If you’re like most people considering hiring a virtual assistant, you’re probably wondering what you can and cannot assign to them. Well, we’re here to help.
Below you’ll find 15 things you can assign to your VA and 5 tasks that are likely not good for you to have a virtual assistant handle.
15 Tasks to Assign to a Virtual Assistant:
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Coordinating Your Schedule & Appointments
Your virtual assistant will be ready to set and manage your schedule for you. They can mark down any of your important dates or deadlines (both business and personal), organize meetings with your clients and handle cancellations. Your VA is also the perfect person to set reminders so you’ll never miss a meeting or forget a deadline. -
“Bad Cop” Your Acquaintances
As a business person, your time is valuable. If you have a hard time saying “no” when an old friend invites you out or a colleague you’d rather not spend time talking to asks for a meeting, have your virtual assistant be “the bad guy”. You don’t have to worry about the stress or making excuses for meetings you don’t have or want to take. -
Book Hotels and Transportation
Does your job require a lot of travel? Minimize your stress and ask your virtual assistant to book your flight(s) and room(s). Your virtual assistant can also secure you a rental car if need be.
As an added bonus you can task your virtual assistant with emergency resolutions for when travel goes haywire and you still have to be in meetings. Your VA can book new flights and hotels or arrange transportation so you can take care of business vs. worrying about getting home or having a bed to sleep in. -
Ghostwrite Templated Responses
Do you send out company emails and memos? Let your VA write them for you. Your employees will still get the good word from a boss who cares—and you do care—and you’ll save a little time in your busy day. -
Assist in Recruiting New Hires
Looking for new hires? Turn your virtual assistant loose on LinkedIn and let them bring candidates to you. Once your virtual assistant knows what to look for in the candidates, you can have them pre-screen each applicant saving you more time and hassle. -
Paying Bills
You can absolutely assign your VA to make sure your bills get paid on time. The less you have to worry about personally, means the more you can work on professionally. -
Make Reservations and Handle Gifts
Important potential client you’re looking to “wow”? Have your VA make swanky dinner reservations and pick up a little present. All that’s left to do is enjoy the evening and shake hands on a done deal. -
Put Together Presentations
If you can provide samples, or require presentation development as a skill set, your VA can and will research and create your PowerPoint presentations for you. You no longer have to worry about slides looking good or presentations being done “your way”. Your virtual assistant learns your business and your needs so they can support you. And this makes them the person people to create your presentations. -
Collect Overdue Invoices
Task your VA with your company’s accounts receivable process. They can track and collect payments and, if the occasion arises, escalate issues that require your immediate attention. -
Handle Your Social Media
If you need to have a social media presence, your virtual assistant can be tasked with managing your accounts. Be specific with what you want and do not want content, wording and image wise, and let them handle your personal branding. After all, your virtual assistant does know you the best.
Bonus tip: If you’re worried about them handling your presence, have them pre-schedule the shares in a tool one week in advance so you can delete anything that isn’t “on brand”. -
Be Your Editor
If you do all of your writing, a VA well-versed in grammar and the like can serve as your editor. The second set of eyes will ensure all of your communications go out squeaky clean. In addition, your employees will appreciate working for a boss that knows where to place a comma. -
Serve as Your Receptionist
When time gets tight or the front desk person needs a break, your virtual assistant can be their backup. This does mean they’ll be less focused on your tasks, but the overall team health and making sure everyone is taken care of benefits everyone. -
Maintain the Books
As you scale your business, you may find that specific accounting and management tasks can be delegated. With a little training, or by hiring a virtual assistant with accounting knowledge, your assistant can handle some company finances. But you will need to make sure a licensed accounting or bookkeeping professional checks the final work. After all your VA is not a finance professional, they are your assistant. -
Manage Files
Regardless of what type of storage you use, from Cloud storage, a good old filing cabinet, train your VA where to put specific files and let them handle your business housekeeping. Lets face it, your time is valuable, having to file and organize isn’t a good use for it. This is literally one of the things your VA is trained to do. From title processing to legal work, let them do their job to free up your schedule so everyone can win. -
Handle Leisure and Wellbeing
Don’t forget why you hired a virtual assistant. You wanted help with handling the stresses of business. Don’t hesitate to ask your VA to pen in your leisure activities and schedule massages and spa days. A real good VA that knows you well might even do these things without being asked.
Now that you have 15 things you can ask your virtual assistant to do for you, here are five that are likely not the best match.
5 Tasks Not to Assign to a Virtual Assistant:
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Being Ready 24/7
Your VA has a life outside of your business. They need time to do the things that keep them happy and they need time to get rest and take care of themselves. A happily rested virtual assistant with a good work-life balance will go above and beyond for a good boss. -
Handling Your Major Contracts
Once you have fully adjusted to your VA and they have worked on smaller projects, keep the big clients and accounts to yourself. Your virtual assistant can handle booking rooms for the meetings and the restaurants for dinner and drinks, but it’s your business. When there’s a lot on the line and your new virtual assistant hasn’t worked with your smaller accounts, handle it yourself until they are ready. -
Waiting on You
Your virtual assistant is not your servant. Yes you are paying them to help make your life easier, but until you’ve established some report with them don’t expect to cater to your every need. In time you will get to know each other and your VA will get to know your habits, but you can’t expect someone to be there for your every beck and call. This is especially true when you have just hired your VA. -
Respond to Vague Tasking
Don’t expect your VA to read your mind right off the bat. If your virtual assistant has questions or asks for clarification on something, be kind and help them. The more they understand you and your tasking, the more likely things will get done the right way. -
Anything They’re Uncomfortable With
It always helps to ask yourself, “would I do this?” before tasking your VA. If the answer is “no,” then chances are they don’t want to either (unless it is paperwork, that is their job). So keep your work relationships professional and respectful.
Now you have 15 tasks you can assign to your virtual assistant and five things you likely should not ask them to do. If you’re ready to take the plunge, email sales@safivirtual.com. We’ll ask you what skills your perfect VA will have and match you to your perfect virtual assistant already in our database.