Category: virtual assistance

Being Considerate: A Factor in Becoming a Reliable Virtual Assistant

Being Considerate: A Factor in Becoming a Reliable Virtual Assistant

Reliability is what makes a virtual assistant a long-term choice for employers instead of deciding to take in another team member for replacement. Indeed, it is quite common in the virtual assistant world for one client to replace a remote worker quite easily. This is driven by how plain sailing online recruitment is being done now and the increasing number of VA aspirants.

However, as a virtual assistant, you should not be content with the fact that you may simply hop from one work to another. If you prefer a more worthwhile assignment while nurturing your growth as a professional, always aim for a long-term commitment, since this is what will also provide you stability.

To become a remote worker that a client would keep for long, you should shape yourself as a reliable virtual assistant, and one way of doing so is being considerate. How can you make this happen? Surprisingly, there are various habits you should start practicing to become a considerate VA.

Primarily, remember that your client is your priority. Before doing anything else, always consider what your client prefers first. It is never wrong to always consult him or her before making a move, unless you were given a green light in certain situations beforehand. Yes, there may be situations where your opinion may sound better, but it does not mean that it should be followed. You may be vocal about it, but consider the fact that your client has the final say all the time.

Secondly, never consider yourself as a single unit in an organization. Keep in mind that what you do will have an either direct or indirect effect on your co-workers. If you slack, most likely, your team members would suffer given they may need your output one way or another. On the other hand, if you provide the necessary results, then you contribute in making the team win. Being considerate means that you should also remember that you are not present in the company to succeed alone. There are also goals that you should also set your sight on alongside your team.

Lastly, being considerate can also be seen even in the smallest matters at work, such as taking a leave. There are times that you have to compromise in planning out your leaves unless it is an emergency. One good example is checking the current situation before creating your vacation plan. If you think it is the season where the team members should be present all the time, if not, most of the time, then you should try delaying your leaves first. Otherwise, you may hamper the team’s course of action detrimentally, leading to delays or even mistakes.

The provided ways are just a few of what you can do to become a considerate virtual assistant. Once you practice consideration to your client, your team members, and the organization you are working in, it will be much easier for you to gain your employer’s trust. Knowing you are someone, who is not working for one’s benefit solely, you will definitely be a treasure to keep by any organization.

Why Attendance Is Pivotal as a Virtual Assistant

Why Attendance Is Pivotal as a Virtual Assistant

Working from home is undeniably the most comfortable setting for anyone regardless of their field. Nonetheless, comfort is a factor that causes some people to make wrong decisions in terms of their commitment to work. In some cases, as certain remote workers find it more convenient to work from home, they tend to forget to keep their professionalism in check.

Since it is much easier to skip work when you are not physically required to report, some misuse this privilege, to the point that it affects their employers negatively.

Yes, indeed, there are cases that are exceptions. For instance, you have to attend to an urgent matter or emergency. Moreover, if you are feeling under the weather, which is equivalent to being ineffective instead of functional if you will still work. These are situations that you cannot refute as good reasons to miss your shift. 

However, as a virtual assistant, you have to practice avoiding absences without valid reasons. One possible invalid reason is to prevent being called off due to a mishap with your work, so you decided to hide and escape reprimand. If you are a reliable VA, learn to own up your mistakes and surely, your client would prefer to rectify them with you. On the other hand, you will be absent simply because you are not in the mood to work. Also, you may be skipping work because you are going to miss your favorite television show or game.

When you start working as a VA, you should remember that you have committed yourself to assisting your client efficiently. Basically, being present is one component of being efficient. There are lots of things that could go wrong with you not being around.

Primarily, if you are not present, especially if your main role as a virtual assistant is to assist your client, you can possibly cause him or her to take over your tasks. This would make him or her lose time for more important matters, which could have been the focus of his or her day. Furthermore, your client may miss a lot of important things since one role of a VA is to keep your employer reminded of not only appointments, but tasks to do, as well. Some clients even tend to delay their projects for your input is highly crucial to accomplish them.

Secondly, if you make it a habit to miss work for no reason, you are also jeopardizing your team members’ productivity. If you are working with other remote staff as a team, most likely, your work can affect everyone else’s. For instance, their activity may be held off simply because you have not submitted yours yet. Alternatively, they may need to do extra work since you have left yours unattended.

Additionally, did you know that being present all the time will make you more contributive to the organization you are working in? The more you understand things that are occurring in the company, the better you can put your skills into use. If there are issues ahead, you can help solve it and an extra head would always be valuable.

All boils down to consideration when it comes to keeping your attendance record acceptable if not perfect. You have to consider not only yourself when working as a virtual assistant, but your client, co-workers, and company itself. Keep in mind that you may be reporting for salary to sustain your everyday life, but it does not mean that you should cause trouble for those, who are also doing the same.

Virtual assistants are often preferred by clients for they can be available regardless of location and timezone. As a remote worker, it is best to be a representation of what is expected of a virtual assistant – a better person to work with and someone that a client could rely on anytime.

Five Quick Tips for Effective E-mail Management

E-mail has always been the preferred communication means of businesses given the various advantages it offers to users. Primarily, it is very easy to use. Regardless of the application to utilize, you can send e-mail easily to anyone no matter what the location is.

Moreover, e-mails are free. Businesses do not even have to invest anything for communication to be present among their employees.

Furthermore, e-mails are best used if you want to keep records or references for future use. Compared to messaging platforms, e-mails can serve as files better than chat conversations.

Given the said facts, as a virtual assistant, e-mail management is a primary requirement when assisting business owners or executives. Fortunately, it is easy to learn. To make things much more efficient when handling e-mail accounts, there are quick tips to consider, such as the following:

Categorize e-mails for responses. A concept from David Allen, the author of Getting Things Done, provides a tip to follow the “Two-Minute Rule.” This tip advises you to set aside an e-mail for later reply if it will take you more than two minutes to respond. Otherwise, if a mail can be replied in less than a couple of minutes, then you should revert accordingly.

This is to avoid heedlessly responding to concerns in the e-mails. There are messages that should be read repeatedly and carefully, such as those tackling sensitive topics.

Allot a certain time for e-mail management. If your work as a virtual assistant is entailed by various tasks, then a specific chunk of your time daily should be dedicated to e-mail management. Be reminded that e-mail management is not about responding to messages solely. It also involves organizing the mails and removing unnecessary messages.

If you keep on managing the e-mail accounts throughout the day, you will lose track of your other priority tasks. This would also divide your concentration since you will end up multitasking.

Try setting time at the start and end of the day for e-mail management. Scheduling your e-mail management to when most of your contacts would likely be at their desks checking their respective inboxes is a good way to go. You will be able to determine this based on their usual response times.

Identify e-mails that require replies. Note that not all e-mails should be replied to. If you are receiving tons of messages daily, then you will waste most of your time just responding to e-mails. 

There are messages that should not be acknowledged, such as promotional ones and invites that would not be beneficial to the recipient. Furthermore, there are e-mails that should be considered spam and deleted immediately.

On the other hand, there are e-mails that require replies, especially those coming from interested leads and offering business opportunities. The quicker your responses are to these messages, the better.

Know when to switch to a call. There are matters that cannot be discussed efficiently via e-mails, particularly if it would require constant back-and-forth. There are times that a call should be scheduled for a more in-depth discussion.

Keep in mind that due to long threads of e-mails sometimes, some concerns are not being addressed properly and other information is being missed. It is also possible that delays may be experienced, which should be prevented if there is a timeline involved. For instance, in terms of projects or deliverables.

Never forget labeling the e-mails and creating folders. To a more organized e-mail account, labeling and creating folders would always be an effective and easy tip to follow. For instance, you can label e-mails that are from customers, partners, and suppliers. 

Moreover, you may create folders for references. A good example is when the e-mail account is often receiving attachments. Searching would no longer be tedious in the long run with folders.

With the given quick tips for effective e-mail management, you will be able to take full advantage of e-mail’s usefulness in business or work. Instead of making e-mail management a time-consuming task that keeps you from accomplishing other activities efficiently, make it a key to a more productive day.

Being Proactive: A Commonly Sought Trait in Virtual Assistants

Being Proactive: A Commonly Sought Trait in Virtual Assistants

Virtual assistants are selected not simply because they help in more ways than how a typical office worker could contribute to an organization (e.g. being able to assist regardless of time or location). To put it simply, skills are not always the basis whenever remote workers are being assessed; instead, personality also matters a lot, or better yet, it is a priority for most employers.

You may be the most efficient virtual assistant a company could find in terms of the tasks you can carry out with utmost efficiency, but you would still be let go if you lack the trait of being proactive.

What does it mean to be proactive? Being proactive can be described as a trait that makes someone more dependable in terms of preventing issues effectively and finding solutions for further business growth. Practically, it is what an employer would need – someone that would not just follow through instructions all the time, but serve as a dependable worker regardless of being guided or working independently.

It is true that being a virtual assistant implies you are required to provide an output based on the instructions given to you. However, if your aim is to be a more efficient one, not only for your employer’s sake, but for your personal growth, you should not be contained by instructions alone. Employers always seek for a team member that is not hesitant to suggest, comment, or criticize, whenever necessary. Basically, without such worker in an organization, problems would not be solved and improvement would never be in the picture.

If you are not convinced yet with how being proactive can make you a commendable virtual assistant, then here are more advantages brought by having the said trait:

Uncovering potential critical issues easily. By being proactive, you would be able to identify certain matters in your employer’s operations that could be probable serious predicaments in the future. One good example is the frequent poor client coordination for the customer service team is not trained properly. If this will be addressed ahead of time, the reputation of the company may be saved from countless negative feedbacks that may be expected if the problem ensues.

Being the best team member one could find. With a proactive personality, you would not be dependent on people around you all the time, even if you are working in a team. Regardless of having certain tasks assigned to you as a contribution, being proactive means you are willing to step in, whenever necessary.

One good example is when one of your team members is ill and no one would take care of the documentation task. If you have the skill and time to take over, being proactive implies you would not hesitate to handle the work for the meantime.

By having the given mindset, you will not just finish your tasks or projects easily, but show how considerate you are to the other members of the organization. This will certainly create an amiable atmosphere in the company.

Opening one’s self to growth. If you are a proactive virtual assistant, you would not mind being corrected or taught on how to carry out your work much more effectively. Instead, you would actually welcome guidance and new learnings, whenever they are at hand.

A proactive remote worker would think of mistakes as a learning curve and would not dwell in them. Instead, he or she would always look forward to preventing those errors, resulting in his or her improvement. Considering your growth as a virtual assistant to be a contributing factor to your organization’s betterment is also equal to being proactive. 

A proactive virtual assistant would always be a step ahead of any remote worker regardless of experience, educational background, or number of skills to offer. By being proactive, you would not simply meet your employer’s standards but go beyond what is expected of you, making you a dependable asset to an organization’s growth in the future.

How to Make the Most Out of Having a Virtual Assistant

How to Make the Most Out of Having a Virtual Assistant

Having a virtual assistant at this time is one of the smartest moves an entrepreneur or an executive would do. With the advancement in technology and easier means of working regardless of your location or time zone, having a remote assistant is no longer a problem. 

In truth, there are tons of benefits that you could reap by having a virtual assistant, which you could start with flexibility. Meetings or even coordination about tasks would no longer be limited to seeing each other personally. Even if you are traveling around the globe, you can relay your thoughts, ideas, and requirements to your VA with ease.

However, in order to make the most out of having a virtual assistant, there are things that you should try to practice. The following are just a few:

Get rid of your menial tasks first. If you are new to having a remote assistant, the best thing to do first is getting rid of your so-called ‘menial’ tasks. These are activities that take much of your time every day, but can actually be handled by your assistant, which will free up your schedule for more important business matters.

Some business people are too hesitant to assign tasks to their VA, which is normal, so considering the menial tasks as a start would be a smart idea. Once you have seen that your virtual assistant is working efficiently with the initial activities you have assigned, you would have a better assessment on what other tasks to disseminate in the near future.

Work with them side-by-side. To reap the utmost advantages of having a VA, it is best to have them with you during your working or operational hours. Flexibility may be considered the best option by others, but if you want to be assisted well enough, then the virtual assistant should at least be reachable whenever you need him or her.

By having your VA work during your operational hours, even if there are urgent matters at hand, you will be assisted. Furthermore, coordination would not be delayed. Flexible schedule may keep your virtual assistant from clarifying some things, which could in turn hold off the completion of certain tasks.

Additionally, working alongside your VA may also help you observe his or her work performance much more effectively.

Give sufficient time for adjustment. Every virtual assistant has the right to have enough time adjusting to their new work environment. If you will rush a VA to have the know-how of everything in your business immediately simply because he or she is experienced, you may encounter issues going forward.

Bear in mind that your operations may differ from that of your VAs’ previous employers’. Furthermore, even if you may be using software applications that your virtual assistant is proficient at, you still need to convey your expectations clearly.

By giving a reasonable adjustment period, you would be able to support your VA from working effectively in the long run. It is somehow your means of orienting them on what your business goals are.

Be open to correcting their mistakes. There are entrepreneurs or executives, who simply decide to give up having a virtual assistant after a single mistake and not allowing him or her to correct it. 

If you want to make the most out of having a VA, treat them as a typical office employee, who may err from time to time. With proper guidance and correction, he or she would improve by seeing mistakes as their learning curve.

Moreover, if you do not present the errors done by your virtual assistant, it would be difficult for him or her to even keep up with your standards or requirements. Guessing what should be done is not the way to go in having a VA.

Allow learning of new skills. You should not limit your virtual assistant to doing the same things in the long run. If you would allow him or her to learn new skills, which are beneficial for you, then it is a good move. 

For instance, instead of allowing your VA to work on administrative tasks solely, you should also be open to the possibility of getting help in advertising or sales. This is in consideration to getting the nod of your virtual assistant and assuring that his or her workload is still fair.

Instead of getting more and more people to do tasks separately, an efficient VA can get a lot of things done with sufficient time, resources, and support.

From the provided practices, you would realize that a virtual assistant could be the independent contractor or employee that could fill in the gap in your operations. All it takes is to carry out the said steps and you would be able to get the most efficient assistance you could find.