way to determine the suitability of a VA.

Be diligent and do a background check on each of your candidates. Scroll through their portfolios and read testimonials from people who hired them. If you can see that they have a good reputation, then they’re probably great at their job.

Another thing that you should also do is administer a trial test before you commit to hiring someone. This way you can evaluate their real ability to complete the actual task.

However, if you think this is all too much, you can always connect with a VA agency like VAV Asia. They will do the work—from onboarding to training—and guide you throughout the process until you find your next start virtual assistant.

What Virtual Assistants Do is Great for Your Business!

As a business owner, you should always be on the lookout for ways to reduce costs, rack up more sales and increase revenue. And that’s exactly what virtual assistants do, making sure you’re focusing on the business rather than working in it.

Your working-from-home admin can free up your time, so you can be more productive and efficient. They take charge of the operational tasks from anywhere in the world and offer you expertise that can add more value to your business. And do you know what the best part is? It won’t cost you a pretty penny.

With a VA backing you up, you’re always ready to pounce on opportunities when they come. So, don’t waste the days; hire a virtual assistant today!