A VA is Not Just For Business!

I remember a time, working as a PA / EA in a corporate environment, that it might have been questioned that personal business was dealt with for a Principal (let’s call them that for this purpose).

It was often when a PA / EA was senior enough to be trusted with family / personal / private lifestyle management, but it wasn’t included in the job description when the ‘grey’ was neither black nor white. 

It began small, as a ‘favour’, and (maybe not) slowly grew into more regular requests that had nothing to do with the company that the PA / EA was employed and paid by. 

The purpose of this isn’t to delve into the definition of what a PA / EA should or shouldn’t do; that may be another article for some, but titles and labels mean little to me. 

It is no surprise, then, that job descriptions for PAs / EAs evolved quickly during the 20 years I spent in a corporate career; in that any senior EA / PA role (notice the swing from being referred to as an EA more so than a PA?) would firmly have included in its core responsibilities the need to ‘fully support’ the Principal to help maintain a work-life balance. 

Nowadays, Principals can often be found having an EA (as a strategic role in business) and a PA (for personal management) so the two are kept distinctly separate. 

It was early on in my Virtual Assistant experience that I was approached by a high profile business person requesting my services in a personal capacity so that business and family could be kept separate with the privacy and confidentiality retained. 

It goes without saying that most Virtual Assistants will have reached a level in their corporate careers (I wouldn’t work with a Virtual Assistant who hasn’t come from one) who will have gained a great deal of experience of managing personal matters for their Principal. 

In fact, if you asked any EA / PA, they would probably tell you they enjoyed being given the responsibility for a Principal’s personal lifestyle management because it created much more variety in their work. 

It somehow means more to support someone in their personal life than within their corporate business so a Virtual Assistant is perfectly placed to alleviate the workload of the people they support in both their business and personal lives. 

What can a VA help with?

There are many personal lifestyle matters that a VA can provide support for with just ten listed below. 

Calendar management 

Life has become so busy, and it can seem like a giant game of Jenga to build everything and avoid it crashing down in one small moment. 

Like a jigsaw puzzle, it takes time and effort to fit everything into a typical family’s schedule so that time can be well spent, events aren’t missed and there is enough time for downtime to ensure too much is not packed into everyone’s lives. 

Having someone who can manage complex diaries allows for lateral thinking and how to make the most of a person’s time possible. 

Email traffic 

Deciphering and sifting through the spam and rubbish to separate them from the genuinely important emails is a task within itself. 

Unsubscribing a person from unnecessary junk and flagging or taking action on what are deemed relevant emails creates space for the mind to be able to work better. 

Without the clutter, energy can be put towards matters that requires focus and can be put towards what is needed to manage day-to-day communications that may or may not need response.  

Household staff

For those who have household staff, a VA can help manage them to run a home effectively. 

It is common for EAs to liaise with household staff including: Housekeepers, Nannies, Gardeners and Chauffeurs and it’s important the team has a central hub to be able to report things to so that continuity is maintained, the Principal can be updated and general daily tasks are completed for the family seamlessly. 

Car fleet

Having more than one car means dates for lease renewals, tax, servicing and MOTs need to be recorded and updated as necessary with cars booked in and out of action at times that suits the family with temporary measures put in place as necessary. 

Consideration to congestion charge and ULEZ need to be noted with auto-payment options considered for ease and efficiency. 

Keeping up with schedules of car fleets with reminders of dates that are coming up reduces the risk of unwanted fines landing on the Principal’s doorstep.  

Schools

Having a child of school age can be a minefield if their academic and social calendars that can get complicated are not prioritised. 

Parents’ evenings, extracurricular activities, sporting fixtures, exam schedules, concerts and community event dates should all be diarised so that, alongside the family’s other commitments, they can be planned for and attended where necessary. 

 With the full calendar that children nowadays often face, together with the half-term holidays and staff development (inset) days, these calendar events may require advanced childcare planning, and a visual picture makes it easier to manage. 

Tickets / events

Sourcing the best and most affordable tickets takes time and often patience. 

Knowing the general sites to visit to look for tickets helps but it is always worth comparing like for like at the time of purchase as a sense check to ensure the best deal is being secured. 

Logistics need to be considered with all the calendar events already diarised to ensure there are no conflicts and one requiring to be cancelled.  

Travel plans

Having gained huge experience of searching, researching and pricing flights for decades, arranging detailed itineraries using both charter and commercial flights comes as second nature to many VAs. 

Having the skills to identify different routes is one thing but having the experience and being able to use the connections built through many years to ensure the best options are put forward to the traveller shall undoubtedly save time and money. 

Celebrations 

Having all family members’ birthdays and anniversaries diarised with reminders flagged in advance, it will avoid missing any important dates. 

It has been known, in my experience, that busy people can forget important dates and milestones which, with the support system behind them is unnecessary. 

Whether or not it is a simple reminder or a full-blown research task and includes the purchasing of a gift, having a VA manage this can alleviate another worry for a busy person having to remember something else. 

Restaurant bookings

Special dates might be celebrated at a restaurant which leads to often trying to book a table in a popular restaurant that operates a limiting reservation system and a waiting list. 

In order to secure a table in the desired restaurant, it might be that a table reservation needs to be made as soon as the booking system opens and will therefore take time and organisation to do this as well as a credit card to secure the booking, something a VA will be used to and can easily take on. 

Household Bills

It’s common for busy people to set up direct debits for regular bill payments and forget about the outgoings; but who is monitoring whether the payments are correct (are they based on estimated or actual readings?) and can a better tariff be found?

Having a VA to manage bills and payments, reviews of such expenditure can be carried out with bills never becoming overdue if they do require manual payments completed and identifying cheaper deals that are more suitable for the household. 

A VA is not just for business!  

It’s not just business matters that a VA can help you with.  

As life seems to be proving, people are getting busier in both business and personal matters. 

Having effective support in both areas of life is essential in keeping a work-life balance and making it easier for a person that needs it. 

It is clear that a VA, with personal lifestyle management experience often gained in the corporate world, will be an expert in supporting an individual and their family if applicable. 

If you are a busy person requiring the support you deserve in private / personal lifestyle management, get in touch. 

Anna

anna@akavirtualassistant.com