From boosting productivity and getting more work done to save up time and money, there are several benefits of choosing virtual assistants over in-house ones.

Hiring in-house employees can get very expensive. They require higher pay rates and yearly bonuses and benefits. On the other hand, virtual assistants only get paid according to their hours of productivity. You also won’t have to pay for their coffee breaks or holiday leaves. Thus, you can maximize your productivity and save lots of money simultaneously!

However, managing remote workers can get tricky as tracking their progress is more challenging. Fortunately, modern productivity tools have solved this issue and greatly help facilitate a virtual environment.

Nowadays, most companies use Search Engine Optimization to ensure their websites are rich with relevant information. Almost every website combines a virtual assistant and the power of link building for a balanced user experience.

This translates into a funnel that brings in more sales and profits for the company. The website, therefore, becomes a platform for the company by using sales reps, product tracking, more checkout options, and delivery options.

Virtual assistants like the ones available at Link Building HQ offer comprehensive information regarding link-building strategies and allow you to make the best possible decision for your organization.

With that said, let’s look at six tools for managing your virtual assistants and tracking their progress.

Managing Virtual Assistants

If you have more than one virtual assistant installed on your website, managing them can be challenging. One of the most crucial aspects of managing virtual assistants is maintained in terms of responding to users and the quality of analytics they’ll provide for you to make better and more informed decisions.

To manage multiple virtual assistants, you need a vigilant support system like that offers real-time monitoring, maintenance, and upgrading of your support system. As a business owner focused on company growth, the last thing you want is to manage your support system.

Time Tracking Software

Maintaining payroll for in-house employees is extremely easy. You can use simple software to calculate employee salaries based on check-in and checkout times. However, virtual employees who live all over the work and have different work timings, time tracking, and payroll can get confusing.
You could ask employees to send in time cards that contain information about the number of hours they’ve worked.
However, is this reliable?
Do employees report truthful information in their time cards?
Well, that is debatable!
Thus, you can remove the inaccuracy factor from time cards using time tracking software. It shows the number of hours virtual assistants work and their tasks during this time. This workflow is especially important in remote settings where you can’t really keep tabs on your employees at all times or randomly walk into their office and check what they are doing.
A great time tracking software is Time Doctor. It is a one-stop shop for all your time-tracking needs. The software is helpful for companies of all sizes, from large corporations such as BBB (Better Business Bureau) to small businesses such as Firehouse Subs.
Time Doctor calculates the exact number of hours your assistants spend working. It also calculates the time spent on a specific task or with a particular client. Moreover, you can also track the applications and websites your assistant visit during work time.
Are they getting work done or just scrolling through their Instagram? Time Doctor will let you know.
It will display this information in the form of timesheets and time-use reports. All in all, it is a spectacular software for analyzing employee productivity and getting accurate reports on their performance.
You can also integrate it with other project management tools like Basecamp, Zendesk, and Asana! You can track the time they spend on various projects within these tools. The best part about this software is that you can get it at an exceptional rate of just $7 a month! You could further decrease the monthly price by opting for volume discounts and enjoy Time Doctor’s features for just a couple of dollars.

ClickUp

Whether part of an engineering or marketing team, ClickUp will revolutionize how you manage your assistants! It is a powerful project management tool that offers advanced features not even in some of the most popular software.
ClickUp gives you the ability to plan and track your projects. You can distribute the workload amongst employees and assign specific tasks. Then, you can follow the progress and ensure that all deadlines are met. All this information is readily displayed on a dashboard. Moreover, ClickUp also identifies the efficiency of employees and assets. It reports on the individual progress of each employee and project over time.
Thus, you can monitor tasks and get quick overviews without any hassle.
ClickUp also allows you to create a separate conversation thread for each task. You can even convert comments into tasks and assign them to employees so that it does not slip their minds! Furthermore, you can set up task dependencies that allow a person only to begin work after the previous one has completed his part.
The project management tool comes in free and paid versions. The paid one offers more features with advanced reports. It only costs $5/user each month and provides more than a hundred MBs of file uploads.

Google Workspace

Google Workspace is a fairly common business app used by millions of business managers globally, and rightfully so.
The app features intuitive and comprehensive books that make collaboration extremely easy. Additionally, almost all virtual employees are familiar with it, and you won’t need to spend time training them on how to use it.
Google Workspace makes scheduling meetings effortless through its inbuilt calendar. You can check the dates for when all employees are available and send automatic emails to everybody. You can also quickly turn your meeting into a video call conference or use the share my screen feature to review projects collectively and get input from the whole team.
It also features a separate cloud where you can virtually create and share documents with your team. Thus, employees can access the information they need whenever they want it. They can invite others to quickly view or collaborate on any desired document without email attachments. Moreover, all the files are automatically updated and stored so that all users can access the latest edits.
Additionally, the spectacular app allows you to efficiently work on spreadsheets and documents from any device, even without an active internet connection. Thus, your employees won’t have an excuse for the delay as they can work even when their WiFi isn’t working! The app also features extreme security as you can opt for options like two-step verification as well as single-sign-on,
The cost of Google Workspace varies according to the plan you use. You can opt for Business Starter, which costs $6/ user/ month, Business Standard, which costs $12/ user/ month for Business Standard, or Business Plus, for $18/user/ month.

Social Media Tools

Today’s world is all about social media, and any business without an online presence practically does not exist! These platforms give you a vast outreach opportunity and help spread the word about your business. Thus, it only makes sense to streamline your social media processes to build your brand name and effectively market your products to a huge audience.
Instead of having several virtual assistants work on your social media accounts for hours, you can invest in social media tools and boost your productivity. Your assistants can use it to manage and schedule posts on all accounts simultaneously, including Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Moreover, you can easily track their work and social media campaigns through easy-to-read dashboards on such tools.
One of the best tools available on the market is Hootsuite. It offers advanced team collaboration features that allow you to assign team members tasks and track their progress. Moreover, it is also a great scheduling tool. You can schedule weeks worth of posts on it and save up a lot of time. Furthermore, it also allows you to get a lot of work done when you are in ‘the groove’ and prevents you from getting lost in the infamous social media’ rabbit hole’ each time you log into your accounts.
Additionally, your assistant can respond to queries and comments from your social media followers effortlessly via the main dashboard on the app. Hootsuite offers this and much more at reasonable rates. Thus, investing in this spectacular social media tool can save time and significantly boost productivity.

Workfront

Are you tired of sending out emails all the time? Are the redundant status meetings wasting your time and decreasing productivity? Invest in Workfront and unlock new levels of success for your business.
Teams like IT and marketing require extensive collaboration, which can become extremely difficult, especially if remote work is involved. Sending emails and holding redundant status meetings can waste precious time and decrease productivity. However, you can skip all this chaos by investing in tools like Workfront.
Workfront is among the top project management tools. It is used to choose the right person with the right skill set for each task and automate tedious processes. Thus, you can avoid the hassle of time-consuming project planning. The AI, a dependent resource management feature, will distribute work amongst your virtual assistants directly based on availability, skill requirements, and priority.
Moreover, the tool offers complete project visibility and in-depth reports for managers and executives. It also tracks comments, version updates, and changes and displays them for all team members to view and give feedback.
Workfront prices vary based on user prices. However, there is a free demo that you can check out before buying the package and deciding if the tool fits your needs.

Final Remarks

Managing your productivity well is important for every business, especially remote ones. You will need the top tools in the market for tracking your employees and their progress. Give the ones we have recommended above a try, and we are sure you will see the difference instantly!