Burnout is a serious problem for high achieving professionals. The brain is not a muscle, but it can sometimes act as one – if you put too much stress on it, it gets fatigued and refuses to cooperate.
The best remedy for burnout is delegating work to others, especially repetitive, administrative work that has little to do with your actual profession.
Many small business owners can be skeptical of delegating their work for fear of it not being done on a good enough level. However, a good virtual assistant is easy to find and hire. This could be the thing you need to start enjoying your work again.
A virtual assistant is just like a regular one, except they work remotely, often from overseas. That makes them much more affordable without sacrificing the quality of work.
Now that the pandemic has proven that remote work is possible and viable, virtual assistants are the norm.
But what are the qualities of an excellent virtual assistant? Let’s dive in on what qualities to look for in your worker.
Reliability
This may very well be the most important trait for a virtual assistant. Your assistant can be the most intelligent and creative person in the world, but if they lack dependability and reliability, it’s all for naught.
An excellent virtual assistant does not wait until the last minute to return an email. They answer their calls and messages as soon as possible. They finish reports on time and within deadlines.
Virtual assistants work remotely, so they will need to exhibit a level of autonomy and independent responsibility.
Communication skills
An excellent virtual assistant should be able to communicate clearly, effectively, and timely. Since most of their job will be handling your appointments, communication skills are paramount.
Your assistant is the mediary between you and your clients. If they can’t communicate properly, your business will seem amateurish. That’s not a good look.
The worst situations occur when problems are shoved under the rug. When an employee encounters a problem they can’t solve on their own, they should be able to reach out for help. Otherwise, the problem could grow way out of proportion.
That’s where good communication skills are most important. Your virtual assistant should feel comfortable asking for clarification, and you should always oblige them.
A good VA should be able to navigate all sorts of communication mediums. From video calls to scheduling software, Google suite and all other types of messaging. Of course, the less channels, the simpler the communication becomes, but a VA should be able to juggle them all.
The interview process will usually clearly show how good a person’s communication skills are. If they are timely in their email responses, if they can hold a conversation on a video call, if they use proper grammar and punctuation in their messages – that’s a good sign.
A VA should be well acquainted with your line of business
An assistant is an assistant, no matter which branch of business you do. However, specific knowledge of your business niche will make them much more efficient and easier to work with.
Virtual staffing agencies usually provide personnel that are specialized in different fields. So, whether you’re in construction, the healthcare industry, real estate or any other branch of business, a staffing agency will provide you with a virtual assistant that already knows about your business.
Other than that, a good virtual assistant will get to know the particular ins and outs of your business quickly and efficiently. They will recognize the procedures involved, the stages of the processes, and they can even have helpful suggestions to optimize your business. They will have a unique viewpoint of how things work – make sure you listen to them and take their suggestions into account.
A good virtual assistant is proactive and resourceful
Sure, anyone can be handed a checklist of tasks, finish them and call it a day. That’s the bare minimum you can expect from your virtual assistant.
What separates an excellent assistant from someone who just goes through the motions is their preemptiveness and proactive attitude.
The point of having an assistant is having someone to cover all the bases. So, even when some work pops up that isn’t usually in their purview, they can jump on it and solve issues without you even knowing they arose.
Of course, you can’t expect them to master every aspect of your business, but a little foresight on their part can save you a lot of headaches.
Honesty and trustworthiness
Now that a lot of people have gone remote, being able to trust someone is more important than ever. While everyone was an in-house employee, it was easy to track progress. Now, you will have to invest a bit of trust into your assistant.
Some employers resort to time tracking software that takes screenshots and tracks whether hours were put in honestly. This is a point of personal preference, but if you sense that something is out of order, it is always an option to ask them to install the software.
Working under pressure
Everyone can finish their tasks when it’s smooth sailing. An excellent virtual assistant, however, will be able to work just as efficiently and precisely when they’re in the weeds.
Unfortunately, the only way to check whether someone is good under pressure is to throw them in the fire and see how they react. Everyone writes ‘good in stressful situations on their CV, but not everyone follows through with this promise.
Follow up is key
Sometimes things come to a standstill because of client error. They aren’t responding to messages that you can’t continue your work without, or they fail to give you the necessary feedback.
That’s where an excellent virtual assistant jumps in – if a client becomes unresponsive, they will ping them and remind them that you need an answer in order to continue your work. Rather than just letting the situation fester, they will actually take steps to resolve it.
Conclusion
Anyone who’s ever had one knows that a highly trained, professional, and hard working assistant is an incredibly valuable asset to your company.
If you’re skeptical about delegating your work entirely, you should really look to relinquish some control so you can focus on the important tasks.
If you’re skeptical about virtual assistants, rest easy – virtual staffing companies are offering their services at an incredibly affordable rate. It’s a completely tried and tested concept, and you have nothing to worry about.
A great virtual assistant makes your business grow.
0
