A virtual admin assistant is someone equipped to tackle administrative tasks that are specific or general in nature from outside of a business. If you hire them, they would not be your employees, however, working with them can feel like having remote employees (minus the various responsibilities).
In this blog, we will discuss what exactly a virtual admin assistant is, and why would you need to hire one. Let’s dive in.
What is a virtual admin assistant?
If you want to know what a ‘virtual’ admin assistant is, it is a simple explanation, it is an assistant who provides admin support remotely. Now let’s understand this role comprehensively and get a broader and deeper understanding of what a virtual admin assistant is.
To understand that, we should first take a look at the most common administrative tasks.
- Data entry
Data entry involves the encoding of business-related information into a computer system or online database. Data may come from recordings, handwritten documents, or even phone calls. The goal of data entry is to achieve a systematic and organized database to keep track of data.
- Customer relationship management
Customer relationship management (CRM) administrators are responsible for managing, creating, and assessing strategies that help regulate systems from business to customer relationships.
CRM management tries to establish and secure ongoing relationships with the business’s key clients. Tasks include CRM Data Entry, CRM Testing, Customer Segmentation, Reporting and Analysis, etc.
- Presentations, reports, and transcription
Administrative tasks also include creating various reports. These include research reports concerning legal issues, competitors, and data on professional associations. Administrative assistants can keep a record of meeting minutes and create PowerPoint presentations too.
Companies that do not want to hire an in-house transcriptionist professional may delegate the tasks to administrative assistants. Administrative professionals with grasp over business terminology are responsible for transcribing live meetings, and audio or video recordings.
- Database management
With the continuous expansion of a business, the amount of data also grows exponentially. This makes it essential for companies to build a robust database. It is crucial to keep all pertinent data in a well-organized and specially designed database system.
Having a good database management system lets businesses enjoy solid security and privacy and quality storage optimization.
A virtual admin assistant is a professional who handles the tasks mentioned above (and more) for a business from a remote location.
You can hire an administrative virtual assistant on a long-term or short-term basis depending on your requirements. Also, you can deploy them to handle the ongoing work or take over specific projects or tasks. You should contact your service provider and discuss your requirements before deciding what type of virtual admin assistant your organization needs.
Why do you need a ‘virtual’ admin assistant?
Managing admin tasks can be a real struggle when you have other responsibilities to prioritize. It is especially necessary to delegate these tasks to a virtual admin assistant when you have tasks that directly contribute to the growth of the business.
Let’s take a look at the reasons why most outsource these tasks to admin VAs.
1. Admin tasks are overwhelming you
Administrative duties in some moments can seem to be a never-ending stream of paperwork, scheduling, and other tedious work that involve very few skills in your arsenal. These tasks (namely files and inboxes that need to be managed, meetings that need to be scheduled, etc.) can accumulate quickly and overwhelm you where something’s going to give. At this point, delegation is the right choice to make.
2. Burnout is a real possibility
When your day to day admin tasks grow out of proportion and you get overwhelmed by it, burnout is a real possibility. When you are trying to take care of your primary responsibilities (for example, creative thinking, development of strategies, driving innovation, and so on) and these routine tasks at the same time it is going to negatively impact your work and your overall health. An admin VA can prevent all this.
3. Hiring in-house is not possible
Hiring in-house may not be possible at the moment, but you do need an extra pair of hands. Quick. This is a scenario many businesses find themselves in where they want to work on every new project they get their hands on and satisfy the clients, without watering down the quality. When you lack resources to hire in-house, going for a virtual administrative assistant can lighten up the burden of tasks costing much less.
4. Your work-life balance is at risk
Do you miss out on meetups with friends and family dinners frequently? Is it because you have to use the time after business hours to complete tasks? Then you are moving in the wrong direction and you need someone to help you get back on track. While dedicating time and effort is crucial for business success, a healthy work-life balance is the thing that keeps the business successful for a long time.
5. Admin tasks are hijacking your day
No matter the industry, there comes a moment when you feel that your day is filled with tasks that are not worth your time. As these generally low-skill tasks hijack your day you get less and less time for the tasks that matters the most to you. It can also happen with tasks that require specialization and you are forced to do them without being an expert on them. Hiring the right admin virtual assistant is the key out of this mess.
Furthermore, the benefits of hiring a virtual assistant for admin tasks changes depending on whom you hire from (managed virtual assistant service providers, contract agencies, or a freelancer). We have discussed this in detail on our blog about how to hire a virtual assistant.
Final thoughts
Hope that this blog has helped you understand what a virtual admin assistant is. If you find yourself desperately in need of more time in a day, or feel stuck doing work that is not your specialty you sure need to consider outsourcing those tasks to a virtual assistant. If those are admin duties, the appropriate solution would be to hire an expert admin VA who will take over tasks and let you focus on what you do best from day one.
