And why that’s a good thing for entrepreneurs, start-ups and CEOs
If there is one thing that CEOs, entrepreneurs and the partners at start-ups consistently ask for to make their life simpler, it is ‘another me’. But is that wise? Here are our tips for picking the most effective virtual executive assistant. It turns out that, although you don’t need an administrative twin, you would be well advised to take account of your own strengths.
You should start with a subset of your more saleable qualities. Look for flexibility, an intuitive grasp of what needs doing next, a can-do demeanour, trustworthiness and honesty and, finally, experience. You don’t want ‘you’ so much as someone who enables you. Someone who makes up for what you can’t achieve because there aren’t enough hours in the day. Somebody whose assistance helps you to be on-the-money all the time.
Start-ups and similar entrepreneurial settings can be finely balanced settings. Hiring the right people is hard even in the most mature organisations, let alone an almost intimate business environment that may occasionally run on a heady mix of fumes of start-up capital, hope, promises and adrenaline. That’s the kind of place where one wrong employee can make the difference between success and failure for the entire enterprise.
Flexibility first
These are the conditions in which the wise move is to hire a freelance virtual executive assistant. A dynamic company of any kind needs to adjust its needs from one week to the next. Whether you are a growth mind-set company executive looking for an assistant or an entrepreneur or start-up, maximum flexibility should be at the top of your list.
Flexibility is not just about working hours and commitment, but also extends to an assistant’s command of a range of disciplines. Everyone is already hands-on in your company, make sure any new executive assistant can turn their hand to as many business functions as possible – from booking meetings and taking minutes to bookkeeping, marketing and administrative legwork of all kinds.
Broad Experience
When you hire someone to fulfil a specific role missing in your company’s personnel, you need someone who can hit the ground running; somebody who already has experience in the field. This depends on which function you need to fill, as well as address whatever flexibility you need. Don’t forget, you need broad expertise and experience.
A high degree of niche expertise is something we are forever being driven towards in education and our careers, but the perfect executive assistant resists that urge and becomes, instead, an elite generalist. As the author Robert A Heinlein commented, “specialisation is for insects”. These days, you don’t need worker ants so much and, if you are looking for executive assistance, you need much more than that.
Virtual executive assistants from Adminstant.
As far as your list of priorities is concerned, Adminstant has virtual assistants that tick all the boxes; reliable, experienced, qualified and professional on the one hand, task-based, flexible and dynamic freelancers on the other. Experts in compliance with HMRC, Companies House, ICO, Health and Safety, GDPR and all the rest, but with years of experience to see to all the details, so you have time to get on with inventing, strategizing, planning, directing and dreaming your company into a market-winning masterpiece. We can help with statutory compliance and management leg work from experienced administrators, HR and project managers
Adminstant works because we work without adding work. As flexible, self-employed assistants, we pay our own tax and contributions, operate our own IT and are our own human resources department, office maintenance staff and secretaries. We can do all of that for you, too.
To find out more about us and how we can help you by taking on virtual administration, HR, project management, bookkeeping or executive assistance, contact us now.
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