Join us as we explore the top 5 myths surrounding Virtual Assistants – the human ones – their roots in traditional expectations, and the truth of what to expect. We start with unreliability.
Sadly, as the world becomes more connected, the regularity with which we encounter those out to make easy money or delusional as to their own abilities becomes more frequent.
Be sure to read other of our blogs on the topic of how to build a team using the Belbin Model for your business support needs.
To begin with, let’s list the top 5 myths.
Myth 1: Virtual Assistants are not as reliable as in-house staff – especially PAs – aka unreliability
Myth 2: Virtual Assistants are just too expensive!
Myth 3: Virtual Assistants can only manage basic admin work
Myth 4: Virtual Assistants are only for the short term.
Myth 5: My business is at risk when sharing data with a VA
Myth 1: VIRTUAL means unreliability– Nothing beats a good old-fashioned PA
When your biggest challenge as a business owner or team is managing your workload and ensuring that deadlines are met, it is understandable that you are looking for people that will be committed to your brand. Ideally, we all want to work with individuals that exhibit a strong work ethic and certainly not unreliability.
It’s easy to understand that, especially in traditional businesses setups in the United Kingdom, working with someone you have never met in person could never possibly meet your expectations on a daily basis, unsupervised. Additionally, everyone and their sibling is setting up their own businesses in the ‘work-from-home’ culture. This does detract from what we were used to with CVs, proof of qualifications and references!
Let’s move onto the counteracting truth of the unreliability of a self-employed virtual assistant or an independent business support agency (reliable business support).
It is true that as independent business administration specialists, VAs choose their working hours. In fact, it breaks IR35 regulations for a self-employed person to have their working hours dictated by someone they have a contract with. However, an overriding factor is that Virtual Assistants are acutely aware that their clients are the lifeblood of their businesses.
Any VA worth their salt will commit to fulfilling your agreed expectations in the agreed time frames. I would go as far as to say that maintaining positive business relationships with clients is of greater importance to a VA than it is to many employed staff. A contract is usually easily ended with unfulfilled terms and even notice periods are typically short.
Additionally, virtual assistants are not bound by traditional working hours or geographical locations. This flexibility can be particularly beneficial for businesses with international clients or those that need to provide customer support outside of their own business hours giving a very reliable business support in the long term – as long as these expectations are discussed and agreed within the scope of the written agreement.
A seasoned virtual assistant is unquestionably able to adapt quickly to changing circumstances, having learned to work remotely and adjust to changes in their work environment or schedule. This adaptability can be invaluable for businesses that need to scale up or down quickly based on changing demand. This is often not true of traditional employees. It has become unstated culture that employed staff only work within scope and agreed hours.
Virtual assistants are often highly skilled professionals, well aware of the importance of schedules and deadlines. They are self-motivated and take ownership of their work, ensuring that they deliver high-quality work within the agreed-upon timeframes becoming a reliable business support option.
They generally offer a range of services – from administrative tasks to specialised services such as social media management, content creation, and digital marketing – all strongly reliant on turnaround times.
As established business owners themselves, VAs can provide a wealth of expertise that businesses may not have in-house – adding to their reliability and becoming indispensable additions to the team. This not only saving businesses time and money on training and development, but building businesses from the inside out, alongside the in-house staff.
Additionally, virtual assistants are often connected to clients through online project management tools which provide real-time visibility into the status of projects and tasks. This not only ensures that businesses have full control managing the work being done but provides a level of transparency and accountability that companies are only just becoming accustomed to.
It would not be unfair to say that a Virtual Assistant can provide businesses with peace of mind, working to complete tasks and fully aware of the value of your business arrangement.
No unreliability in sight
In conclusion, the myth that virtual assistants are not as reliable as in-person assistants is simply not true. Virtual assistants offer numerous benefits, including adaptability, understanding, expertise and financial savings in the long term and therefore offering great reliable business support..
We would love to introduce you to the world of competent, dedicated virtual assistants! Feel free to get in touch, today, for a no obligation free 30 minute conversation.
Stay tuned for our next blog when we continue with countering VA myths:
