There are industries which require workers to operate in a reverse time clock compared to the rest of the world. The same is true in the field of virtual assistance (VA). In the VA world, you work day, night and anytime in between depending on the needs of your clients and on their time zone.
The VA’s shift hours are agreed upon at the signing of a contract with the client. Changes to these can be initiated by the VA’s manager or upon the request of the client. The regular 9-5 working hours is ideal and are preferred. Demand for the night shift is higher because most customers are from North America.
This upside down work schedule alone can be stressful both physically and mentally, not to mention other challenges that come up in the virtual workplace.
Although tough tests face Virtual Assistants, there are tangible rewards as the field is open to all willing to learn on the job and eager to expand professional horizons armed with an excellent command of the English language. Among these rewards is the increased time spent with families because the commute from home to office is eliminated.
A typical VA day begins with her logging in at her computer at a workstation that may be located in a virtual or an actual office then checking her inbox for new directives or changes in a client’s appointments for the day. The VA also makes sure telephone messages that came in during her absence are delivered to the client then proceeds to finish any pending work left from the previous shift or on to the next task in the client’s to-do list or project. These tasks can vary from updating a webpage, making several sales calls for the client to researching for an appropriate social media post for the day or week. Trained and alert for clients’ needs, a VA is also requested to make calls to arrange for services such as the creation and production of company brochures or to actually help in solving technical problems at another virtual office.
All these would depend on the customer account the VA is responsible for. What makes it more exciting is the fact that one VA can be doing this for a number of clients over the course of the day’s shift and would have to adjust based on the nature of the client’s business.
Responding effectively and in a timely manner to clients is at the core of every VA’s working day, with the ultimate aim of helping clients in the most organized, competent and efficient way possible .
A VA regularly meets with her managers to keep track of performance, to come up with proposals to improve services, and to evaluate the client-VA work relationship.
In all these, a VA will find time to take a break, perhaps enjoy a cup of coffee to keep her going. Till her shift comes to a close, a VA will continue to prioritize tasks in a typical work shift – may it be day or night.