What is a Virtual Legal Assistant?
Imagine having a virtual assistant as an extension of you for administrative tasks that frees up time for legal work and billing. They can take over many routine tasks for you such as communication with clients (calls/live chats/emails etc) scheduling appointments writing legal contracts research as well as accounting.
Legal virtual assistants are an ideal solution if you’re uncertain whether you want to add full-time staff members to your in-house team. Hiring online legal assistants save money, as the cost is considerably less than hiring lawyers or in-house employees for your company. While people might mistakenly believe a virtual assistant cannot assist with document management due to being remote employees, their capabilities extend far beyond limited hardcopy document assistance – they may still play an invaluable role managing documents within your company! My File Runner is the only business offering an online Efile Texas assistant capable of managing every step in the filing process with precision and urgency.
An ideal filing system should be in place from the outset of your company, to facilitate organization and facilitate best practices for document management. When searching through piles of papers to locate what you’re after, finding yourself overwhelmed, this realization hits home quickly.
No matter where your company stands in its development, virtual assistants can assist with cleaning up and organizing documents whether these exist on paper, in digital format, or both.
With today’s fast-paced and increasingly competitive business environment and the proliferation of virtual offices and freelancers, virtual personal assistants are increasingly sought-after.
Here Are Some Tips for Working With a Virtual Personal Assistant.
Know How You Are Competing for Time
Virtual personal assistants may be hired by multiple individuals as freelance workers, and therefore, it is wise to ask interview questions regarding how time will be allocated and conflicts managed between employees.
Clarify Scope and Boundaries
Are You Needing a Virtual Assistant for Work Only or Additionally in Personal Life? During an interview for virtual assistance it’s important to determine how trustful you feel with this person fulfilling potentially sensitive personal or work needs.
Establish Communication Ground Rules and Pathways
When will your assistant and you contact the base? What communication methods will be employed? Engaging in multiple forms of dialogue such as email or video chat, electronic messaging or phone calls can help foster relationships while speedily finishing transactional tasks. Establish patterns and expectations right from the beginning in order to keep in touch.
Establish a Clear Electronic Filing System
Efficient filing management is essential to effective communication. Your assistant administrative will have to oversee your existing digital filing system or collaborate with you in creating one from scratch, using various options such as Microsoft(r) OneDrive(r), SharePoint(r), Box, Dropbox and Google DriveTM as storage platforms to share and store files efficiently. By employing such filing solutions efficiently and speedily virtual work can progress quickly and more efficiently.
Show Your Appreciation
If you are working remotely with an employee, it can be easy to overlook that they are people with emotions and feelings which don’t translate well in email correspondence. We all want to feel valued and appreciated so make sure you contact your assistant to express your thanks and provide feedback for a job well done – don’t wait until Administrative Professionals’ Day; acknowledgements should be shared any time!
Get to Know Your Virtual Legal Assistant
Understanding your legal assistant will ensure an efficient working relationship. Doing this will enable you to get to know their personality both on a personal and professional level; furthermore, doing this will build trust between both of you while keeping them involved with firm’s growth.
Be Prepared to Project Manage
Virtual legal assistants can make your time spent less cumbersome; however, you should still plan for working together and coordinating projects with them. One option would be delegating project management; in this instance, ensure to introduce an assistant virtual into your law firm’s workflows, processes, and technology stack.
Set Clear Expectations
It is essential that you communicate regularly and clearly with your virtual assistant, including how and what platforms you will communicate via. Also discuss reports you anticipate receiving and their frequency; provide updates as necessary on what their priorities may be; such as do you require monthly updates regarding tasks assigned, or use project management systems to keep an eye on their projects?
Give Clear Instructions
Virtual law firms make it impossible to go visit an actual desk to inquire about matters, but that doesn’t mean your virtual assistant has no idea of how you want each task completed. By providing clear directions for every task–whether that be emailing clients according to messaging guidelines in your law firm, or collecting payments–you increase their chance of successfully accomplishing the task at hand.
Be Consistent
Consistency is key when running an organized law firm, especially since your virtual assistant won’t see everything that goes on every day in your firm as they aren’t employees themselves. Setting consistent schedules and deadlines will enable the virtual assistant to work efficiently – for instance if legal consultations with clients usually happen early morning, make your virtual assistant aware. Also if an assignment in legal research needs completing, try your hardest to stick with it until its deadline.