6 Things You Can - And Should - Outsource to a Virtual Assistant

Many businesses are clear on one thing: they want to work with a virtual assistant. They already know the benefits of doing so, such as saving time and being able to focus more on the core business. Yet they’re not always quite as clear on exactly where they want their virtual assistant to jump in. And it’s not always an easy thing to figure out. 

Deciding which of your tasks to outsource to a virtual assistant is a bit like being asked to tidy your room as a kid; there’s so much that needs to be done that you have no idea where to start. The problem with not really knowing what tasks to hand over is that you probably won’t be deriving full value from the service. And so, before you bring onboard a new virtual assistant, it’s important that you’re clear on what a virtual assistant can do for you, and where their dedicated services could come in handy. 

Here are 6 ideas to give you a little inspiration:

1. Research

Making business decisions is much easier when you have all the necessary information you need. Yet sourcing this information can be a very time-consuming task. That’s where a virtual assistant can come in. A virtual assistant with excellent digital search skills can take over many of your vital research responsibilities, filtering out irrelevant data and providing a clear and concise list of relevant facts and figures. There are many ways a virtual assistant can help in this area, such as researching potential vendors, validating candidate experience, or researching products and competitors.

2. Data Entry

At a time when many businesses are caught between traditional tried-and-tested processes and newer digital solutions, data entry is becoming an increasingly vital task. For example, while you may now store your B2B customer information in the cloud, your business partners may deliver this information using physical methods. It’s essential that your organisation has a process in place to swiftly and accurately transfer data to your own systems, yet this isn’t always a great use of your valuable time. Data entry is a simple and straightforward task that can easily be undertaken by a virtual assistant.

3. Communication Filtering

If you often find that your day-to-day tasks are interrupted by unexpected internal and external communications - through phone calls, emails, or real-time messaging - a virtual assistant can help to filter these communications and ensure you’re not interrupted by non-urgent matters. A virtual assistant can keep tabs on your inbox, answer phones, check voicemail messages, and monitor IM windows. This can help to better prioritise your workload, ensure that urgent matters are dealt with in a timely manner, and make sure that non-urgent requests are handled as and when required.

4. Scheduling & Arrangements

By using calendar software, keeping it up-to-date, and providing access to your virtual assistant, you can outsource all appointment scheduling to reduce your workload and prevent double-booking yourself. Your virtual assistant can arrange both internal and external meetings, at convenient times, helping you make the most of your available time. Your virtual assistant could also take over any arrangements - such as travel plans - that need to be made in order for you to attend these meetings. By conducting research and planning in advance, you could find your travel costs can be reduced.

5. Social Media Management

While you may prefer to leave social media content creation to your own in-house team, a virtual assistant can take over all the backend administrative tasks that come with building and maintaining a strong social presence. Some useful tasks to outsource across this area of the business are creating business accounts on various platforms, building a strong follower base, scheduling content for publication, tracking mentions and interactions, and uploading videos or selected imagery. You may also want your virtual assistant to respond to comments or direct messages to the most relevant team.

6. Employee Experience

More and more research is being conducted into employee needs.  A growing trend that’s being seen is that workers are no longer motivated only by salary; they also want to enjoy a happy, healthy employee experience. This is something that your virtual assistant could be instrumental in creating. A virtual assistant can identify appropriate training opportunities for staff as they arise, research potential employee benefit schemes, plan digital events for socialisation, and build a great workplace culture. This can go a long way towards boosting workplace satisfaction and improving retention.

Make it Work For You

While these tasks are great places to get started, don’t forget that your virtual assistant is there to make day-to-day working life easier and less overwhelming for you. If there are any tasks that you particularly dislike doing, it can be useful to outsource these as you may find they take longer for you to complete than they should because your focus drifts. Or if there are any tasks that you know you struggle with, these can also be great contenders for outsourcing to minimise the risk of error. Working with a virtual assistant is a very personal thing. There’s no one size fits all. So make it work for you.