An administrative virtual assistant is an independent contractor who works remotely. They are essential in today’s remote and hybrid work culture.
They can perform light administrative work like answering emails to top-level industry-specific tasks like managing Real Estate Listings.
Administrative Virtual Assistants are revolutionary, cost-effective, flexible, scalable, and the most productive solution for your company.
This article will explain what a Virtual Administrative Assistant does, how to use one, and their hourly rates. Keep reading to discover industry secrets no one else will tell you!
What is an Administrative Virtual Assistant?
An Administrative Virtual Assistant (AVA) is a remote professional who handles essential administrative tasks for businesses or individuals.
They are also known as a “Remote Administrative Assistant”, “Virtual Administrative Assistant (VAA)”, “Virtual Office Assistant”, “Digital Administrative Assistant”, “Administrative Support”, or “Admin VA.”
These experts manages everything, from scheduling and emails to handling data entry and client communication. They allow the clients to focus on core activities.
Virtual administrative assistants are highly adaptable. They offer flexible support tailored to industry needs. It includes project management, document organization, and other clerical duties.
They provide cost-effective solutions by working remotely. So, it improves productivity without the need for physical office space or full-time employment commitments.
What does a Virtual Administrative Assistant do?
An administrative virtual assistant can take many tasks off your plate. From general tasks to industry-specific tasks, VAs can help you with everything.
Below are some different tasks you can entrust to your virtual assistant.
Overview of Daily Tasks
Your freelance administrative will do the following tasks:
- Email management
- Client Communication
- Appointment scheduling
- Social media management
- Data entry and file organization
- Document preparation, report preparation, and all document-related work.
If you want to know what else they do, you can go through our following article.
Read More: What Services Do Virtual Assistants Offer
Industry-Specific Tasks
The best thing about hiring a remote admin professional? You can assign industry-specific tasks to them, and they will excel!
We have highlighted some of the industries where administrative virtual assistants are essential below:
- Healthcare: An online executive assistant specializing in healthcare manages patient data. They transcribe patient sessions and work with doctors in preparing patient documents.
They also offer flexible remote support for appointment setting and scheduling. - Real Estate: An administrative assistant specializing in real estate will manage your listings. They also provide impeccable customer support.
- Tech: A digital administrative assistant provides invaluable admin support for project management.
- Social Media: An administrative VA in social media will reply to queries and messages, and provide customer support.
- Customer Service: A VAA in customer service will process orders, track shipments, and handle client communication.
- Accounting: An accounting administrative virtual assistant will conduct bookkeeping, and handle all financial transactions.
- Project Management: Your project management administrative virtual assistant can coordinate your tasks, and teams, and ensure utmost productivity.
- Finance and Accounting: Hiring an AVA for your Finance and Accounting based company will be helpful. Because they can help you with bookkeeping, invoicing and billing, financial reporting, etc.
Administrative Virtual Assistant Skills
Below are the skills you will need to look for in your administrative virtual assistant:
- Proficient in MS Office, Google Workspace, and other relevant software.
Organized - Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
- Good time management skills
- Has a keen eye for details
- Good at multi-tasking
- Fast problem-solver
How to Use an Administrative Virtual Assistant
Knowing how to use a virtual assistant properly is also not easy.
How do you know that you need an administrative virtual assistant? What do you do once you’ve hired an assistant?
We have outlined a brief step-by-step process on ‘how to use an Administrative Virtual Assistant’ for your convenience, below:
i. Identify Tasks to Delegate
What are the administrative tasks that consume your time? Look into your operations and list the tasks you could streamline.
There are certain core tasks. Other tasks are not essential for your vision for the company but have to be performed daily.
Those latter tasks are the ones you should hand over to your virtual assistant.
ii. Find the Right Fit
You should conduct a thorough vetting process. Look into industry-specific administrative virtual assistants.
Your remote office manager should have the appropriate skill set.
Can they handle email management? Can they schedule appointments? Do they know how to use productivity tools? These are the questions you should be asking yourself to select the right one:
iii. Define Clear Expectations
You should always communicate clearly with your assistant. Be clear about deadlines, workflows, and expectations.
They should have a clear idea of what to expect from the job.
iv. Set Up Communication Channels
Use tools for regular check-ins. Using communication channels will foster an impressive collaborative environment. The tools are:
- Zoom or Google Meets for video communication
- Slack or Discord for virtual communication through texts, and processing workflows
- Email communication for regular check-ins
v. Use Collaborative Tools
Just like communication tools, collaborative tools will make your life easier. The tools are:
- Asana or Trello for project management and productivity
- Google Drive or Dropbox for file sharing
Virtual Administrative Assistant Rates
Different administrative virtual assistants charge different rates. The rates depend on their country, experience level, and job requirements.
Such as, a virtual office assistant from India or Bangladesh will charge low from a VAA in the USA or the UK.
Here is a detail discussion on the remote administrative assistant’s rates.
Hourly Rate for Virtual Administrative Assistant:
The rates will vary based on geographical location, experience level, and industry.
The global average for administrative virtual assistants is between $10-$30 hourly.
Below is a breakdown of the average hourly rates of virtual assistants in different regions:
| Region | USD Per Hour |
|---|---|
| US/ Canada/ Other Parts of North America | $20 - $50 |
| UK and Parts of Western Europe | $20 - $50 |
| Eastern Europe | $15 - $25 |
| East Asia (e.g. Philippines) | $5 - $15 |
| South Asia (e.g. Bangladesh/ India) | $5 - $15 |
Factors Influencing Cost:
There are several factors which influence cost. The factors are analyzed below.
- Experience level and specialized skills: When someone is just starting their career as a remote office assistant, they will charge less.
However, if someone has years of experience, their rates will be higher.
Additionally, specialized virtual assistants charge higher rates compared to generalized virtual assistants. - Full-time vs Part-Time Commitment: If you’re hiring a VAA for 40 hours/week, then that’s a full-time commitment.
They will charge more. If you’re hiring for 20 hours/week or less, or anything that’s not full-time, they will charge less! - Time Zone Flexibility: Often if you’re hiring someone who will have to work in the exact opposite timezone, they will charge more.
Benefits of Hiring an Administrative VA
There are several benefits of hiring an administrative virtual assistant. They will help you focus on core business-related work. This will expand your business, and save you from falling victim to burnout.
Online office assistants cost less too. They are also more profitable, and flexible to work with. Let’s look at the benefits below.
1. Cost Efficiency
You don’t need to pay for an office space when working with a remote office assistant. There are no benefits to worry about either.
Administrative virtual assistants work on an hourly basis. You only pay them for the amount of hours worked. There are no additional costs to worry about.
2. Increased Productivity
An entrepreneur has a million things on their plate. When you offload some of that stress to your AVA, you have more time to focus on core business tasks!
This helps increase your productivity, ultimately benefiting the company.
3. Scalability
You can easily adjust your workload based on company growth. If your company is growing fast, you can hire more administrative virtual assistants.
If your company is slowing down, you can adjust accordingly.
4. Flexibility
Your remote office administrative assistant will offer support in their time zone.
This flexibility makes your working environment more collaborative and healthier.
You can always collaborate virtually and problem-solve together.
Read More: Why Hire a Virtual Assistant?
How to Hire the Right Admin VA
We’ve highlighted the benefits of hiring an administrative virtual assistant. Now the real question is, how do you hire one?
More importantly, how do you know if the assistant you hired is the perfect fit for you?
The truth is, there isn’t a one-size-fits-all answer to this question. However, there are some consistent steps you can follow to streamline your hiring process.
We’ve outlined some of the steps below:
Where to Find VAAs
Where can you find a reliable administrative virtual assistant? There are three main channels where you can find qualified assistants. Those are listed below:
- Freelance Platforms like Fiverr, Upwork, and Freelancer have plenty of qualified administrative virtual assistants.
You can find your digital administrative assistant according to your budget. Their resumes, portfolios, and client reviews are also available publicly. Virtual agencies like Green Feather Technologies can also help. These agencies act as the middleman between you and the virtual assistant for admin tasks.
They will streamline the hiring process for you. This is because they already have a pool of experts that you can pick from.- Lastly, you can always hire directly for your company or ask for recommendations from your peers.
There are plenty of entrepreneurs who use virtual assistants. You can also use networking sites like LinkedIn to get in touch with Virtual Assistants.
What to Look For
What are some of the qualities you should be looking for in an administrative virtual assistant? There can’t be an exhaustive list of traits to look for.
Especially because this will differ between industries. However, there are some general boxes your VAA should tick. Your administrative virtual assistant is qualified if they check the following boxes:
- Technically proficient
- Knows MS Office and Google Workspace
- Have experience relevant to your industry
- Have experience with different productivity tools
- Possess strong written and verbal communication skills
Interview Process
The crucial part is finding a virtual assistant who meets your specific needs. This should be conveyed in the interview process.
You should communicate your expectations and needs clearly. Similarly, you should ask them about their expectations and experiences.
Here are the things you can ask them:
- Ask questions about their previous work experience
- Get information about their previous clients and projects
- Analyze their portfolios, and get feedback from their previous clients
- Ask about their availability and familiarity with different tools
- Give them a test task for a finite period to see if they’re the best fit for you
Read More: How to Hire a Virtual Assistant?
The Challenges You May Face with an Administrative Virtual Assistant While Working
Working with an administrative virtual assistant can come with many challenges. There is no perfect employee, and there are no perfect work environments.
We have analyzed some of the common challenges in working with a VAA below:
i. Communication Barriers
Remote office assistants don’t work around the clock.
You will have to find a way to mitigate time-zone differences. You should also avoid miscommunication via emails or messaging.
ii. Building Trust
Administrative virtual assistants are independent contractors. That’s why, it can be difficult for some entrepreneurs to fully trust them.
Once you take that leap of faith, and let them handle some of the more difficult tasks, it will be good for you.
iii. Technical Issues
Sometimes, VAAs have poor internet connections. Not to mention, there is the issue of software compatibility. Not all PCs and laptops are compatible for all kinds of tasks.
Solutions of the Challenges
Don’t worry, we have solutions to the problems we listed as well! There are many ways to navigate these common problems:
- Provide clear, documented instructions to your VAAs
- Do regular check-ins with your administrative virtual assistants
- Keep in touch with them via reliable communication tools
- Make sure you always engage with them through proper collaboration software.
Conclusion
In conclusion, administrative virtual assistants do everything from email answering to preparing listings and scheduling appointments.
The global average cost of administrative virtual assistants is between $10-$30. Make sure you set clear expectations from the get-go and conduct a thorough vetting process.
Whether you’re a big company with hundreds of employees or a solo entrepreneur, a VAA will streamline operations for you.
FAQs
What type of businesses benefit the most from hiring an administrative virtual assistant?
All types of businesses! Doesn’t matter whether you’re a large company, an SME, or a solo entrepreneur.
What’s the difference between a full-time employee and an administrative virtual assistant in terms of responsibilities?
Virtual Administrative Assistants have specific responsibilities. They help with administrative tasks, depending on your needs. This includes scheduling, email management, document preparation, etc.
Unlike full-time employees, VAAs work remotely. They are paid hourly or in a project-based manner, and don’t get additional benefits.
How do Virtual Administrative Assistants ensure data security and confidentiality?
They are verified experts in their fields, and use encryption and other security measures to ensure data security.
Can I hire a Virtual Administrative Assistant on a project basis instead of hourly?
Yes, you can hire a Virtual Administrative Assistant on a project basis.
How can a Virtual Administrative Assistant improve my work-life balance?
They can free up your time by taking care of daily tasks.
What’s the onboarding process for a Virtual Administrative Assistant?
They don’t need specific onboarding training since they are already experts. You just need to provide them some guidance and constant feedback.
How do time zone differences affect working with a Virtual Administrative Assistant?
It’s not an issue for VAAs since they work remotely. You should have communication channels to solve this issue.
Can a Virtual Administrative Assistant help with personal tasks (like travel arrangements or personal calendar management)?
Yes, your virtual administrative assistant can help you with personal tasks such as travel arrangements or personal calendar management.
How do I measure the performance of my administrative virtual assistant?
You can use performance management software and tools.
