Skills Needed for Virtual Assistant

Communication

One of the top virtual assistant skills is communication, both asynchronous and synchronous. Sometimes, you may be working in real-time with your client during a video conference or a phone call, while other times you’re giving updates via email, Slack, or text.

Virtual assistants need to communicate clearly with clients and on behalf of their clients. Companies and individuals engage virtual assistants because they need help completing tasks and want to make their lives easier. As a virtual assistant, your job is to complete these assignments virtually.

Depending on the client, you could book travel plans one day and respond to social media inquiries the next. Virtual assistants often represent their clients when sending out emails, interacting with followers on social media, or making cold calls, and strong professional communication skills are a must.

Time Management

Successful virtual assistants are experts at managing time—both their own and their clients’. When working as an independent professional, you create your own schedule and decide when to take on projects or say yes to new clients. As a virtual assistant, you need to complete your client’s tasks on time, making sure you stay caught up and finish all assignments.

Part of effective time management is knowing your workflow and how much you can realistically complete in a day. As you say yes to new projects, create a personal schedule and to-do list that is manageable. Minimize distractions and block off your time into tasks, so you’re working efficiently. The right time management tips can help you become an expert!

Some clients may require personal scheduling and planning, and creating their calendars and arranging meetings will be up to you. Each client and company is different, and learning what works best may take some trial and error. You could also be working in a different time zone than your client and need to double-check times and be flexible for meetings.‍

Bookkeeping

Bookkeeping is a worthwhile skill for virtual assistants. You could offer this as a service or make it your niche and specialize in bookkeeping; many companies look for virtual assistants to manage the day-to-day of their finances. Keep in mind that bookkeeping is different from accounting. It’s less inclusive, with specific tasks that might include:

• Invoicing
• Data entry
• Billing
• Employee reimbursement
• Reconciliation (comparing financial records to ensure accuracy)
• Payroll
• Inventory control and analysis
• Reporting

Organization

Virtual assistants need to have strong organizational skills. One aspect of being a virtual assistant is keeping your administration tasks organized so you’re on top of every deadline and don’t miss any assignments. Project management, a valuable and in-demand skill for virtual assistants, requires a great deal of organization.

Establishing a daily routine and creating to-do lists can help you stay organized while working. Clients may also ask that you help keep them organized by creating processes and using tools that help streamline their everyday life.

Basic IT knowledge

Being tech-savvy and having basic IT knowledge are helpful skills for virtual assistants. As a virtual assistant, you’ll be working on the computer and may have to use different software and collaboration tools like Microsoft Office Suite.

You may need to create reports in Excel or presentations in Powerpoint. Clients could ask you to create social media content and respond to comments and messages for them. A company may need data put into Salesforce or another CRM. Being able to learn new software quickly can put you at an advantage and make your work easier.

The better your computer skills and comfort with different tools, the more you can offer clients. You could help maintain the business’s website, add new content, or run reports on how certain ads perform.

Self-motivation and Concentration

People transition into freelancing to work on their terms. Freelancers get to pick and choose their clients and the types of projects they work on. But working remotely and setting your own schedule requires self-motivation and concentration, especially as a virtual assistant.

Business owners depend on virtual assistants to complete tasks, often without much oversight. They engage virtual assistants because they have never-ending to-do lists and need someone to step in and help. The more involved they have to be in micromanaging their people, the more time it takes out of their day. For even a small company, that quickly becomes unsustainable even for the best managers. As a virtual assistant, you build trust with your clients to complete your assignments on time.

Successful virtual assistants know how to self-motivate and work in a concentrated flow on one task at a time. When you love what you do, it’s easier to be motivated and not procrastinate.

Tips for improving self-motivation and concentration:

• Create a work schedule and stick to it
• Find a morning routine that works for you
• Designate distraction-free (no non-work notifications) times to work
• Give yourself breaks
• Write to-do lists and check off items one by one
• Work at a coffee shop for a change in scenery
• Go for a walk when you’re feeling burnt out or overwhelmed

Detail Orientation

Virtual assistants care about the little details. When handling administrative tasks and project management for clients, detail orientation is a critical skill. As a virtual assistant, clients rely on you to send error-free emails and to catch any mistakes in presentations and other content before publishing.

Companies depend on virtual assistants to take on tasks requiring detail orientation, whether scheduling or payroll. Being able to complete a long to-do list without any mistakes is vital. Virtual assistants must stay ahead of deadlines and work on time-sensitive tasks that call for precision.

Tips for being more detail-oriented:

• Use programs like Grammarly to check for spelling and grammar mistakes
• Focus on one task at a time
• Double-check your work
• Write deadlines in your calendar
• Minimize distractions
• Take notes during meetings
• Break up bigger tasks into smaller, more manageable sub-tasks
• Get the right productivity tools

Social Media Management

A popular task for virtual assistants is social media management. Companies or influencers need help managing their different social media accounts, from posting content to responding to inquiries. And because social media is so fast-paced, they need someone to actively monitor and engage with their social media accounts. Followers expect a quick response when they ask a question on a brand’s social media channel.

Social media marketing is a major focus for many brands, and creating content daily to engage their followers is important. It’s a way for them to connect with customers one-on-one through paid and organic content. Virtual assistants with social media management skills should be able to create on-brand content and respond to comments and messages appropriate on behalf of the brand.

When managing social media for a client as a virtual assistant, you could have a variety of responsibilities, including:

• Mapping out content calendars
• Planning content
• Moderating comments
• Interacting with followers
• Keeping up with trends
• Reposting follower content
• Responding to direct messages from customers or brands
• Run, monitor, and report on ad campaigns