Administrative Sparkle Blog

The Question

I received a question that I’m sure most executives want to ask. There are quite a few VA services out there, as well as online services that the executive or business owner can locate and advertise for a virtual assistant. The problem I have with most of these services, is the VA bids on the job, hoping to make, what?, $5 an hour. Not for me. The client does not pay for office space to house me, doesn’t have to provide me with a desk and computer, and doesn’t have to provide me with medical or take care of the taxes associated with employing me. Why would you pay any less than what you would for a traditional assistant.

I don’t really know the track record on many of the assistants on these services. My understanding is many come from overseas and there will be a bit of language barrier. They may be able to speak the language, but the translation and how they may interpret the instructions of the assignment may be less than what you get from a seasoned professional assistant. I’m not necessarily dissing the services, they do provide income for those who are looking for some extra change, and I do mean only “extra.”

My point on this is,

Remember, you get what you pay for.

So don’t pretend to be surprised.

Nevertheless here is the question:

Layne,
Is it possible to provide such a service virtually? I work all over the world, and I’m not so sure.
W

This Was My Response

Sure. Having worked in the standard “cubicle” world for years, the majority of communication, tasks, and assignments go through email now. Email has become so prevalent that you will find that there is less direct communication with the administrative assistant in today’s office. Most of the time I feel I can get more done working from home without the interoffice distractions. With IMing such as Yahoo, if you need to get the attention of your assistant, that would actually work more efficiently because the boss does not have to interrupt their work flow by personally walking to the assistant for requests. Documentation is all electronic as the office has become more paperless to a certain degree.

So you have the ability to communicate on different levels, have less disruption in your own work processes, and receive documents quickly through electronic transfer. You not only get the actual electronic documentation for your records and files, if necessary, all you should have to do is send to print or forward electronically to the party that needs it. You can even permit to have your assistant use an electronic signature and lock up the document or convert to PDF.

There are some tasks that require someone to be in the office, such as filing or meeting and greeting clients. The end result is, when working with a trusted and highly skilled assistant, you save time, money, and the need to babysit the time and activities that an in-house assistant does. When an assistant isn’t busy in the office, you pay for that down time. Sure there is busy work, but the point is, you pay for only the time it takes to get the assignment done. Just communicate clear objectives on the details, expectations, and any deadlines so there is less likelihood of misunderstanding or receiving an assignment that does not meet the criteria you expect. Start with simple projects, develop a relationship, and work up to the more complicated assignments as the you and the assistant become familiar with each others style.

I hope this helps.

Further Thoughts & Costs

I actually got to think about the further details that went into retaining a quality assistant after I posted this.  I wrote a college paper that detailed the cost of hiring an employee.  Let me list a few:

1. Time (is money) for partners to discuss the need to fill the position.
2. Time spent putting together the ad to list for hire.
3. Cost for the various mediums to use (i.e., want ads in the local newspaper, Monster.com) or if using a medium that is free (i.e., Craigslist), the time to repost until the position is filled.
4. Time spent taking and assessing each resume.
5. Time spent setting up interviews.
6. Time spent in interviews (is there more than one manager included?).
7. Time wasted on no-shows (this still happens).
8. Time for second interviews.
9. Time for hiring process and paperwork.
10. Time spent training.

This is just the hiring process.  I must admit if you choose to go with a virtual assistant, many of these costs are eliminated or greatly reduced.  A manager can research Virtual Assistant services and, as I mentioned above, start them out on simple tasks.  Also the work is contracted.  You don’t have to keep them for a month to work out the bugs if you don’t want to because you feel that you have invested so much time, energy, and money on hiring this individual, you would have to do the process all over again. Ugh!  Also, when it is time to let the person go, with an employee you have to pull a Donald Trump, “You’re fired!”  Working with a virtual assistant, at least in the beginning it is understood that the first project or first several projects are a sort of analyzing of whether or not to continue with their services.  You can always move on if it’s not the right fit.  No hard feelings (if done professionally of course on the sides of both parties).

Working with a virtual assistant is a partnership.  Something like dating or marriage.  As long as both parties are satisfied with the quality of the relationship it will continue.  Keep in mind that the virtual assistant is a business owner as well, they can decline to provide service if they feel that it is not a good match as well.  What I like about this scenario is we are talking about providing a relationship that encourages trust and respect.  We could all treat each other that way.

What are your thoughts? I thought it was interesting that this person actually works all over the world. Wouldn’t he/she in essence be working virtually anyway? Participate in your comments with your thoughts on the pros and cons of an assistant working virtually or is it really necessary to have someone in your office to get an assignment done properly. Interested in hearing different views.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.