Virtual Assistant: In its world.

Working with a tight schedule without proper planning is a huge deal. It has a way of affecting an entire load of work thereby making the whole process exhausting. Some wonder how top entrepreneurs, businessmen, and women are able to work and manage appointments both socially and otherwise. Well, this can be all attributed to being a virtual assistant. It is a small world with huge responsibilities involving administrative support for employers for them and their businesses. You may categorize it as being a personal assistant but being a virtual assistant has more remoteness and more tools to work with.

Who is a Virtual Assistant?

A virtual assistant is a person who performs basic administrative tasks from the comfort of their home. Being a virtual assistant consists of scheduling meetings, replying and composing emails, organizing travels, managing a client’s calendar, managing projects, and making a client’s call. The job description can either be part-time or full time depending on the stated agreement.

Where does a Virtual Assistant work?

A virtual assistant can work from anywhere. There are provided with the necessary tools like shared calendars to make this possible. Typically, they work from any comfortable zone which is referred to as a home office.

Tools used by a Virtual Assistant

Choosing working tools solely depends on the aspect of the field you plan to venture in. There are numerous tools; some are specific to a particular niche while others are general. These tools include the following;

• For financial roles- Fresh books and wave
  
• For file sharing- Google drive and dropbox
  
• For time tracking- Hubstaff and Time Doctor
  
• For document signing- DocuSign
  
• For social media management- Buffer

• For project management- Asana, Trello, and Slack

Responsibilities of a Virtual Assistant

• Be able to manage contacts of clients
  
• Organization of meetings and schedules; socially and otherwise of clients
  
• Prepare presentations for clients
  
• Conduct good customer service for clients
  
• Prepare reports and conduct research for clients

Important skills necessary for a Virtual Assitant

Diving into the world of being a virtual assistant does not categorically need years of experience, there are certain skills significant for this field. Attaining these skills shows the extent of your digital effectiveness and increases the chances of getting a well-paying client.

Virtual assistants work on various platforms and possess skills t to be worth a lot to clients in recent times.

Reliability

Because of the level of organizational responsibility given to a virtual assistant by a client, there has to be a good level of reliability. Clients should be able to depend on their assistants to be available when need be. This develops trust and improves communication during the job duration.

Time-management

Virtual assistants should be ready to work well with time and manage it in the best way possible. Virtual assistants often have multiple clients, therefore should be ready to multitask and utilize time properly. Setting time and scheduling via calendars help in achieving this. Virtual assistants also prioritize time to reduce pressure on their end so as to be of service to various clients.

Self-motivation

Being a virtual assistant entails working remotely, this suggests there should be a high level of motivation to be able to attend to a client’s needs. They have to be focused and highly motivated for optimum success.

Communication

In this field, there is usually communication involved. Communication is often written or oral. A virtual assistant should be fluent in both communication skills to satisfy a client. Good and constant communication makes the work easy and achievable.

Creativity

Being creative is another advantage of becoming a virtual assistant. Coming up with new ideas on how to satisfy your clients includes knowledge of Ad creation, content writing, and rebranding. This causes you to stand out and increases your chances of meeting newer clients.

Batching

This is an important skill of being a virtual assistant. Rather than getting overwhelmed with work, it’s advisable to designate a time in which certain tasks would be carried out. It increases productivity and a sustainable outcome.

Qualifications of a Virtual Assistant

As previously stated, becoming a virtual assistant doesn’t necessarily require any form of degree, just some years of working experience. Requirements are as follows;

For beginners

• A good level of communication skills, organizational skills, the power to be proactive, patience, an honest level of adaptability, and a growth mindset.

• Strong knowledge of Google apps (Google workspace).

• Time management and a high level of reliability.

• Strong attention to detail and accuracy.

For professionals

• 2-3years working experience on the job or in a related field.
  
• Good experience with calendar and scheduling software like Google calendar.
  
• A high level of organizational and communication skills.
  
• Knowledge of spreadsheets and data processing software.
  
• Quality experience with desktop sharing software and Volp.

Notwithstanding, if you do not possess professional qualifications or even basic qualifications, ALX offers virtual assistance courses to guide you into the world of a VA.

Challenges faced by virtual assistants

Due to the increase in demand based on the pandemic era, virtual assistants face challenges. Clients and corporations are in need of more result-oriented individuals who can provide a good success rate for brands. Challenges include the following;

Language barriers

As a virtual assistant, clients can come from anywhere in the world. That is, including clients from non-English speaking countries or clients from a different language-speaking country from the virtual assistant. This poses a challenge as communication is a crucial aspect of being a virtual assistant that enables them to understand a client’s needs to provide satisfactory results.

Communication problems

This can also be a result of connection issues when clients communicate online during video calls or other means especially when face-to-face communication is not possible.

Time zone differentiation

This poses a serious challenge when working with international clients. Adjusting and keeping tabs on the time and schedule might prove exhausting and it may interfere with a virtual assistant’s personal time management.

Home-office distractions

Based on the remoteness of the job, a virtual assistant may face several sorts of distractions. Mostly from the environment which may be a big challenge and may affect the level of concentration on the job.

Salary range of a virtual assistant

Virtual Assistants are mostly paid hourly. Although some charge based on each task completed, monthly or yearly. It basically depends on what the virtual assistant and client agree on. Statistics show that virtual assistants earn a mean of $15.00 to $ 19.00 hourly.

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