If you run a business, you should know that there is one very important position that you will probably need to hire someone for. This position is a virtual office assistant. What is a virtual office assistant and what does a virtual office assistant do, you ask? Well, a virtual office assistant is someone who remotely provides administrative, technical, creative and/or personal assistance to an individual or company. Although hiring virtual office assistants is beneficial to a company and/or employer, it can also be a difficult task. To ensure that you hire the right virtual office assistants for your company, we are going to tell you some of the top qualities you should look for when deciding who to hire. Get ready for your office life to become that much less stressful!
Virtual Office Assistants Quality
1: Industry Experience
Having significant experience in the industry that you are trying to work in is vital for any possible employee. This is especially true for an employee that is going to be outsourced, such as a virtual office assistant. This is because virtual office assistants must manage a large number of critical office tasks with minimal company training or assistance. Thus, when looking to hire virtual assistants, check to see if they have enough knowledge and industry experience to independently handle all the tasks that you plan to give them.
2. Knowledge of Social Media, Online Sites, and Tools
If you plan on having your virtual assistant manage your company’s social media, he or she needs to have a high amount of knowledge on social media. The same rule applies to your future virtual assistants and any online site or tool that you plan on having them work with. That way the virtual assistants can work with these sites and tools with minimal help.
3. Someone Who Is Accessible
Because assistants manage company day to day tasks, it is important to know that you can reach them at any moment during the workday. Thus, when looking to hire virtual assistants, make sure that they have computer access, solid internet connection, and anything else they may need to be accessible to you. To help make your future virtual office assistants more accessible, create a business Slack account, or an account at some other type of online forum in which the assistants can immediately communicate with you and one another.
4. Someone Who Is Responsive
On top of knowing that you can reach your virtual office assistants, you also need to know that they will respond back quickly. If they do not have the ability to respond back quickly, there is no point in them even being accessible to you. Thus, when messaging and/or giving possible virtual assistants trial projects to work with, pay attention to how fast they get back to you.
5. Someone with Time Management
On top of being timely in their responses back to you, virtual office assistants need to have good time management in their work process. This is because they often juggle numerous tasks for an employer or company. Essentially, a virtual office assistant is a virtual secretary.
Benefits of Hiring Virtual Office Assistants
One benefit of having an office virtual assistant is being able to save money on training and other in-house employee expenses. Another benefit of having virtual office assistants is giving your in-house team more time to focus on major projects. This is because the virtual office assistants will be taking care of all the day to day administrative or technical tasks. You can even have your virtual office assistants take care of personal day to day tasks for you. For example, if you need someone to call and make reservations at a restaurant for you, your virtual assistant can do that for you. To learn more about virtual office assistants, contact us today.