By Robert Stanek
Online workforces, virtual employment, and outsourcing are all areas of high growth in today's society. For business owners and professionals that are considering hiring someone to remotely assist in their workload, it can be a little bit confusing. Terms like project manager and virtual assistant are often used interchangeably, but are there differences in these two and how do you select the right one? Here is a basic guide that explains the duties and focus of each to help you make the most informed decision when hiring.
Project Manager
As the word "manager" conveys, the overall role of this person is typically to oversee and facilitate processes, goals, projects, milestones, etc. While a project manager often has to fill various roles, they should all be working toward the final completion of the assignment that is being managed. For example, if a project manager is hired to oversee a grant program, he may help with a variety of tasks like meeting planning, paperwork completion, and resource allocation but they will usually all be contributing to the completeness of the program.
Virtual Assistant
A virtual assistant, on the other hand, will typically be hired to ease the workload of the employer or company, without specific project parameters. Virtual assistants, like project managers, may fill a variety of roles, but can more easily switch between tasks, departments, and projects. They don't usually stand in a management type position, nor have direct responsibility for the outcome or progress of a project. Examples of duties that are commonly outsourced to online workforces include secretarial work, billing and accounting, correspondence administration, appointment setting, and transcribing.
Secondly, a virtual assistant needs to be a strong team player and be able to understand how they fit into a variety of processes or projects. Because virtual assistants are often tasked with overflow workloads from a variety of sources, it is imperative that he or she be able to quickly and easily switch roles and blend seamlessly with any team assigned. Organizational skills are highly recommended in a virtual assistant, as well as flexibility and adaptability. They are typically lower level positions that simply do tasks, but that do not directly contribute to the company's growth, expansion, or improvement.
The choice of whether to hire a virtual assistant or a project manager largely depends on the job functions that you wish to distribute to this person. For those wanting to hand an entire project or department over to a person or obtain valuable help in growing or bettering a company, a project manager is likely the best choice. However, if the goal is to simply outsource overflow work, miscellaneous tasks, or duties from a variety of sources, then a virtual assistant typically is a better option.
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