Wondering if you should hire a Virtual Assistant or an Executive Assistant?
There are definitely similarities between the two, and it’s easy to just label one or the other.
In a nutshell, this is the difference between the two positions:
A 𝐕𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐀𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭, by definition, is an assistant that you hire online to help you manage tasks and get work done in your business.
𝐄𝐱𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐀𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬, traditionally, are also thought of as personal assistants who manages the projects in a company.
Nowadays both jobs are done online and are typically outsourced to a different country.
To further define the difference between both, it boils down to The Who.
According to the book Who Not How by Dan Sullivan and Benjamin Hardy, when hiring or filling a position, you need to start by asking yourself “Who Can Help Me Achieve This?”
“𝗪𝐡𝐨 𝐝𝐨 𝐈 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐦 𝐈’𝐦 𝐭𝐫𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐯𝐞?”
Before we dive into the difference between the two, we’ll cover their similarities:
- They work directly with you
- They handle the admin tasks like email and calendar management for you
- They’re able to handle creating and updating systems as needed
When we first started looking into the differences between a VA and a Remote Executive Assistant, the easiest way we were able to paint the picture for it was the difference between the two assistants in the movie “The Devil Wears Prada”:
The main character, Andy, was hired as the junior assistant to Miranda Priestly.
She took care of the small details like manning the phone, getting lunch or coffee for her boss, running errands, or simply taking notes for Miranda.
Emily however, the senior assistant, was in charge of the bigger things in the business.
She managed Andy, managed Miranda’s contacts, coordinated with different heads of divisions in the company, and generally helped run the business when Miranda was out.
Toxic relationship with Miranda aside, these two assistants functioned in different ways, which is what we’ll dive into on the specifics of which kind of assistant they were:
𝐕𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐀𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭
This book is really more focused on hiring a Virtual Assistant, so it’s only fair that we look at what Virtual Assistants bring to the table as you’re hiring one:
𝟏. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜 𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐯𝐞 𝐚 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐦
A Virtual Assistant is usually someone who has a specific skill that you need in your business. It could be that they’re great at graphics, social media, programming, etc. They’ve either trained up for it or you’re providing the training for them to be good at that specific skill.
𝟐. 𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐬 (𝐃𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐲, 𝗪𝐞𝐞𝐤𝐥𝐲, 𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐡𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐬)
Most VAs are used to doing more repetitive tasks in your business that need to be done to keep it running.
Whether it’s sending out weekly newsletters, creating and submitting reports, or simply reminding you of your daily tasks, VAs can help you manage yourself as well.
𝟑. 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 (𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞, 𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬, 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲, 𝐞𝐭𝐜.)
Speaking of managing you, a VA is typically someone who is just working directly with you on what you need to show up in the best way in your business.
From managing your flights, hotels, to managing or sending out flowers for your wife or dates, they can help manage the little things in your life as well.
𝟒. 𝐓𝐲𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭-𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤
While you can definitely hire a VA for full-time work, most VAs are working for different clients, since their task list are mostly repetitive and could be done in just a few hours a day instead of taking the whole day to get the work done.
𝟓. 𝐅𝐨𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐬
Since a VA typically only gets snippets of the business and your life, they can focus on the details and getting everything going even when you’re not there – as long as it’s what they either specialize in or it’s an area they have mastery in.
With the Devil Wears Prada metaphor, Andy falls into the Virtual Assistant position as someone who was mostly working with what Miranda needed and focusing on the details.
Now onto:
𝐑𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐞 𝐄𝐱𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐀𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭
Since Andy was a VA, Emily falls into the Remote Executive Assistant role. A Remote Executive Assistant (or REA for short) is someone who is:
𝟏. 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭/𝐎𝐮𝐭𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐅𝐨𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝
Instead of doing the tasks, a REA is someone who typically oversees the tasks and makes sure they get done. They are more outcome-focused, looking for different ways to get the goal finished by coordinating with different people or resources.
𝟐. 𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐨𝐫 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐭𝐡-𝐟𝐨𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐬
REAs are great for tasks that require research or experimentation as they know more about your business and what you need. Whether it’s researching new tools to use in the business, or being able to stalk the new client you’ve just closed a deal with, REAs can dive into whatever information you need for your business. They can also help focus on growth-focused tasks, such as checking out what other businesses in the same industry are doing.
𝟑. 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 (𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮!)
As mentioned above, REAs are more focused on the business instead of just directly with you. They can definitely still take care of flights, or ordering online coffee from your favorite cafe to be delivered, REAs will typically either have someone else be able to do this, or use a tool to get this done. Most REAs eventually become the head of operations in someone’s business, as they get to know how different things are run and how they grow them.
𝟒. 𝐅𝐮𝐥𝐥-𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤
For someone to be an effective REA, they do need to be working full time for you and your business. They will typically be focused only in the work that they need to do in the business and will not need to look for other clients.
𝟓. 𝐅𝐨𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧
Instead of focusing on the small things from day to day, a REA is someone who can help you in executing the vision in your business, and keeping track of where you’re at. They can also manage the different people who are executing different goals and being able to give you updates and follow up on anything that they might need from you.
Once again, it depends on your business on WHO you need. Your business might even need a VA to shift to REA at different times, which is what happened to my own assistant.
Who do you think you need in your business? A VA or EA? Let us know in the comments!
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