If you have a background in customer service or have been an executive assistant, secretary, personal assistant, or even a house manager at any point in your life, you can easily transition into an executive virtual assistant.
I see the ears of some stay at home mums at the back perk up at the sound of “house manager” .
I know I have the undivided attention of associations and fellowship secretaries.
So here’s what you need to know about becoming an executive virtual assistant (aka administrative virtual assistant). Even if you don’t have any of the experiences I mentioned above.
The life of an executive is a whirlwind of meetings, emails, documents, decisions etc. They can become overwhelmed and burned out and need the help of an executive virtual assistant to help them stay productive with ease.
7 In-demand Services To Offer As An Executive Virtual Assistant
1. Calendar Management
Managing a calendar is like a full-time job in itself. Busy executives know the importance but don’t have time to do it by themselves. As an executive virtual assistant, you can take it off their plate and help them with tasks like scheduling appointments and ensuring that their calendar is optimized for maximum productivity. With your calendar management skills, they’ll avoid double bookings, and missing important events.
Every executive interested in having work-life balance, needs an executive virtual assistant in their corner.
Read also: How to Manage Multiple Virtual Assistant Clients
2. Email Management
Some executives have chaotic inboxes. Not because they plan to, but they just don’t have the time to sort through everything without an assistant.
As an executive virtual assistant you can help them set things up to keep everything neat and tidy. Basic tasks like responding to urgent emails, unsubscribing from unwanted email lists, flagging important and time sensitive messages for them greatly helps.
3. Travel Planning
Whether an executive needs to jet off to a business conference halfway across the world or hop on a flight for a last-minute meeting, travel planning can be a logistical nightmare.
As an executive virtual assistant, you’ll help them out with tasks like research flights, book accommodations, arrange ground transportation, and even create detailed itineraries – leaving them free to focus on their goals.
4. Document and File Management
Staying organized is very important for executives. They need help with everything from important contracts to confidential reports. As an executive virtual assistant, you can help your executive keep their documents well organized in folders so that finding something is easy and stress free.
Imagine you’re in an office, surrounded by stacks of papers on your desk. Just like how you’d organize those papers into folders in your filing cabinet, executive virtual assistants help bosses organize their digital files on the computer.
How it is done
They start by creating folders on the computer, just like you’d do with a physical filing cabinet. Each folder gets a clear name so you know what’s inside, just like labeling those folders in the cabinet.
Then, you’d sort files by when they were made or what type they are. It’s like arranging documents in the filing cabinet by date or category, making it easy to find what you need.
You can even add special tags to files, similar to using colored labels on folders, to help group similar things together. So if you’re looking for all the letters from a particular client, you just click on the client’s tag, and there they are!
And just like how you declutter every once in a while, executive virtual assistants make sure to tidy up the digital space too. You can delete old stuff that’s not needed anymore. It’s just like tossing out old papers you no longer need.
Lastly, as an executive virtual assistant, you must make sure all these files are backed up safely so they don’t get lost. It’s like making copies of important documents and storing them in a secure place, just in case.
Doing all this will save your client’s time, keep them organized, and eliminate stress.
5. Meeting Preparation and Follow-up
If you know anything about executives, then you know that meetings are a regular item on their to-do list. As an executive virtual assistant, you can help them prepare for meetings by researching attendees, compiling background information, and preparing briefing documents to ensure that the executive is well-prepared and confident going in. You can even listen in on meetings to take minutes or transcribe.
And once their meetings are over, you can help out by following up with action items, sending thank-you notes, and ensuring that nothing falls through the cracks.
6. Personal Errands and Tasks
Busy executives who want to have a healthy work-life balance also need support with personal tasks.
An executive virtual assistant can help get a gift for a spouse’s birthday, book a dentist appointment for their kid, buy and deliver flowers to a parent, book accommodations and fun activities for a family vacation, grocery shopping etc. There are a lot of personal plans an executive can handover to a virtual assistant. An executive might also need you to create a list of best deals from brands they love so they’ll know where to shop on black Friday etc.
7. Project Management and Coordination
A lot of virtual assistants go on to become online business managers. This goes without saying that project management skills are common among virtual assistants. An executive virtual assistant can help an executive keep things on track, create timelines, delegate tasks etc. to make sure that everything goes smoothly.
With a good executive virtual assistant, an executive can easily tackle any project.
Wrapping up
In conclusion, executive virtual assistants are the ultimate allies for busy executives looking to avoid overwhelm and be productive. By taking on basic time-consuming tasks, an executive can focus on what they do best – leading teams, and achieving their goals.
If you’d like to learn the digital skills mentioned above as well as how to set up your executive virtual assistant practice, I can help you. I have created a growing library of trainings to help new and aspiring virtual assistants like you get the skills and support they need to thrive. Go here to learn more