Essential Tasks to Delegate to Your VA to Boost Business Efficiency
Essential Tasks to Delegate to Your VA to Boost Business Efficiency
If you want to boost business efficiency while freeing time to do high-value tasks, I’ve got two words that can solve that for you.
Virtual assistance.
As a business coach, I’ve encountered countless burnt-out leaders. They complain they are constantly stressed because they work long hours every week. They find themselves stretched out thinly because they have multiple hats at work.
Why do they put themselves through this? Because there’s this misconception that business leaders should work harder and longer to accomplish great feats. But there’s a quicker and simpler way to achieve business success. You need to start working smarter and learn how to delegate tasks. Stop doing everything yourself and get a Virtual Assistant (VA) to help you.
In this article, I’d like to share how you can use VAs to boost business efficiency without feeling burnt out after long hours of work. This tip is something that I use - and I can attest to how important it is in building a successful business.
What is a VA?
A VA or Virtual Assistant is a remote worker who assists business leaders and professionals. They don’t have to be in the same country as their client. They can work from overseas and connect to your team online.
VA roles are quite flexible. You can train them to be anything the business needs to function seamlessly and cohesively. They usually come with basic administrative skills but they can also learn other tasks. They can be given various responsibilities that include administrative, marketing, research, project management and other tasks that would allow business leaders to focus on doing high-value functions.
According to statistics, there are millions of VAs on popular outsourcing platforms with Freelancer having the most at 20 million, Upwork with 12 million and Fiverr with 3 million. Some statistics even reveal that 25 million VAs are working online.
What makes VAs incredibly popular is that they can be hired on an hourly basis. So if you only need them to work 20 hours a week - you don’t have to pay them a full salary the way a full-time employee would demand from you. And since VAs can be hired from overseas, you can get talented individuals for a lower hourly rate - specifically in areas where the cost of living is significantly lower.
How does a VA fit into your team?
There are three things that VAs can do to help you and your team function well.
First, VAs can increase productivity by taking on non-essential tasks like answering emails, taking calls, setting up meetings, recruiting team members, coordinating with the team, etc. These are simple tasks that can take precious time from your day. According to research, regular employees spend more than an hour each day answering emails. Most of the time, business leaders are copy-furnished in these emails. Imagine how many emails business leaders have to go through daily. This is something that VAs can help with.
Apart from the leaders, VAs can also monitor team members to ensure they’re hitting their targets. They can coordinate meetings, send reminders, create reports and ensure all tasks are progressing as scheduled.
Second, VAs can provide flexibility in business operations. If you hire VAs from overseas, you can have them work and manage the business while you sleep. This gives you a business that functions 24 hours - and it won’t even be considered over time if your VA comes from a country in a different time zone.
Third, VAs can save valuable resources. The statistics show that VAs can lower operating costs by up to 78%. Some VAs come from countries with a lower cost of living. You can find skilled workers with a lower hourly rate - and it’ll still be high enough to help them afford a comfortable lifestyle. Not only that but you can hire VAs only as needed. You don’t have to hire them for 40 hours if there’s no need. Some can work for 20 hours or less each week, which would still give you enough free time to focus on essential tasks only you can do.
Essential tasks you can delegate to a VA
Statistics reveal that 21.7% of leaders find themselves working 60 hours or more weekly. This is unfortunate because according to another research, these long hours lead 44% of entrepreneurs to experience mood disturbances. The result is a higher chance of developing poor mental health and burning out.
This would make business leaders unable to function effectively. How can they lead their team if they’re running low? Remember, how you feel as a leader will reflect on how you lead your team.
The thing is, you don’t even have to work long hours just to keep your business running. VAs can be trained to be a valuable asset to the team. You can delegate various tasks to them so you can free your time and ensure that your mental health is good enough to lead the business.
Let’s go through some of the tasks that VAs can do.
Administrative duties
These duties are simple and repetitive tasks that are considered non-essential. In fact, 6 out of 10 CEOs think these are a waste of time - but only because leaders shouldn’t be the ones doing them. Although they may seem insignificant to business leaders, they are in fact, necessary to keep the business running daily.
This is why delegating these tasks to VAs is the perfect solution. Leave it to them to handle the following:
Email management - this includes sorting, responding and filtering through emails every day. VAs can organise your emails into folders and archive the old ones so you never miss the critical emails that require your attention.
Calendar control - this involves managing appointments (personal and/or work). VAs can coordinate meetings and set reminders to ensure there won’t be any conflicts in your daily schedule.
Data entry - this involves updating databases, encoding new information and maintaining records so everyone has access to current data (e.g. new client information, sales data, etc)
Logistics - this includes arranging any transfer and travel needs of products and even the team. Among the tasks included here are booking flights and accommodations, facilitating deliveries, arranging transportation, etc.
Marketing support
Not all VAs have this skill, but they can provide marketing support with the right training. Among the tasks they can help with include the following:
Content creation - this involves creating and scheduling content for the business’s social media accounts. It could also include sending out newsletters or other marketing materials to promote the business or give updates. This can help engage your target market.
Blog management - this involves providing regular blog posts to update the content available on the website. It also includes promoting the new blogs and managing comments so the target audience remains engaged.
Graphic design includes adding relevant images and creating marketing materials for social media and website content.
Customer relations
Another task you can delegate to VAs involves managing and maintaining proper customer relations. You need someone looking after the email, chat or social media channels to ensure no customer issue is missed. The company’s reputation relies on your ability to manage customer concerns.
This involves time-consuming tasks like responding to customer inquiries, managing social media interactions, and ensuring requests are met. VAs can help escalate concerns to the right people in the business so they can be dealt with. They can act as the traffic person to direct customer concerns to key people. It’s a simple task that can be quite time-consuming so VAs are perfect for handling this task for the team. They can even be tasked to record and monitor how each concern is dealt with so your team can improve how they deal with customers or clients.
Data analysis and research
Businesses go through huge amounts of data and having someone to filter through it will help key people save time. Data is important in making smart decisions so it has to be handled by someone capable enough to know what should be given importance or put aside.
You can assign VAs to deal with vital market research and industry trends so you can create strategic plans for the business. They can also research competitors' strengths and weaknesses, marketing activities, product launches, etc. The data can help you position your business to stand out against them. VAs can help you gather relevant information like customer feedback and industry statistics. They can compile the data into reports that you can use to move the business forward.
Personal assistance
Finally, a VA can assist business leaders in handling personal matters. Not all VAs do this but some would work more as a personal assistant than an executive one.
Among the tasks that VAs can help with include online shopping and order management. This could range from purchases for the office (e.g. equipment, stationery items, etc) or personal items.
VAs can also help business leaders schedule personal appointments like medical or dental check-ups, personal events, family celebrations, etc. This can help business leaders focus on their work without compromising their personal lives and relationships.
Learn how to maximise productivity through VAs
Virtual assistants can be a valuable asset to a business. Delegating the right task to them can transform your business operations while you focus on tasks that only a business leader can do. They can support and help you focus on growth by working on time-consuming tasks behind the scenes.
Of course, you have to get the right VA and train them well. You need to set clear goals and expectations so they can seamlessly work with the rest of your team. With the flexibility and versatility of VAs, they can help you with a variety of tasks like administrative, marketing, customer and data analysis support.
If you want to maximise productivity, I encourage you to work with a VA. They can enhance the efficiency of your business while streamlining your operations.
Are you interested in knowing how a VA transformed my business? Let’s talk. Book a complimentary 15-minute call here: https://www.butleradvisory.com.au/time-with-trent.