As a Virtual Assistant, we are often asked by family, friends, people we meet and prospective clients how it works being a VA. The image of clients talking to the likes of Alex or Google Home, or us sitting at home on the sofa with our pyjamas on, looking unkept with no makeup, hair everywhere and a cup of coffee in hand is the general perception. Those who are new to the idea of working with a VA can find it difficult to understand what a VA does, how do they work with clients who are often in different counties, countries and timezones. So here is a day in the life of a virtual assistant.
Our day starts no differently… Our daily routine starts the same as anyone else. We get up, we get ready and head to the office. Some of our team here at VASS work from our offices in London so it really is no different with the same commute to work each day. Those who work from home may not have the commute into work, but each has their own dedicated office space with all the necessary equipment and privacy they need for a day’s work.
Review the plans for the day Once settled in the office, it’s time to review the plans for the day. Checking what calls and meetings are scheduled in, any reminders that need to be followed up and what work needs to be completed for the day.
Time for a catch up For our busier clients on retainer packages, it often involves a morning telephone or video call to run through their schedule for the day, looking at what their plans are, ensuring they have everything they need for their busy day, and taking anything off their hands that we can deal with.
Email time Next it’s time for emails. After we have checked our own inboxes for anything that our clients need support with, it’s time to check the email accounts we manage on behalf of our clients. Often reviewing the emails from our clients or to our clients means adding things onto the to do list for the day. Our clients’ emails are managed on a daily basis, so it doesn’t take long for us to sift through, deleting any junk, flagging things to review or actioning requests as we go.
Workload for the day This is where it can be hard to describe the average day of a virtual assistant. Here at VASS we have a range of experts specialising in different areas. For some, it’s time to crack on with some bookkeeping, for others it could be marketing, data entry, general admin support, diary management, designing images and graphics, organising an event, booking travel etc.
Each and every task is tracked using time tracking software to ensure our clients are only paying for the time we are working on their tasks. Every time a task is completed, or we have need to take a break or a call, the timer is stopped.
Lunchtime Being no different to anyone else, we do stop for a lunch break. We encourage our team to take a break away from their screens and to enjoy their lunch but having a passionate and dedicated team can sometimes mean it’s hard to pull them away from their desks for very long before they are back at their desks for the afternoon workload!
More emails Unless it’s an extremely busy inbox, we encourage both our clients and our team to only check their emails at certain times of the day. This proves a much better management of time and stops their inboxes from managing their workload. After lunch it’s time to check the inboxes again to deal with anything new that has come in since this morning and action accordingly.
Follow up calls With our busier clients, the afternoon can sometimes be a time for more catch up calls as they are on the train heading back to the office or home. This is their opportunity to run through any follow ups required from their meetings that day, anything they need actioning or updates to pass on. It’s also an opportunity to review their plans for the next day, and the rest of the week to make sure both the client and our team are up to date on any changes in their schedule.
Wrapping up for the day This is the chance to check through email inboxes again and make sure there is nothing urgent outstanding. It’s also the opportunity to add any later work requests onto the to do list for tomorrow. Then it’s a final check of the calendar to see what telephone or video calls are planned in for tomorrow where the day will start all over again.
If you are considering using the services of a Virtual Assistant, why not arrange a discovery call to find out more about the services we offer and support that we can provide. Call us now on 020 3370 4075.