What Qualities Should You Look for in a VA?
Finally convinced that hiring a virtual assistant is a good idea, the process of finding the right VA begins. What qualities should you look for in a VA?
Hiring a virtual assistant is a big step. You want someone who has all the skills and experience that enable you to work smarter and your business to flourish. Their qualities are just as important. Here’s what you should look for…
#1 Reliability
Reliability is a key quality you would look for in an employee and should be in a VA too. Working remotely means trusting that the person you have tasked to complete certain jobs or projects will do exactly that, and by the date and time you need it.
Qualifications are one important signal that a VA can commit and be relied upon to deliver, as is the turnover of clients. If a VA seems to keep clients for short periods, it could be that unreliability is affecting the work that they do - or don’t - deliver.
#2 Excellent communication
Communication is essential between a VA and their clients.Information needs to be delivered in a way that you find accessible and at a time when you need it. An experienced VA will understand when a piece of information is urgent and needs to be passed on immediately, and when it can wait.
Different clients prefer different communication methods so look for a VA that can offer these as well as make other suggestions. Instant messaging is great for immediacy but a daily at-the-end-of-the-day email may also be a good idea to stay on top of what is happening. You might also want a monthly report of how time was spent.
Using platforms such as Clockify, Trello and Asana also contribute to improving communication.
#3 Resourcefulness
A proactive VA is one that will invest time and effort into their allocated tasks and this is important because the whole point of hiring an admin assistant is to be a helping hand in your business or your life.
You want someone who will, when faced with a hurdle, think outside the box and pull on their resources to solve the issue. You want a VA who invests in what you ask them to, producing high quality work that is valuable for you and your business.
#4 Trustworthy and honest
Again, working remotely pulls on the trustworthiness and honesty of all employees and freelancers, not just VAs. Experienced VAs will offer a range of ways of showing you that they are completing work. In the first instance, you might want to set bite-sized tasks to be achieved by a deadline or sharing daily Clockify reports so you can see what they have been working on.
A virtual assistant who is trustworthy and honest won’t have an issue showing what they have done or what is outstanding. There are times when things happen or some tasks take longer than was initially expected. There are also tasks that take less time. This doesn’t mean opting for a VA that works the quickest, however! You want quality work over and above speed.
#5 Multitasking
Virtual assistants are experts at multitasking - in fact, they thrive on it. They can make calls to clients or customers, liaise with others over email as well as making sure that work is assigned quickly, and so on. Hiring a freelance administrative assistant who works with clients from a wide range of industries also contributes to this multitasking ability.
#6 Calmness under pressure
Things can get chaotic. The phone is constantly ringing, there are urgent emails that demand attention, there is a customer with a complaint and there are issues with employees, machinery or equipment… The basis of chaos is many but in the mix, you need someone who is calm under pressure.
In all likelihood, a VA will have been in this situation many times before. They will understand the need to stay calm and to ‘see’ what must be prioritised, what can wait until later in the day and what they can handle on your behalf, and what needs your attention alone.
#7 Follow up
You are a busy business owner and your day runs at a fast pace. So wouldn’t it be great if your VA remembers to call a supplier back the next day or sends a follow up email to a customer about their order?
A virtual assistant who is genuinely passionate and interested in the work that they do and the clients that they work with, will make it their business to stop things falling through the cracks on your behalf.
A truly skilled virtual assistant will be instrumental in business growth as well as improving the efficiency of a business. They also lighten your workload, allowing you to concentrate on your business and restore work/life balance.
At Prontus, we are passionate about offering the very best in admin support to businesses. Get in touch to find out more - hello@prontus.co.uk or call us on 0330 912 7418
