Operations Managers Are Buried in Administrative Work
Operations managers are responsible for keeping businesses running — but research consistently shows they spend a disproportionate share of their time on administrative tasks rather than operational improvements. A 2025 McKinsey & Company analysis found that operations professionals spend an average of 28% of their work week on tasks that could be handled by a skilled support role, including scheduling, status reporting, and vendor communication.
That's a significant drag on organizations that depend on their operations leaders to drive efficiency and continuous improvement. Virtual assistants with operations support training are increasingly being positioned as the solution.
Core Tasks Operations VAs Take On
Operations-focused VAs bring value across several recurring functions:
- Scheduling and calendar management — coordinating cross-department meetings, maintenance windows, and project milestones
- Vendor communication — sending follow-ups, tracking purchase orders, and managing documentation for supplier relationships
- Reporting preparation — pulling data from platforms like Tableau, Monday.com, or Excel to assemble weekly and monthly ops reports
- Process documentation — converting voice notes or rough drafts into formatted SOPs and runbooks
- KPI tracking dashboards — updating performance trackers and flagging metrics that fall outside acceptable ranges
According to a 2024 Gartner survey, 54% of operations managers who delegated administrative functions to support staff reported a measurable improvement in team throughput within 90 days.
The Reporting Trap
One of the most time-consuming recurring tasks for operations managers is report preparation. Pulling data from disparate systems, formatting it consistently, and distributing it to stakeholders can take three to five hours per week. A VA trained in the organization's reporting templates and data sources can automate much of this workflow, compiling the core inputs and flagging anomalies for the manager's review rather than building every report from scratch.
"I used to spend Sunday nights pulling together the Monday ops report," said one supply chain operations manager at a regional distribution company in a 2025 case study published by the Operations Management Association. "Now my VA has it in my inbox by Friday afternoon."
Vendor and Supplier Follow-Up at Scale
Maintaining active vendor relationships requires consistent outreach — renewal reminders, performance check-ins, documentation requests, and dispute resolution follow-ups. Operations managers managing 20 or more vendor relationships often let these slip due to competing priorities. VAs can maintain a vendor communication calendar, send templated follow-ups, and escalate unanswered inquiries without requiring the manager's direct involvement for routine touchpoints.
Cross-Department Coordination Support
Operations managers frequently serve as the coordination layer between departments — logistics, finance, HR, IT — which generates a constant stream of meeting requests, information handoffs, and follow-up tasks. VAs can manage this coordination load by triaging inbound requests, scheduling the right people, and ensuring that action items are tracked and completed. This is particularly valuable in organizations without a dedicated project management office.
Building the Business Case Internally
For operations managers seeking budget approval to hire a VA, the numbers are straightforward. The average fully-loaded cost of an operations coordinator in North America runs $55,000 to $70,000 annually. A dedicated operations VA typically costs $10 to $20 per hour. For managers spending 10 hours per week on delegable admin work, the ROI calculation is compelling.
Stealth Agents provides operations managers with vetted virtual assistants experienced in ops support workflows across manufacturing, logistics, and service industries.
Sources
- McKinsey & Company Operational Excellence Survey, 2025
- Gartner Operations Manager Productivity Study, 2024
- Operations Management Association Case Study Series, 2025