Initially, the adaptation of infrastructure to primarily support remote communications and operations was mandated by the abrupt and unexpected work-from-home requirements.

Increasingly, disruption is setting precedent for re-evaluating practice management as a whole and is accelerating the profession’s openness and adoption to progressive measures that embrace decentralisation to enhance efficiencies, optimise performance and support growth.

An interesting by-product of this decentralisation is the receptiveness to global solutions and in particular, outsourcing. This correlates with the identification of resource gaps and partners being more receptive to alternative means of fulfilling the firms’ requirements. As such, there’s been a substantial increase in demand for both on and offshore virtual assistant (VA) support.

According to Carmen Williams, director of Global Teams, the rise in VAs in the law can be attributed to the relative cost/resource benefit to the firm. Ms Williams attributes the primary driver for the acceleration of VAs in the law to additional support which, in turn, enables solicitors to spend more time on billable tasks.

The result of same is an increase in productivity, greater flexibility and ultimately, space for more personal downtime.

“While there’s an increasing openness to VAs conceptually, there are still some knowledge gaps about what exactly a VA can do, and where to start,” said Ms Williams.

VAs typically provide support with administration, customer service support (usually behind the scenes), social media and marketing. VAs can be contracted to do specific tasks or projects for a defined period, though the emerging trend is for VAs to have a defined and long-term role within the business, often in a part or full-time basis.

VIEW ALL

“There are two primary considerations when selecting a VA: whether they’re onshore or offshore, and whether you hire a VA directly or go through a company for the hire,” said Ms Williams.

A direct hire is the most cost-effective solution, with many people readily available through multiple platforms, though the trade-off of this direction is the time required to source a suitable candidate, lack of quality control and competency validation (i.e. that the hire has the skill set to complete what they state).

Alternatively, a recruitment company typically has access to a different calibre and often more qualified talent.

A recruiter customarily has established processes and procedures that vet applicants, to include pre-interviews, and post-placement support. A good recruiter will also consider the partners’ personality and firms’ culture to ensure the hire is aligned. The advantage of this approach is the reduction in time spent and increased quality control, though expectedly, there are cost implications.

Before embarking on a hire, Ms Williams cautioned the profession to consider the organisational gaps as a “reactive play”, as well as the “proactive play” of how a VA could enhance the firm.

“The most common mistake I see firms make is to not view the role of a VA strategically. The more considered the role is, the more successful the hire will be. Furthermore, I encourage the profession to not focus on what a VA can do, but focus on what the organisation needs. For example, rather than hire a VA because you decide you’d like to do some social media posts, consider the broader organisational need. In this instance, it may be that the Partner recognises the requirement for ongoing marketing and sales support. In addition, consider what else is lacking in the organisation, to include where there may be opportunities to improve efficiencies or enhance operations. This may be in administration, back-end bookwork, or other,” considered Ms Williams.

Having placed hundreds of VAs into professional services, here are Ms Williams “top tips” to maximise VA engagement:

1) VAs are humans! A VA needs to feel part of the team (even if it’s just you).

2) Have an onboarding plan. Just like with any employee, a VA can’t be “dropped into the deep end” and be expected to immediately swim.

3) Be realistic about your expectations. Specifically, don’t assume implied understanding from the outset and keep briefs within the parameters of the VA’s skill sets.

4) Be organised and provide clear briefs that include when key milestones need to be delivered.

5) Speak to your VA at a set time each day via videoconference to reduce the perception of distance.

6) Mutually decide on your communication framework.

7) Expect a learning curve. This is going to be exacerbated by distance.

8) Remember that you need to work out how to best support the VA to enable the VA to best support you.

9) Take a phased approach and drip-feed tasks to a VA whilst they get into the swing of your practice’s flow.

10) Engaging with a VA is like the reception. Don’t forget the marriage. You need to prepare for the long-term to optimise success.

We encourage the profession to continue to be progressive, agile and responsive in considering alternative areas that can support optimal practice management and help facilitate firm growth.

Anthony Hersch is the chief operating officer at JustKapital.