Articles

Virtual Assistants Are Still Human

by Jeremy Banks Evolutesix
What are the usual reasons why business owners decide to hire a virtual assistant? It’s usually because they:

  • Want to save themselves from the troubles of having in-house staff
  • Do a lot of their business online, so they might as well have someone who works online

Indeed, having a personal VA helps take away unwanted but necessary workloads. However, there is a slight problem among many people who avail of their services.

There is a common misconception that virtual assistants are superhuman. In their eyes, VAs are capable of providing output of the highest quality in whatever task they do. They require no training whatsoever and are instant experts that know exactly what to do. 

VA

This is a dangerous belief to have that could damage working relations even if one hired the top virtual assistant service provider that their money can buy.
As Business Magazine Smart Hustle puts it: 

“A virtual assistant has the experience, skills, and competence to get your business moving on the right track. But like all first- time personnel, they have to deal with a learning curve. The learning curve is at its steepest at the start and starts to slope downward as you gain more experience and confidence…

… VA's are not miracle workers, but give them time and they’ll take your business to the next level.”

Business owners should always keep in mind that even a veteran VA from an agency will take some time before they get the hang of what they have to do. It’s difficult to expect them to immediately meet or even exceed expectations from the get-go.

The term “virtual assistant” in itself contributes to this misconception problem, as it implies that the VA is able to assist their clients in every way they can. According to a writer on the virtual assistant resource website, VA Helper:

“It’s such a broad umbrella term, sometimes misused and frequently misunderstood. So much so that many virtual assistants don’t even use the term themselves…

…Even if you’re a general virtual assistant who does many tasks, you’re probably covering more ground than the term suggests…

…I’m not sure how or why “virtual assistant” became the term that stuck and covered everything like a blanket, but it’s what people look for when they need help with tasks in their business.”

They went on to say that the term virtual assistant is a title that is best used when one is more of an all-around helper. It can also be used if the online worker is still finding their niche and taking up jobs in varying fields. When an online worker has finally found their specialization, then that is the time when they should consider changing it. For instance, if they have decided to focus on creating online content such as articles, images, videos, etc., then they will want to be called a content creator or content producer. 

Business People

Discarding any misconceptions that one might have about their virtual assistants can go a long way to a fruitful business relationship. It’s important to remember that even though most interactions with them are limited to digital text, virtual assistants are still human too.

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About Jeremy Banks Advanced   Evolutesix

72 connections, 3 recommendations, 317 honor points.
Joined APSense since, December 1st, 2016, From Oxsfordshire, United Kingdom.

Created on Jan 22nd 2018 01:43. Viewed 570 times.

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