When it comes to productivity, nothing is a bigger boost than hiring a freelance virtual personal assistant. If you need someone to help manage your calendar, emails, or do research, VAs can help as you focus on more important things. If you will onboard them, make sure they have the technical requirements needed to work efficiently and confidently.

According to Support Loom.com, VAs are expected to have a range of technical skills in order for them to tackle tasks efficiently and responsibly.

A VA with knowledge of Microsoft Office and/or Google Workspace is one of the foundational skills that they should be equipped with. These skills ensure that your VA knows how to create documents, spreadsheets, slide presentations, and email clients. It is some of the most basic skills that allow them to manage your date and draft communications between you and your business.

Providing accurate data entry isn’t just optional; it’s essential and is one of the most important skills for a reliable administrative assistant. They must input information precisely and organize it efficiently to prevent headaches down the line.

Since most executive assistants work remotely, VAs skilled with communication tools like email applications, chat apps, and video conferencing programs become high-priority. Seek VAs that have strong written and verbal communication since they will mostly represent you in messages, summaries, and client interactions. Because of this, utmost professionalism matters, as highlighted by Indeed.com

Effective virtual personal assistants keep you and your business up and running by being organized. They do this by being able to manage calendars, prioritize tasks, and track deadlines. VAs have the option to use project management tools like Trello, Asana, ClickUp, or Monday.com in order to properly perform their tasks by seeing them with a visual aid.

Batching tasks is a technical skill that boosts productivity. It does this by reducing the possibility of context-switching or changing from activities that wildly differ from one another. It is an important technical skill that every VA must know, especially email triage or report compilation.

A VA may often be tasked to perform research on a variety of topics for work. Conducting accurate online research and compiling information becomes an important skill that every virtual personal assistant needs in their arsenal. They should also be able to manage digital filing with Google Drive, Dropbox, or similar platforms and properly organize documents, not just for their convenience, but ultimately for their clients and those accessing the platforms.

Experience with CRM tools like Salesforce, HubSpot, Zoho, or databases adds significant efficiency, particularly valuable for executive assistants dealing with client relations. CRM tools streamline client management, improve communication, and enhance overall business efficiency.

Another important technical skill administrative assistants like VAs should have is having strong attention to detail. It prevents typos, formatting issues, or errors in documents from happening, as it may damage your brand’s credibility.

Having some basic IT troubleshooting and problem-solving skills is a must, especially when they encounter minor glitches while working and without the need for hand-holding. After all, you can’t always be there when they happen, especially when the same problem is encountered over and over again.

Before onboarding your next administrative assistant or remote executive assistant as your personal VA, verify that they have the technical skills required for your business. They need to be proficient in core tech skills like Office tools and data entry, to communication platforms and organization.

Confirm they’re detail-oriented, resourceful, and capable of navigating remote workflows independently and that they can be left in charge to do their work on their own. Of course, even if they have all the tools, if there is something they feel that they lack, the number one rule is to be honest and ask questions. Having the right skill set isn’t about a checklist. It’s the foundation of efficiency, professionalism, and success.