Virtual Scheduling Assistant

How & Why to Hire Your Own Virtual Scheduling Assistant

There’s a reason, after all, that the global appointment software market is estimated to be worth $360 million by 2024: scheduling is hard. And when the software alone can cost between 0 and $150 per month, one thing is clear: people struggle to maintain their own schedules.

As your business grows, so do the demands on your time. More people want to meet with you. More people rely on you. You have to check in with certain projects, or schedule time to speak to potential leads for your business.

And if you keep doing things the old way, then there simply won’t be enough hours in the day. You need a better handle on your full-time schedule, and you need to create a system for scheduling appointments that doesn’t interrupt your most important work.

What do you do?

The easiest answer is that you can delegate much of your schedule to someone else. By working with a virtual scheduler or, in other words, a virtual assistant, you’ll be able to let someone else worry about the organization and prioritization of your schedule while you focus on the work.

But even then, it will help if you have a handle on your schedule. There are some basic essentials you’ll need to accomplish to do so:

Prioritization: As your business grows, you have to make decisions about which tasks are and aren’t worth your time. This means that previously worthwhile activities may simply no longer fit into your full-time schedule.
Automation: Are there tasks in your schedule that can be automated or delegated away? If so, it will clear more time for the high-priority work you have. You should also focus on the ability to automate your scheduling processes using available tools and software.
Organization: A good schedule is a well-organized tool for planning your day. It shouldn’t be a haphazard to-do list, but include real priorities that make sense given the time you have at your disposal.

There are some great ways you can pull this off—especially if you enlist the help of a virtual scheduling assistant. Here’s everything you need to make it easier to schedule appointments, meetings, and more—all without interrupting your day:

Using a Virtual Scheduler to Make Your Life Easier

Before you outsource a significant portion of your scheduling to a piece of software or even a virtual assistant, the first thing you should do is get control over your own schedule.

Start by asking yourself the question: what do you want your schedule to look like? What’s the goal? You should sit down and consider what your ideal work day would look like. Obviously, not every workday is going to look like this. You may not even achieve it regularly. But knowing your goal will help you design the schedule needed to improve your life.

For example, let’s say that you’re an entrepreneur used to working long hours. And your new goal is to finish work at 5 p.m. every day, no matter what. That could extend to a variety of new rules, including:

Finishing work at 5 p.m. every day, even if you still have things left on your plate. In this case, you would have to choose what work is the most valuable every day, leading to an increase in the quality of your prioritization.
Getting the hard stuff out of the way. Maybe you don’t like taking free consultations with potential new clients, but you understand that it’s the “bread and butter” of your sales process. How could you create a schedule so that you handle this every day without it interrupting your flow? One option would be to use a tool like Calendly to only open a specific portion of your schedule to these meetings.

Once you have the goal in mind, you can set the new guidelines you need in your schedule to make those goals an inevitability.

Why Incorporate a Virtual Scheduling Assistant?

You might look at the tips above and wonder why a virtual scheduling assistant needs to get involved at all. That’s why it’s worth talking about the different elements an assistant can bring to your schedule.

Administrative support. From handling the various aspects of your schedule to entering in new items manually, a virtual assistant lets you stay “hands-off” your schedule while it fills up. This means you’re free to focus on the daily to-do list, especially as you get in the swing of things.
Appointment scheduling. Don’t forget that a virtual scheduling assistant can also work with you to schedule outbound appointments. Do you need to follow up with a lead? Need to talk to another business? You can open up your schedule to a virtual assistant and let them make these appointments for you, reducing the time you spend on your own schedule every day.
Follow up automation. Some software will provide prompts for you to follow up with people. But what if you had someone taking over that aspect of your schedule? From handling follow ups on internal work (say, with a project manager) to following up with potential clients, a virtual assistant will help ensure that people don’t fall through the cracks of your schedule.
Time zone coordination. At Delegated, we like to work with virtual assistants who are in a similar time zone with yours. But they can also help you coordinate your schedule with people all over the world. Let them do the scheduling that deals with time zone coordination so you’re free to simply set appointments.‍
Scheduling meetings. Enlist the help of an effective

The Benefits of Working with a Virtual Scheduler

In the TV show “Parks and Rec,” the manager, Ron Swanson, has his assistant filter out meetings from the outside world. Her tactic: schedule meetings for March 31st—a date she forgot does, in fact, exist on the calendar. This leads to Ron having to hold 94 meetings on the same day.

When you work with a virtual scheduler with a background in proper scheduling, this won’t be an issue. And it will mean avoiding mess-ups like these.

In addition to all of the great expertise a virtual scheduler can bring to your specific situation, it’s important to realize the benefits of using a virtual scheduler in the first place. Of getting command over your own schedule.

A poor schedule can be a leading contributor to stress, and 41% of workers with stress say it affects their productivity. Perhaps that’s why about 46% of workers, as of 2019, were considering joining the gig economy. They wanted more freedom with their schedule. And failing to have freedom of schedule can mean that you lose some of your own employees to the gig economy, draining your business of essential talent.

Having a good schedule in place can prevent procrastination, which helps avoid the feeling of being overwhelmed. For example, when a virtual scheduler helps you schedule a follow-up that you might otherwise have forgotten, it helps prevent these feelings of being overwhelmed, or being permanently behind your work.

A good schedule should give you the feeling of being ahead. Every once in a while, you should complete a day and look around and ask: “what else?” With a good virtual scheduling assistant in your corner, that can happen.

How to Hire Your First Virtual Scheduling Assistant

With all that in mind, what are the next steps? We have a few recommendations:

Sign up to Delegated. It all starts with creating an account at Delegated so you can view the available virtual assistants. We feature top-quality assistants with demonstrable skills.
Work with a customer success manager. Our customer success manager will be willing to work with you to make sure that you match your needs to the precise virtual assistant who can help you with an efficient schedule. You won’t feel out of the loop. Instead, we’ll help you along the way, especially if this is your first time hiring a virtual assistant and aren’t sure where to start.
Hire your virtual scheduling assistant. Once you properly match up your scheduling needs to a virtual assistant, you’ll have a greater degree of confidence that you’re hiring the right person for you. You can also select a service tier to customize to your specific budget or needs.
Onboard your new hire. Onboarding is the most crucial (and often the most overlooked) aspect of the hire. Make sure that you plug your new virtual assistant into your systems. Let them know your goals, what’s expected of them, and make sure that you empower them to make key decisions with your schedule so that you can start feeling the benefits.

Start growing your business and reducing overhead with Delegated

1. Meet your assistant 

We’ll ask you some questions to match you with one our virtual assistants as well as a backup assistant.

2. Create a workflow 

Our platform gives you the power to create a workflow that fits your lifestyle. You choose how to track time, communicate, and share files with your assistant.

3. Start delegating 

You have access to your virtual assistant 8am-5pm your local time. Start delegating tasks and grow as you need.

Get Started »

Frequently Asked Questions about a Virtual Scheduling Assistant

Let’s take a look at some of the most frequently asked questions about hiring a virtual scheduling assistant:

Why do I have to hire someone else? Can’t I just become a better scheduler myself?

Sure. The question is: are you prepared to live with the results of it? When you hire someone else, the key is to defer to their expertise. A good virtual scheduling assistant will be aware of tools and strategies that will take a lot of time off your hands. Even better, the mere act of delegating much of this work will free up more of your time. Those two elements combined can make for a much smoother schedule.

What if my schedule is too complicated to teach to someone else?

This is a common objection for people who want to avoid delegating. They think that their own systems are too complicated and too proprietary to show to anyone else. How can anyone else do as good a job as you? But then, you might realize that your own scheduling system has flaws. If you find your schedule overwhelming you, consider taking on a scheduling assistant as an experiment. If it succeeds, you’ll have a far superior schedule. If not, you’ll at least have learned a lot about the flaws in your system.

How do I outsource things that I’ve done myself?

If you have a big list of tasks that you’ve always done yourself, make sure to list them as you think of them, creating an onboarding document that you can share with future assistants and employees. Consider this onboarding document an investment in your future success. As your business grows, you’re going to want to be able to hand off certain tasks to other people. You’re going to have to. It’s a good idea to start the process sooner rather than later.

Do I need a full time or part time executive assistant?

This is up to each individual. We can’t make a blanket recommendation. However, we at Delegated do offer several tiers of services so that you can always ramp up the amount of service you receive every month. If you start small and work your way up, you’ll find a customized experience that precisely suits your needs.

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