A professional virtual assistant helps provide many of the support services you need in order to move forward with your daily life. Whether you have learned about the value of a personal virtual assistant for the first time, or you need more information about how to find the right one for you, these tips can help you find the ideal professional virtual assistant for your needs.
What is a Professional Virtual Assistant?
A professional assistant helps maintain order in an office. A professional virtual assistant can take on all the tasks you would expect from a professional assistant within the office but from a remote location. The tasks handled by your professional virtual assistant may include:
- Inbox management
- Calendar management
- Handling expenses and invoicing
- Social media strategy production
- Doing research
- Data entry
- Content marketing
- Travel booking
- Event planning
- Website maintenance
As much as 50% of the average employee’s day is spent scheduling calls and meetings. Handling other tasks, including organization, managing phone calls, and returning emails can take up even more of the day. By finding the right virtual assistant, you can improve your odds of finding a worker who can take on those tasks and put those hours back in your day.
Tips for Hiring a Professional Virtual Assistant
You need the right assistant to help streamline tasks around the office and improve your efficiency. Try these tips for finding the ideal personal virtual assistant for your needs.
1. Get help finding your assistant.
You don’t have to find an assistant on your own. Instead, work with a virtual professional assistant firm that will connect you with the employee that is most likely to fit your needs. At Zirtual, for example, we work with virtual assistants who hold a college education, have administrative experience, and know-how to manage and serve clients online. We focus on providing top-quality assistants so that you can have confidence in the individual you’re asking to complete these important tasks for your office.
2. Work with someone who has previous experience.
When you hire a virtual assistant with no previous experience, it takes them longer to get into the flow of your business and start providing those vital services. An experienced professional virtual assistant, on the other hand, will have the experience needed to jump right in and start providing the assistance you need. At Zirtual, we provide our virtual assistants with comprehensive training to ensure they are prepared to provide for their clients’ needs while maintaining a professional virtual relationship. Their previous assistance makes it easier for them to move seamlessly into your business.
3. Know your goals for working with a professional assistant.
Before you start a working relationship with a professional virtual assistant, you need to know what you need that assistant to accomplish. Carefully consider their role within their organization. Consider:
- How much assistance do you really need?
- What roles do you need your professional assistant to fill?
- What kind of timeline do you have for task completion?
Clearly establish your expectations, both for your benefit and that of your professional assistant. When you clearly define your goals, you will also better see whether your professional assistant is living up to those goals–and what changes you need to make along the way in order to create the most effective relationship possible.
4. Schedule time for training.
Even the most experienced professional assistant will need time to acclimate to your specific business. You may use highly specific technology or have specific processes that you use for your businesses. A new assistant will need full training in your professes, your software, and your needs. Set aside time for that training when you’re ready to start working with a professional assistant. Ultimately, providing the right training will decrease the time you have to spend on many common tasks as your professional virtual assistant takes over the completion of those tasks.
5. Start by outsourcing small tasks.
Begin with those small, daily tasks that seem to take up the bulk of your day. You may need to give your new assistant time to start functioning at peak efficiency. What tasks take the most time out of your day? Consider factors like data entry, scheduling, or returning calls and emails. A professional virtual assistant can take on those tasks, freeing up more of your time to focus on the job duties that you, specifically, need to handle yourself. Over time, you’ll develop a trust relationship with your assistant that will make it easier to turn over future tasks.
Working with a professional virtual assistant is a highly effective way to reclaim some of the time you have previously lost to tasks that do not help you move forward with your business goals. By turning those tasks over to a professional assistant, you can start to allocate your time with purpose, increasing your ability to move toward your goals. Contact us today to learn more about the training our virtual assistants receive and how they can aid your business.