How a Virtual Executive Assistant Can Help Larger Teams
Are you in a larger company that could use the help of an Executive Assistant? You might be considering how much help you need and where you’re going to find it. Do you hire a W2 employee, or do you look outside to a virtual Executive Assistant? Depending on your needs, either could be a good option to help streamline your workday and move you closer to your goals. Virtual Executive Assistants are generally the most flexible option available - here’s how they can help larger teams:
The role of the virtual Executive Assistant
To put it in a nutshell, a virtual Executive Assistant can do basically anything you’d have your Executive Assistant do in an office, except that you don’t have them there physically handing you things. They can adapt to how you prefer to operate, even in a virtual environment.
We have an example with a client who prefers to only use a paper planner. You might think that would be tricky for a virtual Executive Assistant to help with, but they make it work. The client sends a picture of her planner to her Executive Assistant, who sends out electronic invites to anyone needed for meetings. She sends the client back a PDF that she’s able to print out and staple into her planner.
Of course, an Executive Assistant can work with any of your digital systems too. We find there’s always a way to make it work so that you enjoy a productive work environment. Our virtual Executive Assistants will meet you where you are (online!), no matter your tech capacity.
How virtual Executive Assistants fit into larger teams
There are so many ways a virtual Executive Assistant can be a great fit for a larger team! Firstly, the Executive Assistant will tend to be the person who is bringing everyone together. They’re checking up on meetings and timelines, and ensuring that information is distributed to those who need it. A virtual Executive Assistant becomes an important point of contact for all departments, making communications much more efficient. Everyone knows who to go to and the Executive Assistant can direct them to what they need.
Another example is that virtual Executive Assistants can sometimes support more than one person. We have some supporting up to three people. This works when the people they work with have similar goals and communication styles. Perhaps they work on similar projects, such as in a consulting firm. This means that the Executive Assistant can support each person without having to completely change how things are done for each individual.
RELATED: 7 Tips for Sharing an Executive Assistant
On the other hand, where there are different personalities, priorities, and communication styles, it makes sense for the Executive Assistant to work with just one person, so that they can focus on meeting a rhythm that serves them best. For example, CEOs and CFOs have completely separate priorities and it makes sense that they wouldn’t share an Executive Assistant. In fact we usually find with these particular examples that their top three needs in an administrative employee are polar opposites!
It also makes sense to have an Executive Assistant for each person in any situation where it might turn into a battle for resources. Where there’s project overlap, it can make sense that one Executive Assistant would work with more than one executive, but where there might be competing demands, it could end up with them being pulled in too many directions.
RELATED: 5 Reasons Not to Share an Executive Assistant
How Executive Assistants help the wider team
Have you ever experienced situations where the executive is the bottleneck? Team members might have questions and they’re not able to get them answered because the executive is so busy. This is where an Executive Assistant can be a real asset to the wider team. They’re often able to answer those questions and eliminate the bottleneck, ensuring that team members have what they need. Executive Assistants are also great at providing gentle reminders needed to get things moving and meet deadlines. They’re drivers of company culture - celebrations, birthdays, reminders, and keeping an upbeat vibe.
Why hire a virtual Executive Assistant?
One question people usually ask is why hire a virtual Executive Assistant rather than hiring someone for an internal role? One of the biggest reasons is cost and associated productivity. When you hire someone internally, you’re paying for them to be available. They have to be at your place of work for certain working hours each week, but they’re definitely not “actively” working the whole time. There’s always a lot of downtimes involved in any office setting and in any role - that’s to be expected.
A Worxbee virtual Executive Assistant is hired for active hours. That means if you want them for 20 hours each week, you actually get 20 hours of active work. Another great reason to hire a virtual Executive Assistant is to get access to good talent, no matter your local market. For example, if you’re in a small town, it can be difficult to attract the best talent to the town. They’re always going to look at what else is available - jobs for their spouse, schools for their kids, and other considerations. In a larger city, if you’re a smaller business with less than 500 employees, you can find the competitive situation difficult. You might not be able to pay the salaries that larger companies can for experienced Executive Assistants. In most of our larger cities and metro areas, Executive Assistant salaries are well into six figures plus benefits. Growing businesses or nonprofits can really struggle to compete.
The hiring process itself is another great reason to consider an Executive Assistant from Worxbee. A lot of companies mess up the hiring process - they may hire someone based on personality or skills, but not find the right combination of both. The hiring process can take months to go through properly and Worxbee takes that off your hands.
Worxbee for enterprises
Worxbee can work with enterprises and larger teams in a number of ways. For some, it might involve having one Executive Assistant support a few different team members, for others, it might mean an Executive Assistant per person. We ensure that Executive Assistants are paired with you to suit your goals, personality, and communication style.
A major advantage over a W2 employee is that you get the active hours that you need. Sometimes it’s difficult if you don’t need a full-time assistant because there aren’t many Executive Assistants willing to do less than full time on W2. We also find that sometimes a person might be struggling a little in their role because they need some help, but they don’t need a lot of help to move forward.
A virtual Executive Assistant can be a great solution for companies wondering how they can best support the person in that situation. Virtual Executive Assistants can be a cost-effective solution for larger teams while fitting seamlessly into your culture and work practices. To find out more, take a look at our services and schedule a complimentary consultation with us today.
