When working with virtual assistants, there are a few misconceptions that you might already have.
And with these misconceptions is the possibility that either you’re not working with your assistant in the best way, or that you might be hurting your assistant’s growth with the way you’re thinking about them.
Below are the top misconceptions I see all the time that employers make when it comes to working with their virtual assistants:
“𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐂𝐚𝐧 𝐎𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐃𝐨 𝐀𝐝𝐦𝐢𝐧 𝐓𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐬”
When people hear “Virtual Assistant”, it’s usually equated with someone who can only do admin tasks: Email Management, Calendar Management, Travel Management, etc.
However, the reality is that a Virtual Assistant can be someone who can do more than just managing the small stuff – they could be managing you and your business, depending on what you can eventually give them as tasks.
From creating marketing and sales reports to editing your website to managing your projects, the possibilities can be endless.
We have a list of 103 Tasks That You Can Delegate To Your Virtual Assistant where you can get started and take a look at the different tasks that our clients have given or asked our assistants to do for them.
“𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐂𝐚𝐧’𝐭 𝗪𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐈𝐧 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐳𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐀𝐬 𝐌𝐞”
When working with VAs, you’re probably going to hire them from a timezone that’s different from yours – and that’s okay.
The reality is that your assistant doesn’t have to be online when you are. They can be available for an overlap time to be able to do meetings to check-in.
For our clients, they’re either meeting their assistants at the start of their day as their assistant’s work is ending or at the end of their day as their assistants start their work.
This way there’s that quick call or check-in to hand off tasks and updates, and you’re both able to choose the time to work instead of needing to be available all the time for questions.
“𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐂𝐚𝐧’𝐭 𝐌𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐬𝐤”
This misconception usually stems when they think that their assistant can’t handle multiple projects or tasks at the same time – and usually, it’s true.
Multitasking can’t really work, but being able to manage multiple projects and tasks can.
It all boils down to one main factor: priorities.
When working with your Virtual Assistant, they can only work on different tasks and projects successfully if there’s a clear way to prioritize them so they know what they should be focusing on first instead of tackling everything at the same time.
“𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲’𝐫𝐞 𝐀𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐀𝐯𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐓𝐨 𝐌𝐞”
When working with a Virtual Assistant, an employer might accidentally fall into the trap that their assistant will work as hard as they do – but no one can really work as hard as someone who started the whole business.
That’s why thinking that your assistant will be available for you and your business 24/7 will end up hurting your working relationship with them.
There should be clear boundaries of when your assistant is available to you, that way they won’t feel burnt out by the business itself and will keep coming back to help you in any way that they can.
“𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲’𝐫𝐞 𝐃𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐭 𝐓𝐨 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞”
Since they’re not in the same room as you, you might think that it would be difficult to manage your Virtual Assistant since you can’t just have an instant meeting with them as you need to.
And to an extent, it can be true.
But there are different tools and other ways that you can still manage your VA easier, starting with tools like Hubstaff to be able to monitor their time and what they’re working on, Notion or a task databases where you can see what they’re prioritizing as well.
You can set up different models essentially that can give you the ease of managing with your assistant better.
“𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐃𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐍𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠”
If you’re expecting your assistant to be fully trained and working with you ASAP, you’ll find yourself disappointed.
Yes, you can check if someone has the experience with the skill you need them to know about, but as the employer, it’s your responsibility to train your virtual assistant with the current systems you have in your business.
It’s also your responsibility to continuously train them and give them the resources so they can keep going, because only you can really know what your assistant further needs since it’s your business.
“𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝗪𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐌𝐞”
When working with employees, whether in person or online, there isn’t really any guarantees that they will stay.
And when you’re working with someone who is in another country as you, the possibility of them leaving might feel like it’s bigger, but in reality, it’s about the same.
Even if someone was in the same city as you are, they could still leave at a moment’s notice if they wanted to. So working with someone virtually is the same.
It all really depends on how you treat your VA and if it makes sense that you are still working with them.
“𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐊𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 & 𝐂𝐚𝐧 𝐃𝐨 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠”
In a previous post, I’ve already talked about the “Unicorn Syndrome” where we expect our Virtual Assistant to just handle everything, from admin to marketing to web development.
But your assistant is only one person.
They can either be a Jack/Jill Of All Trades or an expert in a specific field, but they can’t be both.
So thinking that just because they’re your VA they can handle anything and everything in your business can lead to you burning out your assistant, instead of being able to give them resources like other experts and tools to be able to handle working with you and your business.
“𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝗪𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐌𝐲 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐈𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧”
Since everything’s online, it might be a bit nerve-wracking to give someone bank information, log-ins, and access to different parts of your business.
So it is understandable if you think that your Virtual Assistant can steal your information, especially since this has happened to other people.
But you can always set up systems, like using tools like LastPass or Privacy where you can restrict access to a few things in your business, or having your assistant sign an NDA.
“𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐃𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐇𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐆𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐄𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐄𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡”
While it’s true that since English is the third language for most Filipinos, it is a subject that is taught extensively in school.
And you can filter for those who have good enough English through different skills tests in the hiring phase.
But unless you’re hiring a content assistant or one who would be calling up customers and clients, you won’t really need VA with good English.
Most Filipinos with a college degree would be someone who can communicate well with you, and with a bit of training, can start improving their English as they work with you as well.
At the end of the day, working with Virtual Assistants can be easier with clarity and communication. You’ll be surprised with how some beliefs you may have right now can be switched into a powerful learning point with your VA.
What was a misconception on this list that you believe in? Let me know in the comments!
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