Virtual Assistant: A Simple Definition

When you hear the term Virtual Assistant, your mind may think of the likes of Google Assistant, Google Home or Alexa. However, amongst the world of Virtual Assistants, there is a human equivalent that can also help you with reminders, manage your bookings, sort out your calendar and emails.

So, what is a human Virtual Assistant? A Virtual Assistant (also referred to as a VA) is typically a self-employed individual or agency providing professional and personal administrative services to entrepreneurs and businesses. Amongst these services, many VAs also provide technical and creative support.

Generally speaking, most VAs work from their own home offices or their own business premises where they work with clients on a remote basis. However, there are some that will also work on site or at events when required.

What services do they provide? There are different types of VAs, offering a variety of different services. The largest pool of VAs tends to fall into the general administrative and PA category, where services include diary and email management, data entry, typing and research. However, as the industry has grown, there has been an increase in more advanced and technical support. From web design, IT support to social media management, brand design and marketing.

This is where you will also notice a variety of different titles other than VA/Virtual Assistant. Terms such as Freelance PA, Virtual PA, Online Business Manager, Social Media Manager, Web Designer, Marketing Consultant; these are all becoming increasingly popular with VAs niching into different areas of expertise.

How do they differentiate from an employed PA or office assistant? A VA is typically a self-employed individual, or an agency who are contracted out to provide support to clients in their area of expertise. As they are independent contractors and not an employee, it means the VA or the VA agency are responsible for tax, NI, benefits, insurance and legalities.

Another benefit of using a contractor over an employee is the flexibility of contracts. When working with a VA you typically purchase a set number of hours or time, meaning you are only paying for the actual physical time the VA is sat working. This also gives more flexibility at times of the year when your business may be a little quieter as you adjust the number of hours as you need.

Using a VA for a specific specialised area also means tapping into their area of expertise as and when you need that area of support. They have the experience and have funded their own training to call themselves an expert, allowing you to utilise their specialised services as and when you need them.

There are a lot of benefits of working with a Virtual Assistant and you can read about some of the reasons why you should hire a VA in our blog here.

If you would like to find out more about using the services of a Virtual Assistant, want to know more about what we do and how we could help, call us now on 020 3370 4075 to find out more.

Would your Business Change if you Started using Virtual Staff?

Virtual teams are becoming more popular for a number of reasons. Predominantly the affordability and flexibility that comes with virtual staff is appealing, however, making the decision to hire virtual versus onsite staff can still be difficult. Weighing up the benefits versus the practicalities of not having team members onsite, as well as the financial costs need to be considered. Here is how your business would change if you started using virtual staff.

Reduce office costs Looking at the financial side of hiring a virtual team, it’s an obvious one but ultimately you will reduce your overall office running costs. You won’t need to rent out space in an office for your team, you will save on electricity costs, computers, equipment, stationery etc etc. It soon adds up and will significantly save on the running costs for your business.

Less unnecessary meetings Have you ever found when working in an office, there seems to be a lot of meetings taking place? We end up spending more time having unproductive meetings for the sake of having a meeting. Having a virtual team makes it less tempting to organise these unnecessary meetings, meaning greater productivity in day to day tasks. Meetings can and still take place, but they are normally organised in advance, run more productively and to the point.

Increased productivity Another obvious one is that team members working virtually tend to have less distractions that come from working in a normal office environment, giving them greater focus on the tasks at hand. They are much more productive with getting on with the work at hand and enjoy the flexibility in what they do, whilst eliminating the dreaded daily commute into the office.

Broader range of skills Hiring locally will restrict you to the local talent and skillset in your area. By hiring a virtual member to the team, you open up to a much wider audience, which could result in hiring someone with a broader range of skills. It may result in paying a little more if you require a particular specialist skillset, but ultimately, they will bring a better and more productive service to your business.

Availability Running a business isn’t always a 9 to 5 job and sometimes you need support outside of these hours. Using the services of a virtual team can give you more flexibility and availability. By working flexible hours or in different time zones, they can bridge the gap between what an onsite team member could accomplish, whilst helping you to meet deadlines and customer’s expectations.

Increased flexibility Hiring a virtual team gives you flexibility to scale up and scale down your team more easily than having a fixed location. By only paying for the hours you need, you can increase and decrease as needed, keeping your overheads low during quiet periods of the year, but ensuring you have cover during the busy times. However, it also comes back to the financial savings of hiring a virtual team; you can scale up your team easily without having to worry about additional office space and equipment.

Having a virtual team is becoming widely popular with many businesses who need to keep up with the ever-changing markets. In order to thrive in a competitive market, it’s important to provide a high-quality service, whilst meeting customer’s demands and expectations. Moving to a virtual team will definitely help take the next step in your business success.

To find out more on how we could help to grow your business by using a virtual team, call us now on 020 3890 6990.

How our Lifestyle Managers can Change your Life

Lifestyle management can be seen as a luxury service, but in this modern world, our personal lives can be just as busy and hectic as professionally. Here at VASS, we like to make our client’s lives as stress free as possible, giving them harmony in both their home and working lives.

We offer a range of services to manage and deal with both business and personal tasks, giving you back that much needed personal time to enjoy spending it with your family, friends and doing the things that you love. Here is how our lifestyle managers can change your life.

Supporting your daily schedule With the fast pace of modern life, it’s difficult to squeeze everything in. Business schedules eat up the majority of our time, but at the end of the working day there are still personal errands to take care of, leaving little time to relax. It’s vital that your daily schedule is planned in a way that is organised, managed effectively and ensures your day is as productive as possible. Our lifestyle managers can help you to create the most effective schedule to get the most out of your day, whilst also looking at where you can delegate and outsource.

Create the perfect balance Busy lives can make it hard to create the perfect work life balance. Getting the right mix of business, work and social time can be difficult, often resulting in at least one area suffering. This is another area that our lifestyle managers can work with you to ensure you create the perfect balance for you. Whether that’s setting boundaries, blocking out personal time, or working with you to manage your time more effectively.

Time management An important part to all of this is finding a way to better manage your time. This is the key to having a happy and stress-free lifestyle, whilst ensuring that all tasks, personal and professional are taken care of. To create a seamless and simple daily schedule to fit everything in.

Health and wellbeing Our health and wellbeing is often the biggest area that suffers when it comes to having a busy lifestyle. The added pressure from personal tasks can take their toll. Remembering all the little bits and pieces that need to be taken care of, as well as business related activities can cause unnecessary stress and strain. Even passing on a few tasks a week can have a dramatic impact on your mental and physical health. Whether it’s arranging your dry cleaning, organising a cleaner or booking your car in for a service, all these little bits and pieces soon add up.

Peace of mind Our aim is to help ease the daily stress and overwhelm that comes from a busy lifestyle, whilst at the same time helping you to stay on top of your tasks and be as productive as possible. Whether it’s booking your next family holiday, helping you to stay on top of your personal bills or organising your next family event, we give our clients peace of mind that everything they need to worry about is taken care of. Giving you back your time to concentrate on what matters most.

To find out more on how our lifestyle managers could change your life, call us now on 020 3890 6990.

9 key skills an administrator needs and why they are so valuable to your organisation

An administrator is often seen as someone who carries out general admin tasks, inputs data, answers the phone, gets the coffee or does the filing. However, the reality is that the administrator is often the foundation of a business. They are someone who contributes towards the overall function of the business and are an integral part to any organisation. They often perform critical operational activities that ensures the smooth running of the business.

Here are our top key skills an administrator needs to have and why they are so valuable to your organisation.

Verbal and Written Communication Depending on the size of your organisation, an administrator can sometimes be the first point of contact between your company and your customers. They are also often found dealing with a variety of seniority levels within an organisation, so it is imperative that they have both excellent verbal and written communication skills. Being able to communicate with their peers and customers alike, ensures matters are handled professionally, both face to face encounters and in emails and letters.

PC Skills In a digital age, it is vital to have good PC skills and be familiar with general email and calendar systems, but also Microsoft Office software including Word, Excel and PowerPoint. The ability to navigate other systems, such as an invoicing or CRM system, will ensure they can perform the duties they are required and allows them to get on with the tasks at hand.

Typing Typically, many recruitment agencies and employers will expect a minimum typing speed of 50 words per minute from an administrator. Having a good, and accurate typing speed, can be seen as a way that you will get more work done in less time, helping to increase the productivity for a business.

Organisation Organisation skills play a significant role in helping to achieve a company’s goals. Having good organisational skills will improve the efficiency in the way an administrator works. It can help to reduce stress for the administrator and their colleagues, and can instil trust and professionalism from those around them. Even simple things such as having a well organised filing system will result in things not going missing, or becoming misplaced and helps the rest of the team in being able to find what they need.

Time Management Being a versatile member of the team can result in an administrator being required to support a variety of team members or departments. To ensure an administrator is working as a crucial resource to their team, they need to accurately plan their tasks and time, making sure that their tasks are managed, deadlines are met, team members are updated, and that they are not stretching themselves too thinly.

Customer Service Good customer service skills are essential in being able to handle one-to-one interactions with clients and key stakeholders. An organisation wants to ensure they are keeping their customers happy and providing a good and quality service. Ultimately providing a good service to their customers will impact their revenue. Being able to confidently and professionally deal with any situation that arises will instil trust and professionalism, resulting in happy customers who will compliment and buy again. As an administrator often is the first port of call for a customer, this is an important trait they should possess.

Problem solving At first glance, problem solving can be seen as something straightforward, but not everyone can successfully problem solve within the workplace. It requires a certain set of skills to help identify a problem, look at ways to deal with or handle the situation, making a decision on the best course of action and then implementing the chosen solution. It’s a skill desirable in all roles of a business, but being an integral part of the business, an administrator can be a key asset to assess and find a solution quickly and effectively.

Adaptability Having an administrator in the team who is able to adapt quickly to change is a valuable asset to an organisation. Businesses have, and need, to adapt and change with the times. This makes it increasingly important to have someone who can adapt with the ever-changing demands of a workplace. Having someone with a “can-do” attitude rather than “that’s how we’ve always done it” will keep up the productivity levels and reduce the stress that can come with significant changes.

Initiative An administrator who can use their initiative will stand out from their team. Having a good initiative will help with identifying problems and honing in on problem solving skills, but can improve the efficiency of an organisation, allowing more proactive work to take place. Being able to think ahead and plan things in reduces the risk of problems arising and improves the productivity of an organisation, instead of waiting and then reacting when things happen.

Our Business Support Managers have all these attributes and more! We understand the pressures of running a business and our flexible support will help to reduce your workload and increase your organisation’s productivity levels. If you would like to find out more information on how VASS could help you and your business, call us now on 0203 890 6990.