by Tina Hilton of Clerical Advantage 

Last weeks post concerning time tracking software prompted a thought provoking comment by a reader.  The comment said:

Clients can demand all they want. It’s extremely important for Virtual Assittants to make sure clients understand the nature of their relationship with a Virtual Assistant. VAs are not employees. They don’t keep hours or report time to clients in that manner. If a Virtual Assistant tracks hours, it should be only for their own business and billing purposes. And many Virtual Assistants these days don’t even track hours at all, but instead offer value-based retainer packages.

After reading this I noted quite a few blog posts from fellow Virtual Assistants on the topic of similar things, like the definition of what a Virtual Assistant does, is and/or isn’t.  It seems that even among those calling themselves Virtual Assistants, the definition can be confusing. Take for instance one definition is found  here,  another here and yet more here.  So if even the virtual assistance industry itself can’t get it together and come up with a definition that everyone can agree on, what’s a potential client to do? 

How are they supposed to determine if it’s a virtual assistant they need, or a virtual bookkeeper, SEO assistant, etc.?  And if some VA’s are willing to track time and provide timesheets to clients and others find it insulting to be asked to do so, how is a potential client going to know who they may insult with the request?  Wouldn’t it be  helpful if the industry could put down their own differences and present a united front in order to clear things up a little? 

I’ve mentioned here before that there is no true ‘certification’ for Virtual Assistants. There are programs out there, certainly, but none of them truly carries much weight at the moment.  The biggest reason for that appears to be, in my humble opinion, that there are several ‘factions’ out there in Virtual Assistant land, and these factions cannot agree on certain things. 

One faction (Faction A) holds with the fact that a Virtual Assistant provides a range of administrative services in an ongoing business relationship. Faction A appears almost bourgeoisie in their adherence to their definition.  For example, someone providing strictly bookkeeping services virtually should not fall under the Virtual Assistant umbrella.  5 years of experience in the upper level administrative world is a requirement as well as being a solo practice, no multi-VA practices here.

Another faction (Faction B) tends to be a little more lenient with the definition.  Having a specialty is called a niche, but since those things can still be considered administrative in nature, one can still call themselves a Virtual Assistant. Things like providing timesheets to clients are acceptable practices.  They still believe in the basic tenets of having several years of experience in the professional business administration world and that building an ongoing relationship with clients is the goal, although taking on a short-term project here or there is perfectly acceptable. Faction B still adheres strongly to the “a VA is not an employee but a business”  mantra and adhere’s to guidelines for Independent Contractors such as the ones found on the IRS website. 

And then we have the third faction (Faction C), this would be those for whom the term Virtual Assistant can be anyone providing any services from a home or remote office.  Faction C blurs the line between employee and independent contractor by allowing the client to dictate how and when the work gets done.  Many of those in Faction C have little if any upper level professional experience and basically see the term Virtual Assistant as an easy way to make money at home. Both Factions A and B pretty much discount those falling into Faction C, but unfortunately because Faction C seems to be able to charge less, potential clients are more apt to be drawn to them.

With three distinct schools of thought within what the business community bundles up under the Virtual Assistant category, you can see why it’s been difficult to come up with an authoritative body that governs the industry.  Not to mention to get them all to agree on a definition.

Each faction seems to have formed their own ‘authority’, fracturing the industry into parts. While one such authority might require a fee to belong, another might require one to write an essay upon which they will be judged by someone as to whether they are ‘worthy’ to join or not. And yet another might require only that you post a link to their site to carry a ‘certified’ designation.  As virtual assistants, can we truly question why the business world is still so confused concerning our industry?

I believe we are reaching a moment in time when those of us who seek to educate the community concerning virtual assistance are going to have to try to act together as a whole, no matter what faction we may fall into.  The industry needs standards, not just for potential clients, but for our own purposes as well.  I’m sure there is a great deal involved in this task, but I know that there is an unbelievably talented community of virtual assistants out there that could get it done.

As for what faction I fall into?  As is usual for me, I’m a square peg who won’t fit into one of the nice round holes.  I have opinions that would probably fall into both Faction A and B camps.

And what advice would I give to potential clients trying to figure the whole Virtual Assistance thing out.  There is plenty of good advice out there.  Some of the links I’ve provided in this post and many of my prior posts here, several Virtual Assistant Forums and materials like my own e-book,  and other such learning materials are there for your reference.  Doing a little homework can save you a big headache down the line.