How To Maximize Your Virtual Assistant Work Efficiency

The generic definition of a Virtual Assistant is a person who is contracted to render a service and works online. But for businesses, mine included, a personal assistant is a godsend.

Entrepreneurs, CEO’s and other main decision-makers have a myriad of tasks and responsibilities to attend to. We would like to focus on core activities; or functions that relate directly to the productivity of the business. If I have a scheduled presentation to a large, prospective client I would prefer to allocate time on its content and delivery rather than be constrained by filtering e-mail, answering calls from suppliers or updating social media posts.

As business scales up in activity, higher levels responsibilities arise and these need to be attended to immediately because opportunities are subject to the value of time.

A personal assistant or VA frees you up from attending to the mundane, non-essential tasks and allows you to focus time, energy and other resources on activities that matter most to your business. The job description of the VA has come a long way from performing secretarial duties and personal assistant services to more technical, highly skilled and creative responsibilities. But the greatest asset of a VA is his or her ability to organize your business. Organization leads to structure and improves efficiency in the work place.

How to improve your VA productivity and maximizes work efficiency

1. Phone handling– How many times have you experienced being in the middle of highly important work when a phone call interrupts your train of thought or level of focus? In truth, the urgency of the phone call is less important than having to accomplish the task on time. Oftentimes, distractions such as taking phone calls sets us back a few steps from our charted course. A VA has experience in phone handling and knows exactly how to approach and attend to inbound calls.

2. E-mail Filtering– One of the priority items in a daily task list is to routinely check e-mails. I usually check my e-mail five times a day just to make sure I don’t pass up any important communication that may be an opportunity for my business. But like most of you, I also get inundated with useless e-mail. These are usually promotions and business proposals that have nothing to do with improving my enterprise. Once your business gains exposure, there will also be a corresponding gain in the amount of junk e-mail you will receive. A VA can filter your e-mail and ensure what you eventually read will be relevant to your business objectives.

3. Market Research– Going back to my previous analogy, market research is one of the most important components of crafting an effective business presentation. But it requires a tremendous amount of time to collect data, piece them together and verify its authenticity. A VA can perform market research and have these available for discussion. As the business owner, I can focus more on developing a greater understanding on the subject matter by studying all the data and information compiled and organized by the VA.

4. Social Media Marketing– I have no doubt that social media marketing is an important component in developing business. But like most business owners and main decision makers not only are my competencies in social media limited but so is my time. Success in social media marketing requires consistency and diligence in executing the action plans of the campaign. A VA can ensure these are implemented according to schedule.

5. Bookkeeping– This is one of the arduous tasks that are best attended to by the VA. Bookkeeping means constant updating on all transactions made by the business and organizing receipts, vouchers and invoices. These are best delegated to people with the required skill set for organization.

Hiring a Virtual Assistant for your team can take your business to the next level because with greater efficiency, time is less wasted.