Project Management Virtual Assistant: What You Need to Know

All businesses aim to succeed, but to excel in your line of industry, a lot of preparation needs to go into every project you build. It rings true if you’re a small business owner trying to make a name for your brand in the market. 

Overseeing all aspects of your business can be challenging, so you must build a reliable project management team to help with your current workload and future campaigns. Recent trends show that 61% of organizations provide some aspect of project management training. Such an initiative allows you to stay on top of overwhelming tasks and get the job done more efficiently.

As businesses become more receptive to the changing demands, project management is no longer restricted to the corners of a physical office. It has now transcended the boundaries of distance and time zones through remote project management.

Reports say that 69% of companies already allow remote work, and another 16% have transitioned to becoming fully remote. Likewise, a Hubstaff survey concludes that 40% of the companies were completely remote in their work setup, 31% were temporarily remote due in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and 19% utilized flexible work setups.

Learn more about remote project management and how working with a project management virtual assistant scales your business.

What is Remote Project Management?

Remote project management refers to the process by which virtual project managers connect their remote and hybrid teams. It ensures that all team members, regardless of varying locations and time zones, work together to comply with the requirements of a project within a set timeline and budget.

 This system utilizes the traditional approaches to project management by managing a remote team while harnessing technology to connect all team members. It generates numerous perks for businesses looking to scale their operations in today’s competitive space.

Perks of Remote Project Management

More companies are adopting remote project management as the benefits of this work setup become more evident. Some of these advantages include the following:

Lowers operational expenses

Since the team works in virtual environments, office spaces and utility expenses decrease. Members also save on certain things, such as the cost of transportation and time to get ready for work.

As a result, your company funnels its cash flow into expanding operations, investing in more advanced project management tools, and increasing employee salaries.

Promotes work-life balance

Working from home improves an employee’s work-life balance, with 44% of remote employees saying they experience a more positive attitude and 53% reporting less stress at work. 

A great work-life balance among your employees snowballs into significant wins for the company, including increased employee productivity and job satisfaction and reduced employee turnover.

Improves employee productivity

A remote work setup increases employee productivity, as 75% of workers stated that they have fewer distractions when working from wherever they want than in an office. Moreover, 85% of companies also noted an increase in employee productivity from the work-life balance remote work offers.

Reduces employee turnover

Study shows that 24% of employees in a remote work setup enjoy an excellent work-life balance that boosts job satisfaction and minimizes employee turnover rates.

In terms of expanding the talent pool, this work setup is also attractive to applicants, as 70% say that working remotely is an essential consideration in accepting a job offer, including a project management post.

Allows effective communication

Communication in remote project management can be tricky, but 51% of remote managers found a way around this by encouraging the use of asynchronous communication. 

Asynchronous communication is a type of communication that allows intervals between sending out messages and receiving responses. This approach works best in remote work setups since team members work independently.

Broadens talent sourcing

A remote work setup allows companies to outsource more talents and skilled workers from across the globe than hiring exclusively from one location. In addition, having remote workers from other parts of the world offers improved operational efficiency and cost savings, among other benefits.

Today, you can outsource professionals such as a project management virtual assistant to cover any of your business’s project needs.

What is a Project Management Virtual Assistant?

A project management VA is a person that helps manage specific projects your business creates. When you have a plan in mind, your virtual project manager conceptualizes your ideas and makes the necessary preparations to make them work. It typically begins from the early stages of planning until the final product or service is delivered. 

Tasks a Project Management Virtual Assistant Can Handle

Many VAs offer various skills and expertise to help businesses succeed and grow. Here’s a rundown of the most common responsibilities a project management VA can handle for you. 

Manage the project team

Virtual project managers handle everyone and everything involved with the assignment. It includes giving out tasks, keeping tabs on progress, and motivating other staff to put in their best efforts for every deliverable.

Develop and control the budget

Business projects are often established with a budget that your project management team must adhere to. With a VA on board, they can be tasked to plan out cost estimates and deliver the project without overspending. 

Create standard operating procedures (SOPs)

SOPs support team members on the best approach to their tasks. These may also be based on the risk assessment and the identified concerns that may occur during the project implementation.

Virtual project managers create SOPs to orient their team members about the best practices in any situation or issue they may encounter, including proper time-tracking and progress-reporting protocols.

Prepare reports and documentation

Virtual project managers will be responsible for bookkeeping and creating updated reports that clients use to keep up with the project. Through this, you can easily learn who was involved in each task and what process it has undergone already. 

Organize schedules 

All business projects should follow a pre-determined plan and timeframe for projects, which is a prime key to success for industries across the board. Luckily, your VA builds an efficient timeline that contains tasks and deadlines your team can follow to work productively. 

Perform risk assessment 

A project’s quality and timely completion may be at risk due to numerous project management challenges your company may encounter. Another task virtual project managers handle is predicting issues that may come up and finding methods of solving them. It helps your team assess the situation more quickly and take safer approaches to accomplish the job.

Allocate resources 

A project management VA systematically controls and assigns assets, such as tools and facilities, depending on your team member’s needs and the requirement to complete a task. It allows you to gain more efficiency in your workflow.

Perform quality assurance checks

Testing multiple aspects of your project allows you to find flaws in your work and improve them before sending out the final product. With the help of your project management virtual assistant, your customer’s expectations are met. 

Manage team priorities as needed

Emergencies can happen within a team working on a project, and the priority tasks may change over time based on the client’s urgent requests. A project management virtual assistant recalibrates the team’s priority tasks, reorienting everyone on updated priority tasks to cater to such emergency changes.

Verify for project closure

Once everything is done, the project management VA formally confirms project completion and transfers all deliverables to your clients. But before doing so, final checks are made before it’s released. 

Qualities to Look for in a Project Management Virtual Assistant

Working with the right people helps ease your business process and allows you to focus on other priorities without worries. If you’re looking to hire a virtual project manager, here are a few qualities you should watch out for in a VA.

Excellent communicator

The right person for the job should effectively communicate correspondence via emails, texts, or calls. These replies should also be quick and direct to avoid delays with your progress.

Adaptable and flexible

For any business project, problems can occur unexpectedly. It’s why having a virtual project manager who’s quick on their feet helps reduce the risks of having to deal with an issue in the first place.

Highly skilled in digital tools

A project manager should be knowledgeable in using different productivity tools to help complete tasks more efficiently. Not only is this a must in today’s digital world, but it also helps speed up your process and keep data organized. 

Cultural fit 

Someone who’s a good cultural fit for your company maintains the good standing of your business’s reputation. It ensures that they get along with other team members and help each other stay motivated.

Proactive mindset 

A proactive project management VA is a must so your team controls any situation and prevents problems from happening. Having someone responsible for taking charge of a project saves you time and resources while giving you peace of mind.

Trustworthy and honest

Working with a manager you can trust is essential for driving your business toward success. An honest project manager will tell you how things are going and help you make well-informed decisions.

Productive under pressure

Project managers deal with multiple tasks and can constantly be under pressure. As such, someone who keeps their cool and still delivers results despite stressful situations makes a good fit for the role. 

Expert multitasker 

A skilled multitasker improves project workflows and helps your team feel more accomplished. With this quality, you can also feel more confident in your virtual project manager.

Frequently Asked Questions About Project Management

Why is project management necessary for a business?

Project management is crucial in helping businesses score higher performance and establish their best practices. Statistics show that 73% of organizations attain their goals and objectives using project management approaches, 63% complete their projects within their designated budget, and 59% deliver timely project completions.

Who needs a project management team?

Companies that employ a minimum of 10-20 employees, have started to retain clients, or land more significant customers need a project management team. These businesses require dedicated supervision from a project manager to ensure quality and timely submissions of outputs.

What are the challenges of outsourcing project management support?

1. Choosing the right provider

Startup companies may have limited capacity to make smart decisions in choosing the right provider. The project management industry typically offers two types of support teams: companies with standardized protocols and teams with highly personalized packages.

Startups with smaller employee counts would greatly benefit from a project management support team that offers more customized and focused assistance than larger support companies with standardized measures.

2. Entrusting and delegating tasks

A company may need more experience outsourcing its project management support, which can be a barrier in entrusting and designating tasks to a third-party provider. However, as the need arises, businesses with limited experience can bank on third-party support by choosing an experienced and highly reliable provider.

3. Collaborating with third-party support

Like any other group work, not having proper communication results in issues that can affect the project as a whole. To address this, your company must ensure an effective onboarding process for your VA and discuss precise requirements, deadlines, SOPs, and expectations for their project management support.

By doing this, your outsourced personnel optimizes their methods to ensure quality outputs and efficient workflow.

4. Communicating with the support team

Communication is essential to project management, especially when teams work remotely. Achieve this using digital communication tools and channels like chat, audio calls, or video conferences.

5. Standardizing operations

Your company may struggle to comply with the legal requirements of outsourcing from a different location. Before partnering with an outsourced talent, be sure you’re aware of any local and international policies that may concern this partnership.

What are the factors of effective project management?

• Agreement among team members on the project goals
• Development of clear workflow, designations, and accountabilities
• Management of the entire project scope, including solutions to anticipated problems
• Establishment of effective and timely communication
• Assurance of sufficient management support

Where can I find a virtual assistant to help with my business’s needs?

There are a lot of outsourcing companies with available virtual assistance to help with your business. Choose a credible one who can attend to your organization’s needs.

Outsource Access is a fully managed outsourcing and virtual services firm with management in the US and virtual assistants in the Philippines, continuously helping entrepreneurs and businesses in marketing, sales, operations, personal tasks, and more with their highly trained, affordable virtual staff. 

Outsource Success with Outsource Access

It’s inevitable for business owners to have a lot on their plate, and they often can’t manage everything alone. A reliable project management VA with the right skillsets helps you manage your projects and drive your business to success.

Start building your dream team and work with the experts in the outsourcing industry today.