How To Use a Virtual Assistant To Increase Productivity

“How can a virtual assistant help my business?” is a question many business owners and executives are asking themselves. Growing your business can be a daunting prospect. There are only so many hours in the day to complete your tasks, and those all-important administrative duties are often time-consuming. Many businesses hire a virtual assistant to boost productivity and scale their growth. What does a virtual assistant do and what are the benefits of hiring an experienced VA? 

What Is A Virtual Assistant?

A virtual assistant is an independent contractor, providing varying services to help small business owners, entrepreneurs and executives. A virtual assistant works remotely on a full-time, part-time or as-needed basis. 

What Does A VA Do?

A VA can perform a wide variety of tasks to support a business owner. Some of these duties include:

• Social media management 
• Administrative tasks
• Graphic design
• Preparing reports and presentations
• Undertaking research
• Writing blog posts
• Managing diaries and appointments
• Making bookings, such as travel and accommodation
• Event management
• Data entry

The Benefits of Hiring A Virtual Assistant 

Hiring a virtual assistant for your business has many benefits. If you’re on the fence about whether a VA will maximise your time, here are some factors to consider. 

Make Better Use of Your Workforce

Using the services of a virtual assistant enables your full-time employees to spend their time on more productive tasks. For example, your VA can tackle repetitive, time-consuming admin duties while other employees focus on duties that lead to business growth. 

Lower Costs

Instead of hiring another full-time employee, outsourcing duties to a VA can lower your overheads. That’s because you’re hiring someone with years of experience, so you don’t need to pay for additional training. Furthermore, you can hire a virtual assistant to work ad-hoc hours, so you only pay for the time they work. 

Time-Saving

A virtual assistant’s services help you to save time, especially when it comes to your working life. You don’t need to spend time completing boring, monotonous tasks. Instead, you can fully focus on what you do best, which is running your business. Additionally, you don’t need to spend time training a VA either as an experienced assistant understands how to complete a wide range of tasks. 

Outsource Personal Tasks

In addition to outsourcing your business tasks, you can also outsource personal tasks to a VA. This could include making personal appointments, organising your calendar, making specific purchases for you, or booking travel arrangements. You can even use a VA to manage an event for you. 

Finance Management

VA’s that are highly experienced in financial tasks are an asset to your company. They can assist with budget management, keeping track of business or personal expenses, as well as making purchases. 

Zero Physical Space

A VA working from home requires zero office space, so you don’t have to worry about expanding your physical space. Despite their virtual presence, you can keep track of their work remotely by using collaborative apps and platforms, such as Google Docs and Asana. There are even time-tracking apps you can use that track how much time a VA has spent working on your tasks. 

How to Find A VA

There are several ways you can find a good virtual assistant. Whether you wish to advertise for help on a freelancer website or place an advert on an online job board, there are a few aspects to contemplate first. 

Your Requirements

Before you hire a VA, it’s important to understand your needs. To match with the right person for your business, ask yourself what tasks you require assistance with. This will give you a rough idea of how many hours you need their services for. 

Their Key Skills

Acknowledging your needs will help to address the key virtual assistant skills you’re looking for. For example, if you require a VA to perform customer service duties, then having excellent communication skills is a must. 

Also, Check – Top Mistakes Companies Make When Handling Customer Data

Assess Their Experience

Always assess a candidate’s experience to determine how knowledgeable they are. You may find a VA who is very affordable but if they have no experience then they may not be the best fit for your business. See if they can provide references to back up their credentials. This is a good indicator of their previous work experience. 

Work With A Specialist Recruiter

If you’re looking to grow your business with the help of a VA, a specialist recruitment agency can assist you in finding the perfect candidate. Look for a recruitment agency specialising in recruiting for PA, VA, and admin positions for the best chances of success. 

About the author: Auria Heanley is co-founder of Oriel Partners, a boutique PA and administrative recruitment consultancy based in Central London. She is extremely passionate about providing the highest quality of service to both clients and candidates. Oriel Partners’ clients range from global multinationals to small boutique firms, all requiring the same personal service and high caliber support.