RM 405 OTEK BUSINESS CENTRE OTEK ST.
BAGUIO CITY
EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT / ADMININISTRATIVE ASSISTANT
WHAT IS AN ADMINISTRATIVE VIRTUAL ASSISTANT?
An administrative virtual assistant, or admin VA, is someone who is trained to deal
with the routine but essential tasks in business. Think of them as a virtual office
assistant. They function similar to your typical in-house executive assistant,
administrative assistant, or administrative support. The main difference is that an
admin VA will do all these administrative jobs while working remotely from their
home office.
Like any office admin assistant, your admin VA’s duties can include: answering calls
and emails, scheduling meetings, data entry, etc. A virtual administrative assistant is a
great entry point into virtual staffing.
ADMIN VIRTUAL ASSISTANT TASKS
- CUSTOMER SERVICE – Ensuring customers get the assistance they need is
essential to keeping a business afloat. Providing exceptional customer
experience is a lot easier when you’ve got an admin VA or two to deal with the
following tasks.
o EMAIL SUPPORT – monitoring and answering email queries about your
products and services and addressing customer concerns.
o PHONE SUPPORT – answering customer questions about your
products or services over the phone.
o CHAT SUPPORT – responding to questions, challenges, and concerns
from customers through any chat or messaging platform used by your
company.
o HELPDESK SUPPORT – providing technical assistance to your
customers or employees as in the case of internal help desks.
o LEAD GENERATION – identifying potential leads through manual lead
generation methods such as online networking, industry research, and
lead generation software.
o LEAD NURTURING – keeping leads engaged by answering their
questions and sending them relevant information that could
encourage a purchase or conversion.
o DISPATCHING SUPPORT – receiving dispatch calls, recording call logs,
addressing dispatch problems, and receiving and dispatching orders.
o SALES CALLING – doing outbound sales calls and cold calling to find
new customers or turn old leads into customers.
o ONBOARDING ASSISTANCE – welcoming new employees and
informing them about your company’s processes, tools and software,
communication guidelines, and more.
- DATA MANIPULATION – Data entry is a common task assigned to admins VAs,
but many admin VAs can actually do more than simply typing jobs. Here are
some data manipulation duties that you can delegate to an administrative VA.
o DATA ANALYSIS – mining and analyzing raw data and statistics using
data analysis tools to create useful reports that can help you with
important business decisions.
o SPREADSHEET DATA ENTRY – entering data into business
spreadsheets and ensuring its accuracy.
o DATABASE MANAGEMENT – using database management systems to
ensure that important information such as customer and product data
are up-to-date.
o BOOKKEEPING – keeping digital records of your financial transactions,
uploading receipts, and entering cash flow data for your accountants.
o CRM DATA MANAGEMENT – working on your CRM software to ensure
accuracy of customer data, and generating customer data reports as
needed.
o INVOICE CREATION – creating invoices on your preferred invoicing or
payment platforms and sending invoices to customers.
o PAYMENT TRACKING – using your payment tracking system to collect
payments and keep accurate records of transactions.
o GRAPHICAL DATA REPRESENTATION – generating charts, diagrams,
and graphs to aid or speed up interpretation and understanding of
data.
o SCHEDULING BILL PAYMENTS – helping ensure that your company’s
bills are paid on time to avoid late payment fees and penalties.
- OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT – Basic duties related to your business
operations can also be adequately handled by some admin VAs. In the case of
more experienced admin VAs, they can also assist with more advanced
operations management tasks such as project management. Here are some
operations tasks that your admin VA can deal with.
o PROJECT MANAGEMENT – planning and overseeing all aspects of
specific projects. This can also include budgeting and documentation.
o RESERVATION SCHEDULING – taking calls and monitoring emails for
reservations, ensuring that there is no double booking, and handling
reservation changes.
o CALENDAR MANAGEMENT – ensuring that travel plans, meetings,
appointments, and events are plotted in the office or team calendars.
o CREW SCHEDULING – managing crew shifts, monitoring staff
schedules, and rearranging shifts according to the availability of staff.
o APPOINTMENT SETTING – contacting customers and setting
appointments for sales callers.
o FILES & RECORDS MANAGEMENT – creating and/or implementing file
and record management procedures to ensure that all files are secure
and accessible.
o PERSONAL ASSISTANCE – doing typical tasks assigned to a personal
assistant, but limited to tasks that can be fulfilled remotely.
o RECEPTIONIST & CALL ROUTING – answering calls and routing calls to
the relevant persons or departments.
o RESEARCH – performing basic research tasks including competitor
research, industry research, and so on.
- BUSINESS IMPROVEMENT – Finally, an admin VA can also help in crucial
improvements to a business. As someone with first-hand experience with the
business operations, the admin VA can help in the following areas:
o CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT – helping keep customers engaged by
gathering feedback from them, sending timely and informative
messages, and responding to their comments on online.
o REPORT GENERATION – compiling data, customer insight, and other
relevant information and turning them into reports, ideas, and
suggestions for business improvement.
o BUSINESS COMMUNICATION – drafting content for public relations,
marketing, advertising, social media and web.
o KPI GENERATION & TRACKING – creating and tracking key
performance indicators (KPI) for your teams and projects to aid with
making changes to existing strategies.
o MARKET RESEARCH – conducting online interviews, generating and
interpreting surveys, and performing internet research about your
target consumers.
o DATA QUALITY CHECKING – ensuring that all your data are accurate
and reliable.
o REVIEWING DOCUMENTS – reviewing documents for typos, content
inaccuracies, and other issues before publication.
o PROCESS DOCUMENTATION – creating documentation for the various
processes across different areas and teams within the company.
o TRAINING ASSISTANCE – helping company trainers or managers or
supervisors conduct any training for the staff.
MUST HAVE ADMINISTRATIVE VIRTUAL ASSISTANT SKILLS
- TECHNICAL SKILLS
o SOFTWARE COMPETENCY – A virtual administrative assistant primarily
uses a computer in performing their tasks. As admin VAs conduct
business support through email, phone, and chat, it’s a must to have
software competency. These programs include Microsoft Office and
Google Suite. Even though these are basic programs and may not even
be used by some companies, the skill in using them remains beneficial.
The more an administrator is familiar with basic software programs,
the easier it will be for them to learn more advanced tools.
o ADEPTNESS WITH ONLINE TOOLS – Apps for communication, tools for
virtual collaboration, programs for design and planning – there’s a
myriad of online tools out there for every project, purpose, and work
that one can imagine. It is the administrator’s job to know these tools.
More importantly, it is their job to recognize which of this wide variety
of tools will be most efficient and practical for their company. Does
your company only have less than 5 members working on a project?
Perhaps a free or basic project management tool is better than paying
for a premium version. Are your team members located in different
time zones? Maybe Slack and Zoom are more convenient
communication tools than VoIP. An effective admin assistant can help
the company choose more suitable and affordable online tools.
o PRIORITIZATION – A top admin VA knows how to arrange tasks and
projects according to importance and urgency. The ability to prioritize
is key to helping an admin VA do operations management tasks such as
calendar and project management, appointment setting, and
scheduling.
o FILING AND RECORDS MANAGEMENT – Customer details, company
information, employee data – a company deals with different types of
information all the time. The longer you are in business, the higher this
pile of information grows. It’s important to have a system of filing and
recording important company information to keep day-to-day
operations smoothly. Efficient files and records management is also
key to keeping your company secure.
o RESEARCH SKILLS – Planning to branch out to a different location?
Exploring other product ideas? You need comprehensive research to
determine the feasibility of your plans. This is another task that you can
delegate to an admin assistant. Be sure to select one with excellent
research and fact-checking skills.
- CONCEPTUAL SKILLS
o FORESIGHT AND ANTICIPATION – Imagine working with an assistant
who doesn’t need to be told what to do. That would definitely take a
huge load off the shoulders of clients. An assistant who has the
initiative to do what needs to be done is rare but a definite must-have.
A client looks for VAs with excellent attention to detail, while having
the ability to see things in the big picture. Such admin assistants would
have the ability to think on their feet and make the best choices in a
given situation.
o TIME MANAGEMENT – From processing orders to dealing with
suppliers, customers, and partners, a company works on schedule. An
admin assistant must therefore have the competency to organize daily,
weekly, and monthly agenda. Time management is important not only
in ticking off items on your to-do list but also in ensuring your
company’s clocked-in hours are as productive as possible.
o CREATIVE PROBLEM SOLVING – Running a business is exciting in that
dealing with unique people and situations comes with the territory.
However, this also means having to come up with solutions that you
don’t learn from school or from books. It’s best to work with an admin
assistant who has creative problem-solving skills.
o ORGANIZATION – Being organized is more than just planning ahead of
time. For top virtual assistants, organization skills extend to the ability
to regroup and push forward when things don’t fall according to plan –
which would sometimes happen in business. An admin VA should help
accomplish goals even when plans have to change from time to time.
o RESOURCEFULNESS – A resourceful administrator can help a company
save big bucks, boost product quality, and eventually expand.
Resourcefulness is another conceptual skill that a VA needs to be
efficient in their tasks such as sourcing for suppliers, market research,
and organizing events.
- HUMAN SKILLS
o COMMUNICATION SKILLS – Administrators work with different people
– from company executive to business partners and new team
members to prospect. Effective communication skills are therefore
non-negotiable. Clients look for a VA who is adept in communicating
via email, phone, social media, or instant messaging platforms.
o NEGOTIATIONS – Whether appeasing a disgruntled customer or
closing a deal with a supplier, negotiations are part of an
administrator’s job description. Top VAs have the ability to nurture
relationships with third-parties while taking are of the interests of the
company.
o ADAPTABILITY – The pandemic and the economic changes in its wake
prove how businesses need to be flexible to survive. You must
therefore work with someone who can quickly adapt to any situation.
Top administrators know how to roll with the punches. They can think
on their feet while keeping the company’s best interests at heart.
o EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE – Emotional intelligence is the ability to
use, understand, and manage one’s emotions positively. Apart from
having the knowledge and training for their job, an administrator must
also have the emotional intelligence to be effective. As someone who
deals with different people and is likely to face stressful situations, an
administrator should learn how to relieve stress, empathize, and
defuse an otherwise volatile situation. An emotionally intelligent
administrator can influence their organization, persuade and appease
customers, and healthily address their own limitations and needs.
o DEPORTMENT OR PROPER ETIQUETTE – Administrative assistants can
wear many hats. According to the needs of their company, they can
help organize events, provide help desk support, train and onboard
new employees, and engage with business partners. Whatever task is
delegated to you, the client must be confident that you will present
yourself and the company in a way that befits and benefits the
business. Top administrative assistants must have the ability to
leverage their communication skills and emotional intelligence in
representing the company in all types of situations.
SOME SPREADSHEETS AN ADMIN VA USUALLY USE
1. Jotform Tables
Jotform Tables is an all-in-one spreadsheet-database tool that lets you collect, manage,
and share your data from one centralized location. You can sync responses from
connected online forms, import existing data (like from a CSV or Excel file), or manually
add new entries into Jotform Tables.
Pros: It’s highly customizable, code-free, user-friendly, and powerful.
Cons: The free version has a lower limit on the number of forms and submissions you can
have.
Pricing: Plans include the free Starter plan (up to five forms), Bronze ($34/month), Silver
($39/month), Gold ($99/month), and Enterprise (custom pricing).
2. Microsoft Excel
On the market since 1987, Microsoft Excel has become one of the most popular
spreadsheet software options — offering a wide variety of functions and features in
addition to different ways to visualize data.
While the Excel interface is simple enough for even elementary school students to use,
the program has also pioneered cutting-edge filters and formulas to sift through massive
data sets. Add in the customizability of its Quick Access Toolbar to pin your most-used
functions and the availability to collaborate with other users seamlessly, and you can see
why Excel is one of the best spreadsheet software solutions.
Pros: It’s efficient, collaborative, and well known.
Cons: It’s not the most scalable spreadsheet software option. It’s difficult to troubleshoot
and vulnerable to viruses, and it can be slow at times.
Pricing: You can purchase Excel as part of a Microsoft 365 subscription starting at $6 per
month per user for businesses or $69.99 per year or $6.99 per month for individuals.
3. Apple Numbers
If you’re an Apple customer, you’re probably familiar with Numbers, the free spreadsheet
application that comes preinstalled on Macs. A key factor that makes Numbers one of the
best spreadsheet software options is its clean, modern interface. Unlike Excel, Numbers
loads as an infinite blank canvas that allows you to insert and place data tables wherever
you want, including side by side.
Numbers also comes fully equipped with custom templates to help you quickly execute
common tasks.
Pros: It delivers powerful data security, enables offline collaboration, and offers
sophisticated design for charts and graphs.
Cons: It’s only compatible with Apple products, and it’s less user-friendly compared to
other spreadsheet software options.
Pricing: The software is free for Mac users.
4. Google Sheets
Google Sheets, which only requires a Google account to access, offers real-time
collaboration capability, commenting, and version history to accurately track progress
between contributors.
Google Sheets syncs with Google Workspace (formerly G Suite) apps like Google Analytics
and Google Looker Studio (formerly Google Data Studio) and can populate a spreadsheet
with data pulled from Google Forms.
In addition to its collaborative features, Google Sheets also comes fully equipped with a
slew of both mathematical and logical functions. Even better, it’s available on the web as
well as on apps for Android and iOS systems, making it one of the most easily accessible
software options.
Pros: It delivers easy sharing capabilities, real-time editing, built-in intelligence features
like Smart Fill and formula suggestions, and industry-leading security measures.
Cons: It can be slow at times — especially if you’re working with a lot of data. Its design
capabilities for creating charts and graphs are fairly basic.
Pricing: Plans include Personal (free, up to 15 GB per user) and Business
Standard ($12/user/month, up to 2 TB per user).
5. Quip
Quip is a unique productivity tool that combines spreadsheets, documents, and team chat
in one app. While it’s been around since 2012, Salesforce acquired it in 2016, and t he tool
features the flexibility and customization options most have come to expect from
Salesforce. For instance, you can toggle between document and spreadsheet layouts as
you work.
Quip also boasts more than 400 built-in functions and offers keyboard shortcuts for most
menu items, such as selecting a row, column, or data range.
Pros: It’s adaptable, straightforward, collaborative, and highly secure.
Cons: There are limited formatting controls. It’s difficult to navigate, requires a consistent
internet connection, and isn’t the best on mobile.
Pricing: Plans include Quip Starter ($10/user/month), Quip Plus ($25/user/month), and
Quip Advanced ($100/user/month).
6. EtherCalc
If you’re on the hunt for something slightly less cumbersome than traditional spreadsheet
software, EtherCalc might work for you.
Similar to Google Sheets, EtherCalc is free, web-based software. However, it doesn’t
require an account to use. Simply visit the EtherCalc website to generate a new sh eet
with a unique URL, which you can then copy, paste, and share for edits and brainstorming
sessions.
Pros: It’s simple to use and easy to access and share.
Cons: It requires internet access, offers limited functions compared to other spreadsheet
solutions, and is very outdated.
Pricing: It’s free to use.
7. Zoho Sheets
This list of best spreadsheet software wouldn’t be complete without Zoho Sheet, another
cloud-based Google Sheets alternative.
Zoho Sheet far surpasses Google Sheets, though, in terms of features, packing in more
than 350 predefined functions. Some additional features include pivot tables, conditional
formatting, and data validation. You can even incorporate data from external sources
with a click of a button.
Pros: It’s multilingual, adaptable, and compatible with any device, and has its own mobile
app.
Cons: It can be slow at times and has a complex interface.
Pricing: It’s free to use.
8. LibreOffice
If you’re looking for a free alternative to Excel that runs on your computer as opposed to
through the web, LibreOffice is a solid option. While it lacks some collaborative
capabilities, LibreOffice’s management of large data sets makes it an ideal choice for
someone who needs to handle massive amounts of information on a budget.
LibreOffice also has about 300 functions and includes the DataPilot tool, which allows you
to aggregate raw data and repurpose it in your spreadsheets.
Pros: It’s fast, flexible, and compatible with Microsoft Office products.
Cons: It’s somewhat cumbersome and lacks integrations, and the interface can be
confusing.
Pricing: It’s free to use.
9. Apache OpenOffice Calc
Initially released in 2000, Apache OpenOffice Calc was designed as an open-source
alternative to Microsoft Excel. OpenOffice.org donated it to the Apache Software
Foundation in 2011, which has recently made an effort to modernize the software.
Some key features include the Scenario Manager for “what if” calculations and natural
language formulas. This free software is compatible with Windows, Mac, and Linux
platforms.
Pros: It’s easy to learn and flexible, and it uses natural language to generate formulas. It’s
also collaborative.
Cons: It’s outdated and especially slow for large or complex documents. It also lacks some
popular functions.
Pricing: It’s free to use.
10. Smartsheet
If improved project management and team collaboration are two of your goals, you can’t
go wrong with Smartsheet.
With Smartsheet, you can customize an existing project management template to create
timelines and Gantt charts, monitor the status of specific tasks with a kanban view, and
use the reminders tool to nudge a team member to approve or edit a piece.
Smartsheet boasts seamless connectivity with other productivity-boosting apps like
Google Workspace, Dropbox, Slack, and OneDrive — as well as collaboration with
external users like clients or investors — so it’s no surprise Smartsheet is one of the best
spreadsheet software platforms out there.
Pros: It delivers enterprise-grade security. It’s scalable and it provides a centralized
interface for projects and data.
Cons: Some reviewers report it has poor customer support, is difficult to navigate and
slow. It includes fewer formulas than other spreadsheet software.
Pricing: There are four plan options: Free for one user, Pro ($7/user/month), Business
($25/user/month), and Enterprise (custom pricing).
11. Airtable
Complete with templates and tutorials, Airtable is like Google Sheets 2.0. This modern,
well-designed platform is geared toward improving productivity — offering features and
templates that include a project tracker, a content calendar, a product planning tool, and
a sales customer relationship management (CRM) system.
Airtable has all the features you’ve come to expect from a dynamic spreadsheet solution
— like the ability to create pivot tables and graphs, use formulas, and summarize values
— along with plenty of project management and collaboration features.
Pros: It’s agile, scalable, intuitive, and fast, and it offers powerful data protection.
Cons: Some reviewers report it has limited customization options and minimal reporting
tools.
Pricing: Plans include a free option (up to five creators or editors), as well as Plus
($10/seat/month), Pro ($20/seat/month), and Enterprise (custom pricing) options.
