One question that I am asked more often than most is, what traits do you require as a Virtual Assistant? I'm sure that every Virtual Assistant out there will have their own views but here are the qualities that I think are most important:
Naturally Organised
This one will always be top of my list as I believe that this is a skill that all personal assistants and virtual assistants possess. My working day is a constant flow of juggling clients, all of which have an abundance of tasks each, some with deadlines, some without and if you're not naturally organised, you will be dropping balls all over the place before you know it. You have to know how to prioritise everything that you do, allocating the right amount of time for each task and knowing how to play catch up for those occasions when there is more work to do than hours in the day.
Ability to Learn
I offer quite a wide range of services to my business and domestic clients. As I work as both a freelance personal assistant and a virtual assistant, the requirements of both types of client can be totally different. And despite my services being clearly defined, I still get asked several times a week to undertake a task that I have no experience in. There are some things that I am just not good at and never will be, (e.g. numbers do not compute easily for me) so despite the number of times I have been asked to provide bookkeeping services, this is something that I will never undertake. However, I am more than happy to learn new skills if it's something that I believe both my clients and I will benefit from.
Cool Headed
Some days, everything just flows along nicely. You know exactly what tasks you have to complete (and by when) and everything just slots into place as you had planned. There are other days when someone throws some extra balls into play and before you know it, you're having to adjust the plan to accommodate for things that you had no idea were on their way. Losing your cool will get you absolutely nowhere and will only add to the mayhem, so taking a deep breath, re-evaluating the plan and cracking on with the jobs at hand is the only way forward.
Patient
Decades ago when I worked in retail, we used to joke that our jobs would be great if it weren't for customers. As a business owner now, I know that I wouldn't be a business owner if it weren't for my clients but some days you do have to take a deep breath and count to ten. Some of the things that can test my patience are: Clients not answering direct questions, clients calling at 10:30pm, clients bombarding my inbox with tasks that all need dealing with immediately, clients forgetting to update me on something that needs immediate attention...
Flexible
I work with a wide variety of clients and every one of them is different to the next. Although there are some similarities in the type of person that employs my services, I deal with different personality types and all my clients are people for whom there just aren't enough hours in the day. As their PA / VA, I have to remain flexible and with an open mind at all times. Some days, every one of my clients will get in touch with a list of tasks they want completed and other days, all remains quiet. As long as I remain flexible and able to prioritise accordingly, everything gets done and everyone is happy.
It's all about juggling those balls...