At some point, business owners need support. It doesn’t matter the size of their business; the fact remains that they have work that needs to be done, and handling it alone can become tedious. When a business owner gets to this point, particularly small business owners, they often consider hiring a Virtual Assistant. But the question becomes: what type of assistant would best support their needs?
When it comes to virtual support, there are two main kinds of Virtual Assistants: Virtual Assistants (VAs) and Virtual Executive Assistants (VEAs). They may appear similar but the roles they play can be quite different even though both types of assistants save time for the person they work for by taking on delegated tasks.
Deciding between hiring a virtual assistant and a virtual executive assistant can be tricky which is why in this article, we will take you through the difference between both assistants and what they do, this way you’ll know which one is best for you and your business.
Who is a Virtual Assistant
A virtual assistant is a versatile professional who supports busy business owners and managers with tasks from a different location. They can perform different tasks like scheduling meetings, managing emails, entering data, customer service, and basic bookkeeping. VAs are great for small businesses, entrepreneurs, and solo professionals who need help with everyday tasks. This allows the employer to devote maximum time to core functions in their business.
Virtual assistants take direction from the business leaders and are typically most effective in completing common or recurring tasks. They often require direction on which tasks to prioritise, but they are a helpful job function for offices that need someone to take over daily administrative tasks.
Today, some of the responsibilities of a virtual assistant include:
- Email management – A virtual assistant can review and tidy your inbox, flag and forward important emails, and even carry out actions or respond on your behalf with the right guidance.
- Scheduling and calendar management – A virtual assistant can manage your calendar, schedule appointments, and even organise your daily to-do list to make sure you don’t miss any important deadlines.
- Finance management – Managing bills, expenses, invoices, and receipts is one of the most important parts of the day-to-day running of any business. It also, however, can be one of the most time-consuming. Virtual assistants can help save you the time, energy, and stress by doing it for you.
- Customer service support – A virtual assistant can help respond to customer emails, handle complaints, and provide support whenever needed.
- Social media management – A virtual assistant can help with handling your social media pages by creating posts, scheduling posts, responding to messages or comments from followers, and more, ensuring that nothing is missed.
Who is a Virtual Executive Assistant
A Virtual Executive Assistant is a professional who provides high-level support to the executives they manage.
Beyond setting appointments, taking meeting minutes and handling email correspondence, they manage projects and supervise personnel. Essentially, the play the role of their executive’s “second brain.” Additionally, a virtual executive assistant may help with research and even supervise other clerical staff members on the team. They are often seen as the right-hand person to their executive, providing support and acting as a liaison between the executive and other team members.
Some of the responsibilities of a virtual executive assistant includes;
- Scheduling meetings and managing calendars – A virtual executive assistant serves as the gatekeeper of an executive’s schedule, managing all aspects of how and where they spend their time each day to maximize productivity as much as possible. In some cases, they may be required to coordinate Virtual Executive Assistants.
- Managing projects – A Virtual Executive Assistant supports project management by coordinating teams and ensuring deadlines are met. They provide well-structured timelines for teams to follow, as well as ensure communication and seamless workflow between teams.
- Strategic Planning: Virtual Executive Assistants typically support their executives by assisting with business strategy, market research, and competitor analysis.
- Decision Making: There’s a reason Virtual Executive Assistant’s are referred to as their executive’s “Second brain”. Very often, they are required to leverage their deep understanding of the business’s goals and operational dynamics to make informed, impactful decisions that align with the company’s objectives.
- Client Relations: A competent Virtual Executive Assistant is capable of helping their executives build and maintaining relationships with key clients and stakeholders.
- Screening communication channels – Just like how they manage your schedule, a virtual executive assistant is often the first point of contact for anyone wishing to get in touch with executives—helping to avoid unnecessary interruptions and distractions.
- Preparing documents and presentations – Virtual Executive Assistants also help create documents and presentations. This goes beyond just proofreading the documents; they offer comprehensive support in developing quality materials. They conduct research, gather data, and analyse information to ensure that the content is accurate and relevant.
Key Differences Between a Virtual Assistant and Virtual Executive Assistant
- Scope of Work : A virtual assistant handles general administrative tasks such as email management, calendar scheduling, data entry, and customer service. A virtual executive assistant manages high-level administrative tasks specifically for executives, some of which include, travel arrangements, and meeting coordination.
- Skill Set and Experience: A virtual assistant only needs to have proficiency in basic office software, good organisational skills, and the ability to multitask. However, a virtual executive assistant needs to have an understanding of business operations as well as experience working directly with top-level executives or have specialised training in executive support.
- Level of Autonomy : A virtual assistant on one hand, has to follow the direction of team members or managers and is unable to take decisions without asking. A virtual executive assistant on the other hand has a high degree of autonomy and can make decisions to support the executive. They can also address issues without direct supervision.
- Interpersonal Skills: While a virtual assistant needs to have strong customer service skills and the ability to communicate clearly it is mostly in a transactional or operational capacity. For a virtual executive assistant, they need to be able to build strong relationships with high-level stakeholders and have the capacity to represent the executive in meetings and communications.
- Confidentiality and Trust: You can trust a virtual assistant to handle standard business information and maintain confidentiality on general operational matters. While a virtual executive assistant has access to highly sensitive and confidential information because they handle the executive’s private information.
The major difference between a virtual assistant and a virtual executive assistant is the level of support and autonomy. Virtual assistants mostly manage tasks, while virtual executive assistants manage tasks and projects. Virtual assistants typically support the office as a whole while virtual executive assistants, on the other hand, often support and directly report to high-level executives.
The first place to start when deciding to hire a virtual assistant or a virtual executive is to determine the daily needs of your business. Whether you decide on a virtual assistant or virtual executive assistant, outsourcing your administrative duties is a step in the right direction.
At Arwana, we help organizations recruit world-class talents in admin, marketing, and design, and our team specializes in hiring skilled and experienced Virtual Executive Assistants. From £900/month, you can have a full-time Virtual Executive Assistant to support you with recurring mission-critical tasks.
Just book a discovery call with us to get started!
