Virtual Assistant services are becoming more and more popular, because of their flexibility, affordability and expertise across a number of industries. It is predicted that by 2021, 25 percent of digital workers will use a VA on a daily basis.
For many people there still seems to be some mystery around what a VA does and how this service works in reality. I want to ease this by giving insight into what a typical day looks like in the world of a Virtual Assistant.
8am: The smell of coffee brewing fills the air of our small home office. One of the many benefits of employing a Virtual Assistant is that they have their own space and equipment. The day begins by logging into emails, which includes all of the inboxes that are being managed for clients. I have 4 different email accounts to log into this morning, I start by scanning emails and determining if anything needs actioning urgently. Once I have actioned any emails, responded and/or filed. I am ready to start working through my agreed workload for that day. It’s important to mention that a VA will only work on projects or tasks that have been agreed with their client.
9am: I have a Zoom video call with a client, where we catch up and discuss the progress of work and set future tasks. This lasts about 30 minutes, I then update the shared spreadsheet where we record and track the progress of tasks, transparency and organisation is key. Building a trusting relationship with my clients is so important, I want them to know what I’m working on and to clearly see how this tasks or projects are progressing.
9:45am: I move on to start work helping a client with recruiting 3 new members of the team, this has involved creating Job Descriptions, posting adverts on various platforms and developing a shortlisting Matrix. This morning I am reading through CV’s and cover letters and collating a summary of each candidate within the shortlisting Matrix. My job as a VA is to make my clients life easier, they are busy people, which is why they need my service. Making this information clear and concise is important so they can digest it easily and make a decision on the nest steps.
11:45am: Time for a short break, top up on my coffee and stretch my legs. When a VA sits down to complete a task. It is focused time; they are on the clock and will very rarely take breaks until that particular task has progressed.
12pm: I now move on to another client’s workload, where I am organising an upcoming trip. Which involves booking flights, hotels and taxi transfers. Once confirmed I collate the upcoming trip and send it to my client for review.
1pm: Time for lunch, I take a short break to make a sandwich, it will be a working lunch today as I have a lot to get through.
1:20pm: Continuing with a task for the same client, I begin to collate expenses by recording each one. And filing the correct receipt and invoice, ready for submission.
2pm: I start work for another client, where I am coordinating a trip for a group of people to visit organisations in London. This involves liaising with various companies, sending calendar invites and centrally recording each visit, breaking this down into visit's per day, the address and contact person. I also research travel options and suitable accommodation for the visitors.
3.30pm: I start my last task of the day where I will be transcribing hours of audio files, I pop in my earphones and begin.
5pm: I begin to log off and check my diary to ensure I have completed all the tasks scheduled for that day. My diary is how I manage my varied workload, each week is planned and scheduled meticulously to ensure nothing is missed, it also allows time for any unforeseen work that may pop up.
Tomorrow I will be working on setting in place a new filing system by mapping out categories and starting to migrate files and documents and updating a month of transactions into a purchase ledger.
I began by saying a “Typical Day” in the life of a VA, but the truth is there are no typical days. Every day brings new and varied work. A VA can help you with admin tasks, but they can also oversee and manage daily operations, they are highly skilled across a broad range of subjects.
It is said across our industry that sometimes our title downplays the role we have, we can be your office or admin manager, your right-hand person who will keep your business running efficiently and effectively while you focus on what you do best!