Remote Administrative Assistant

If you’re a business owner looking to scale your business but are bogged down by routine tasks, then a remote administrative assistant is what you need. Delegate your daily admin tasks to your remote assistant, so you can focus on running and growing your business.

A remote administrative assistant is a professional who provides administrative support to clients from a remote location. Remote administrative assistants help business owners take time-consuming, routine tasks off of their plates. They perform a wide range of remote administrative tasks ranging from data entry to calendar management.

Businesses can benefit greatly from getting remote administrative services. Hiring a remote administrative assistant can positively affect your company’s productivity, expenses, and overall business growth. Here are three ways you can benefit from getting remote workers to provide administrative support.

Scale your business without bloating costs

To help you increase your operational capacity, you may naturally need to hire new team members. However, hiring in-office employees can be expensive. Not only do you have to consider their compensation package, but you also need to spend valuable resources on the recruitment process, including training, office tools, and other requirements needed for in-office work.

Hiring a remote business assistant can provide the benefits of an in-office employee but with lower costs. This is because remote assistants already have their basic office tools (no need to purchase a computer and other tools) and a home office (no need for additional office space).

Delegate tasks and increase productivity

Don’t let daily routine tasks bog you down. While these tasks are essential in keeping your company on course, these can be delegated to an administrative assistant while you work on the more strategic and important parts of your business.

Get more time for strategic planning (and other more pressing matters)

If only I had the time… You’ve probably said that at least once as a business owner. You would have added a new location, taken on more clients, or built an empire. Delegate your basic daily tasks so you can have more time to create a blueprint for your master plan or design your company’s next big move. Hiring a remote administrative support assistant will help you erase “if only” from your vocabulary.

Remote business assistant duties vary per business type or industry, but here are some of the most common administrative tasks that a virtual administrative assistant can do for you:

• Calendar management

A remote admin assistant can help you manage your business and personal calendar. This includes creating events, scheduling meetings, sending reminders, and managing RSVPs.

• Database management

Sometimes, having too much data from your contacts or customer can be overwhelming. Remote admin assistants can help you turn all this data into a powerful tool for your business.

• Scheduling travel arrangements

No need to worry about whether or not you’ve booked the flight or hotel reservation; your admin assistant will do the work for you. Your virtual remote assistant can book travel accommodations, manage itineraries, and even track expenses incurred during trips.

• Data entry

Some data entry tasks to assign to an administrative assistant include filing paperwork, completing forms, taking down correspondence memos, etc. While it may seem simple, data entry can take up a lot of your time, so getting a remote admin assistant to take this task off your plate is highly suggested. You can continue doing your core function while your admin assistant accurately inputs and prepares the data you need.

• Email management

An overflowing inbox can stress a business owner and drag their productivity down. A remote admin assistant can help you take control of your inbox by filtering emails, responding to messages, and creating email templates.

• Customer service support

A remote administrative assistant can serve as your company’s first customer support line. This includes handling customer inquiries from chats to client emails.

• Basic business reports

Most administrative assistants are also adept at creating basic reports using the data they manage. Additionally, they can also coordinate with your different business units if you need to create a business presentation with inputs from all teams.

• Answer and direct phone calls

Although most remote administrative assistant jobs don’t require the administrative assistant to handle incoming and outgoing communications or calls, it’s still possible to find a virtual administrative assistant who can take calls and direct them to the right person.

The above are just a few of the usual tasks that remote administrative assistants can help you with.

While candidates with previous related experience are preferred, those without relevant experience or new grads can also become remote administrative assistants. Most tasks don’t require highly technical know-how. Instead, it would help if you looked for candidates with the following skills:

Organizational skills

Since they will be dealing with a lot of data and business correspondence, a remote administrative assistant needs to be meticulous. The primary job of an administrative assistant is to make their client’s work easier, and they need excellent organizational skills to balance various tasks to do that.

Prioritization skills

Speaking of various tasks, good remote administrative assistants must also know how to prioritize: from most important to least important and from most urgent to those tasks that can wait. Additionally, remote admin assistants should be able to multi-task or juggle the easier activities to make the most of their workday.

Communication skills

Excellent communication skills, including both written and verbal communication, are important for this type of work. This skill helps remote administrative assistants avoid back and forth for clarifications or turning in the wrong output due to miscommunication. When they know how to communicate effectively and which channels to use, they help make their own and their clients’ work a lot easier.

Computer skills

Having basic computer skills is a given for any remote job. A remote administrative assistant needs to know how to use office tools and common cloud-based apps. They also need to have good internet research skills to find information and resources quickly and easily.

Self-disciplined and proactive

Because remote work means no actual or physical eyes on them, a remote administrative assistant must be able to self-motivate and work with little to no supervision. This includes being proactive in asking questions when they need clarification on tasks or instructions.

Flexible

Things change fast in the business world. A remote administrative assistant needs to be flexible enough to keep up with these changes. Flexibility also applies to learning. They must be able to have basic problem-solving skills. A remote admin assistant may not know a task at first, but they can clarify with the client and look up ways to tackle it.

Coachable

Administrative duties may comprise basic tasks, but there are certain things like a company’s specific process or ways of working that a new remote assistant will have to learn. When choosing a remote administrative assistant, being open to learning new things and welcoming constructive feedback are important attitudes to look for.

Before diving into the recruitment process, make sure you’ve got these three things prepared:

List of tasks you need done: It’s important to evaluate the tasks you need done to know the remote assistant skills you’re looking for and help you decide on the hours and your budget.

Hours: Define the hours needed per task to check if you’re looking for a full-time or part-time remote administrative assistant.

Staffing budget: Knowing the tasks you need to delegate to your potential assistant and the number of hours you will require of them will give you a good idea of how much budget you need to allocate.

Once you’ve finalized these three items, you can post your remote job on job search platforms or groups. But to save you the time and stress, it’s best to work with a virtual staffing company that knows its way around finding the best remote talent across the globe.

20four7VA is a US-based virtual staffing company with a decade of experience finding the perfect client-remote worker fit. We offer end-to-end solutions from recruitment, training, and payroll services for your virtual assistant (VA). In addition, 20four7VA clients have access to dedicated customer support to ensure that your VA concerns are addressed promptly.

20four7VA will boost your productivity by helping you find your remote virtual assistant in four easy steps!

1. You just need to fill out our consultation form, so we can set up a call to understand your requirements better.
2. We’ll search our database to match you with the right VA or actively source applicants if we can’t find the right match from our pool.
3. We’ll set up interviews and test tasks (if needed) for shortlisted VA applicants to help you find your VA.
4. Once you’ve decided, we will set up your subscription, and your chosen VA is ready to work!

Are you thinking of getting a remote administrative assistant for your business? Book a call with one of our Business Growth Specialists now!