11 Virtual Assistant Soft Skills You Should Have
Virtual assistants come from various backgrounds and have different skill sets. However, there are some soft skills that every virtual assistant should possess.
They are the non-technical skills that can’t be taught in a classroom but can be learned through experience. These are the intangible, non-technical skills that can make or break your career. As a virtual assistant (VA), you’ll be working on many complex tasks, you should be able to determine the differences between soft skills vs hard skills.
Hard skills are the technical abilities that you need to do your job, while soft skills are attributes needed to succeed in any job.
That is why it’s important to know the basics, especially when it comes to soft skills. One of the first things that come up is the soft skills that virtual assistants should possess. A good virtual assistant is comfortable with having a number of soft skills in his or her arsenal that will make him or her an effective assistant.
Knowing what skills are considered to be soft and which ones are not can help you get more out of your VA. In this infographic, we’ve outlined the most important soft skills every virtual assistant should have.
Table of Contents
11 Top Soft Skills Every Virtual Assistant Should Have
The key to being successful as a virtual assistant is having strong soft skills. Soft skills are especially important for VAs because they don’t know who their next client will be or what type of work they’ll need to do for them.
The importance of soft skills are essential for success as a VA. There are many different skills that a virtual assistant should have in order to do his or her job well.
Here are the 11 soft skills every virtual assistant should have:
Honesty
A virtual assistant needs to be honest with their clients. Being honest and trustworthy is crucial when it comes to building trust with clients, especially those who are working with you remotely. This is especially important when it comes time for feedback on how you did with a task or project.
If you didn’t get something done on time or if it wasn’t done correctly, don’t try to hide it from your client!
It’s better to admit your mistakes so that they can see how you can improve in the future.
Regardless of how much you love working from home and how much you enjoy helping others, there will always be clients who are difficult to work with. When dealing with difficult clients, honesty is key.
You’re not likely to keep them happy if you don’t tell them when they’re being unreasonable or asking for more than is reasonable for their situation.
Honesty goes both ways, if you’re having trouble completing their tasks in the allotted time frame, be honest about it instead of trying to stretch the job out longer than necessary just because it’s easier on your end.
Reliability
Reliability is one of the most important example of soft skills for a virtual assistant. It means being able to depend on someone when they say they will do something, you need to follow through on it or else your client won’t trust you and your reputation will suffer.
It also means doing what you say you will do when asked by your clients. A reliable virtual assistant is one who shows up on time and stays late when necessary without asking for extra pay. They do what they say they’ll do, even if it’s not something they particularly enjoy doing.
Virtual assistants need to be reliable, especially if they’re working with clients remotely. You should be able to provide updates on projects within 24 hours of being assigned them and respond quickly if there are any issues or delays in completing tasks.
Clients want someone who can get things done quickly without excuses or delays — so make sure they always see you as reliable! If you’re reliable, they’re likely to continue working with you in the future or refer their friends to you.
Resourcefulness:
The ability to think outside the box, solve problems and find solutions is one of the most important skills a virtual assistant can have. VAs are often tasked with finding information that isn’t readily available, and they’re expected to be able to do so quickly.
A virtual assistant is a jack-of-all-trades, so it’s important that they can be resourceful and solve problems on their own. They should also be able to find resources when they need them, whether that means researching information online or contacting other professionals for help.
Attention To Details:
The ability to pay attention to details is one of the most soft skills for a virtual assistant. If you don’t notice when something is wrong or missing, it won’t get fixed quickly or correctly.
It’s also one of the most common characteristics of high-performing VAs. If you have attention to detail, you will notice small things that other people miss and it will help ensure that your work is done properly every time. You are not just a virtual assistant, but also a human being with feelings and emotions.
Your clients will trust you with their most important details and documents of their companies. Hence, it is your duty to ensure that they do not face any problem while using them.
If you want to be an effective virtual assistant, make sure you develop your attention to detail as much as possible.
Open-Mindedness:
A big part of being a good VA is being open-minded when working with your clients. Clients will often come to you with requests that may seem odd at first, but they’re just looking for someone who can listen and provide feedback in an objective manner.
It’s important to keep an open mind when working with clients so that they feel comfortable asking questions without fear of judgment or ridicule. This will make them more likely to trust you so that they’ll be able to trust your advice in the future.
You must be open to learning new things and changing your ways when necessary. A positive attitude will also help you get through difficult situations, especially when dealing with customers.
Empathy:
Everyone has emotions and feelings, and it’s important to understand how those emotions affect their behavior.
Empathy is the ability to understand another person’s perspective and feelings without judgment. It helps you become more compassionate toward others, which makes you a better communicator, collaborator and listener.
It’s also important because when you’re dealing with clients on a daily basis, it’s easy to see why empathy is so important! Without it, it would be impossible to do your job well. Being empathetic helps you understand their perspective, which helps you provide better service.
It can also help to build a better relationship between you and your clients.
Flexibility:
Virtual assistants are often called upon to work on multiple projects and for multiple clients at the same time. They can’t always choose when or where they work, but being flexible is an important part of the job. Virtual assistants must be able to work flexible hours in order to meet the needs of their clients.
When working remotely for clients all over the world, it’s important to be able to adapt quickly and meet their needs no matter where they are located in the world. They should be able to accommodate the needs and preferences of their clients and adjust their schedules accordingly.
There may also be times when things come up unexpectedly and the VA has to step in to help out or take over an assignment on short notice.
Self-Learner:
A self-learner is someone who learns new things without needing formal training or instruction. A self-learner has initiative, drive and passion for learning new things.
As a virtual assistant, you don’t have someone sitting next to you telling you what to do and how to do it. You are responsible for finding solutions on your own. This means that you must learn how to research information on your own time and in your own way.
It’s also important that as a self-learner, you’re able to figure out how things work on your own without having someone explain it to you step by step.
You need to understand how things work from an abstract perspective so that when something does break down or go wrong, you can fix it yourself instead of waiting for someone else to come along and fix it for
Curiosity:
The biggest asset a virtual assistant can have is curiosity. You need to be curious about everything! To be curious about what’s going on in the world around them and how it relates to their clients’ businesses.
They should always be asking questions and looking for ways to improve their clients’ businesses by learning more about them.
Curiosity will help your VA understand your business goals and objectives so they can make recommendations that meet those goals.
A curious person will keep learning and growing, while a person who isn’t curious will stay stagnant at their current level of skill.
A virtual assistant who is curious about his/her clients will be able to find out more about them, which will enable him/her to provide better services for them.
Adaptability:
Virtual assistants work with many types of clients and businesses, so they need to be able to adapt their approach to each one.
They must be able to adapt to any situation or challenge that arises during an assignment. They should have the ability to work under pressure, handle multiple assignments at once and meet tight deadlines without compromising quality.
This means being flexible with your time, willing to do anything that is asked of you and being able to think on your feet when needed.
The more adaptable you are as a VA, the more useful you’ll be to your clients.
Self-Discipline
Self-discipline is the ability to manage your own emotions, impulses, behaviors and to focus on a task without being distracted by other things. It’s the ability to motivate yourself to do what you need to do even when you don’t necessarily feel like doing it.
The best VAs don’t need to be micromanaged because they’re self-disciplined enough to know that following a schedule is more important than following their own impulses. You need this so that you can stay focused on your tasks and goals, even when distractions arise.
It’s important because you’ll be working independently from home, so it’s up to you to stay focused on your work and not get distracted by other activities or people who want your attention. Having self-discipline will also help you to avoid procrastination, which can be one of the biggest productivity killers.
Conclusion:
VA’s reputation and work quality are most important when it comes to their success. Do a good job, be reliable and friendly, organize your tasks and always do things beyond what you’re asked for. Try to learn as much on your own as possible as well.
A virtual assistant that has a more general knowledge of management principles will give more value to their client.
To become a successful virtual assistant, you need to both know how to work the technical tools and have soft skills. It’s the bundle of soft skills that will allow you to communicate well with clients, manage your time well, and complete tasks in a timely manner.
These skills will make you well-rounded and ready to face any challenge that comes your way.