An efficient business administration is critical because it directly impacts the company’s bottom line results, employee productivity, and financial health. For all of these reasons, it is absolutely essential to hire skilled administrative assistants.
However, hiring full-time administrative assistants can be a costly affair, especially for small businesses or startups where budget is a major constraint.
This is where remote executive assistants, also known as administrative virtual assistants (VAs), can come to the rescue. This blog will walk us through various aspects of this subject, such as what a virtual administrative assistant is, key skills of remote administrative assistants, and more.
Looking for Virtual Assistant Companies? Check out SoftwareSuggest’s list of the best Virtual Assistant companies.
What Is A Virtual Administrative Assistant?
A virtual administrative assistant is a person or company who works remotely to provide administrative support to clients. They use advanced remote work technologies to establish a communication channel between the team as well as to share documents seamlessly.
Remote executive assistants‘ responsibilities are more or less similar to those of full-time administrative assistants. It entails scheduling appointments, making phone calls, making travel arrangements, and managing email accounts, among other things. However, these tasks can differ from one company to another.
Besides, there are multiple advantages of hiring virtual administrative assistants, including cost savings. It also allows small business owners to focus on more important business activities by outsourcing virtual assistant administrative tasks to third-party or virtual assistance service providers such as Office Beacon.
Why Should You Hire Administrative Virtual Assistants?
There are multiple reasons to hire virtual executive assistants, including higher efficiency, the ability to focus on critical business activities, lower overhead costs, and more. Out of them, the top five reasons to hire remote executive assistants are as follows:
A. Allows you to focus on critical business activities
The first advantage of hiring virtual assistants is that you can free yourself from administrative responsibilities. You don’t have to worry about keeping track of meetings, emails, or travel arrangements. You can eventually use this time for other critical business activities that will improve your performance and bottom-line results.
B. Helps you lower your overhead costs
When working with full-time administrative assistants, you will need to invest in working space, hardware, systems, and a variety of other office essentials. You will also have to spend money on food, travel, and phone bills. However, by hiring virtual executive assistants– working remotely, you can resist all of these expenses.
C. Enables you to improve business operations
The third advantage of working with virtual assistants (VAs) is that they assist you in improving, streamlining, and simplifying business operations. Since these individuals have prior experience in this field and are familiar with virtual assistant administrative tasks, they can significantly improve your company’s business operations.
D. Ensure professional handling of administrative tasks
There is no doubt that the work is best left in the hands of someone who is skilled in doing it. The same is true for virtual assistant administrative tasks. When you choose remote staffing to manage administrative tasks, you can expect the best results because they understand the best practices and mistakes to avoid when performing administrative tasks.
E. Gives you access to the world’s best talent
The fifth advantage of hiring administrative virtual assistants is that you gain access to a global talent pool. Since there are no geographical restrictions, you can hire the best VAs from anywhere in the world who are a perfect fit for your company or business requirements.
Let’s take a closer look at the key functions of virtual executives to get a better understanding of their responsibilities.
7 Key Responsibilities of Virtual Assistants (VAs)
We are sure that a question– what does a virtual executive assistant do, must be hovering in your mind. Well, the following are some of the major responsibilities of virtual executive assistants. Let’s take a look at them one by one.
A. Handle clerical & bookkeeping tasks
Administrative virtual assistants’ primary responsibility is to manage clerical and bookkeeping tasks, as well as day-to-day errands. It includes chat support, calendar management, client communication, stationery purchase, PowerPoint presentation, and more. In a nutshell, VAs are expected to keep the office running smoothly.
The next major responsibility of virtual administrative assistants is to manage social media platforms. They are expected to post on social media channels regularly, interact with users, publish press releases, update website content, and more. A strong social media presence will assist the company in building its brand image and improving customer satisfaction.
C. To make travel arrangements
The remote admin team is also expected to arrange travel for employees, including top management, sales, and marketing teams. It is their responsibility to book transportation and hotel accommodations. Besides, they should explore all travel booking platforms and make reservations at the best prices as per the company budget and policies.
D. Email management
The fourth major responsibility of virtual admin assistants is to manage email communication or communicate with clients, vendors, and other third parties. They must ensure that the correct information and documents are delivered to the relevant authority at the right time. However, they must consult with management before communicating anything critical to third parties.
E. Internal & external team coordination
Virtual executive assistants are also expected to work with internal and external teams to coordinate their efforts. For example, if a prospect requests a product or service demo, it is the responsibility of VAs to plan and organize a meeting between the prospect and the sales team.
F. Appointment scheduling
One of the most critical responsibilities of virtual administrative assistants is to schedule appointments. They are expected to communicate with both parties to avoid miscommunication or no-shows on either side. Even if the event is canceled or postponed, they should inform both parties as soon as possible.
G. Document meeting minutes
Virtual admin professionals are also expected to be good at documenting meeting minutes. They should be familiar with the process of writing meeting minutes. It is also their responsibility to communicate the meeting agenda, participating parties, time, and other necessary details to all parties prior to the meeting.
However, as you might expect, to carry out all of these responsibilities, remote executive assistants must be skilled and have the necessary qualifications, as explained in the following section.
Key Skills of Remote Administrative Assistants (VAs)
It is understandable that the virtual assistants you hire must be skilled and knowledgeable in their field. Some of the critical skills and qualifications of virtual admin assistants that you must look for are as listed below.
A. Excellent time management
Virtual assistants must have good time management skills. They must ensure that every minute of the management team and employees is productive to the organization. Also, they should be able to recognize the importance of each meeting or task and prioritize them accordingly.
B. Sound technical knowledge
In today’s technology-driven world, knowledge of computers and other necessary tools and technologies is a critical skill that virtual administrative assistants are expected to have. They should be well-versed in basic computer skills as well as knowledge of remote working tools.
C. Effective oral communication
Source: Rocketcdn.me
The third essential skill of remote executive assistants is excellent oral communication skills. The message or information they convey to others must be clear, relevant, phrased and toned sensitively, concise, and informative.
D. Fine writing skills
Just like oral communication skills, administrative assistants are expected to be proficient in written communication as well. They should be familiar with various writing forms and styles, such as email, press releases, public relations campaigns, and others. The writing must be clear, have an appropriate tone, and convey the intended message.
E. Quick decision making
The fifth essential skill of virtual administrative assistants is the ability to make sound decisions at the right time. And, in order to make quick decisions, the VAs must be familiar with the organization, its operations, objectives, and resources. They must also be aware of current industry trends.
In addition to these five essential skills, the skill set of remote executive assistants varies by company. Now, let’s look at how Office Beacon can be your foremost choice when it comes to outsourcing administrative virtual assistant services..
Benefits of Hiring Office Beacon’s Admin VAs
Office Beacon clearly has the edge over other administrative virtual assistant staffing companies for several reasons, including the company’s 20-year experience in this field. During this period, Office Beacon has greatly helped hundreds of businesses worldwide by providing them with the virtual assistance support they require.
Moreover, when you partner with Office Beacon for virtual executive assistant support, you will receive round-the-clock support for any of your issues, whether technical or non-technical. Besides that, the company charges you on a pay-as-you-go basis, which means you will be required to pay per minute rather than per hour or month, saving a big chunk of the budget.
Furthermore, Office Beacon offers a wide range of administrative virtual assistant services, including email management, appointment scheduling, day-to-day tasks, content management, transcription, and more. Explore the complete list of Office Beacon services or schedule a free demo with their experts.
Frequently Asked Questions
Virtual assistants and administrative assistants have similar responsibilities. However, the main difference is that administrative assistants are typically full-time employees who work from an office, whereas virtual assistants work as freelancers, part-time employees, or on a contractual basis.
Virtual assistants' primary responsibilities include appointment scheduling, managing external communications, making travel arrangements, email management, managing social media, documenting meeting minutes, and so on.
Some of the necessary skills and qualifications for a virtual assistant include excellent time management, sound technical knowledge, effective oral communication skills, fine writing skills, and the ability to make quick decisions.
Paras Kela is a highly skilled SaaS content writer with over 7 years of experience in the IT field. His expertise lies in simplifying complex technical concepts for easy comprehension. With a portfolio of over 100 high-quality blogs covering various SaaS topics, Paras’s writing style is engaging, informative, and SEO-friendly, ensuring maximum effectiveness. He continuously updates his skills and knowledge to stay current with industry trends, making his writing relevant and reliable.
