Category: virtual assistance

Seven Simple Habits That Make You More Professional

Seven Simple Habits That Make You More Professional

Working remotely requires professionalism as you can also expect when reporting in a physical office. Even if you are not seen by your co-workers, be reminded that your attitude at work contributes greatly to your overall performance. No matter how adept you are in your field, your personality may outweigh your skills anytime.

If you want to be more professional as a virtual assistant, there are simple habits you can start practicing now. Here are a few that you can start learning:

Be punctual always. Being on time is a simple habit but can affect your work performance tremendously. Punctuality shows how relevant you consider your work-related affairs. Regardless of the type of appointment, being on time will imply that you are proficient. You value not only your work but respect those people around you, who would be affected negatively if you are late.

Working remotely gives you more reason to prevent tardiness. You are just a click away from a phone call or video conference every time.

Avoid procrastination. If you procrastinate, it will indicate poor time management. To be more professional, you have to allocate time for your activities properly. Learn how to prioritize and set aside unnecessary activities.

If there are deadlines to meet, then you should make sure to create timelines for tasks and follow through.

Be interactive. You are not meant to work by simply obtaining instructions from your superiors or team members. You are also allowed to interact and share your ideas to make things better for the organization.

You would be more professional if you show regard for how things can be done more effectively. Exchanging thoughts to your colleagues would also promote a healthier workplace relationship since you encourage learning from one another.

Never take all the credit. In an organization, your work is not the standalone reason for the company’s success. Be reminded that every member of the team contributed to keeping the operations going.

If there are successful projects, never take all the credit, even if you took a larger chunk of activities compared to the others. Even if you are the lead, always share the triumph. In such a way, your team would not feel neglected but motivated to keep on winning.

Prevent gossip. No matter how tempting it is to talk about others with your co-workers, professionalism is all about setting aside personal matters while at work. To make this happen, consider yourself in the shoes of the person being talked about.

Instead of sparing time for gossip, dedicate yourself in bettering your productivity every day or learning new skills from your co-workers. Always consider your workplace as a training ground.

Stay organized. As simple as organizing your desk, you could actually look more professional. By making sure everything is in order, you would be free from distractions and you also create an environment that would encourage efficiency all day.

Even if you are pertaining to digital files, organizing your documents will ensure your superiors that referencing would not be an issue whenever you are working. You can carry out your tasks more effectively.

Show respect. The way you treat others, either at a higher or lower position than yours, reflects your professionalism. Regardless of rank, you should show respect to your colleagues. This is how you maintain harmony within the workplace. 

Moreover, respect can also be exhibited by following the organization’s rules. You may have a different opinion at times, but keeping mum to show respect is great professionalism unless the policies are already abusive. 

Working as a virtual assistant may appear easier since you only interact with your co-workers electronically. Nonetheless, regardless of your location, your professionalism would still be reflected by how you communicate, work with your team members, accept feedback, and behave while working.

By practicing the aforementioned simple habits, you would not only obtain a good performance record but become an inspiration to your colleagues. Your professionalism can even set forth your innate leadership.

Five Tips to Make Meetings More Effective

Five Tips to Make Meetings More Effective

Meetings will always be part of your remote work, especially now that communication is a crucial part of being a virtual assistant. Since you are far from the office, you would only depend on meetings to touch base with your co-workers about your tasks, projects, or even issues that need resolution.

However, not all meetings are done properly. There are times that a call with team members turns out to be a waste of time. This also causes delay for the workers’ pending activities given the time consumed by the meeting.

If you want to make your meetings more effective, there are ways that can easily be done:

Determine if a meeting is indeed necessary. There are topics that can be discussed via e-mail or a quick call instead. This is why a meeting that may take up to half an hour or more should be concentrated on matters that require a long deliberation. 

Be reminded that you have to consider each worker’s availability. Furthermore, there are times that a meeting may already be repetitive. It is best to eliminate it so everyone could take advantage of maximizing their work time for more important tasks.

Make sure that an outcome would be obtained. To ensure this, it is best to create an agenda for the meeting. If every participant of the meeting would be made aware of what he or she would input, things would be much quicker and easier. 

For instance, in the first part of the meeting, the topics at hand would be discussed in detail. If it is an ongoing project, then the overview and current status could be talked about. Afterward, the next steps may be reviewed. Lastly, goals for the next meeting may be conferred about.

Be open to exchange of ideas. Even if you lead the meeting or you are superior among all participants, it is best to be open to everyone’s thoughts. A meeting is supposed to serve as a table for everyone to offer what they think is best for the organization and its concerns.

If there are conflicting conceptions, then weighing the pros and cons should be done together. This would be fair to all and the best plan would definitely be recognized.

Eliminate distractions. A good example of meeting distraction is background noise. This could affect not only the person with the background noise, but the rest of the people in the call. 

There are times that one cannot converse well when they hear unnecessary noises. Moreover, there are also cases that one holds himself or herself back to speak since whenever they do, their background may be heard by the rest of the people. This makes them mute themselves all throughout the conversation.

Fortunately, there is a solution to this distraction, which is using a headset with noise-cancelling feature. Alternatively, finding a conducive workspace is a way to go.

Another instance is technology glitch, which will not only put off the participants but possibly delay the meeting. To prevent this, it is best to test the software application you will use for the call for errors or updates beforehand. It is also sensible to use one that everyone considers convenient to utilize in order to set up the meeting with ease.

Invite the right people for the discussion. Meetings become ineffective whenever the people that should be involved are not present. This goes the same if there are too many invitees in the meeting, who would not be able to participate at all since they are not directly involved in the agenda.

Make sure that the agenda should be your basis whenever selecting the participants. For instance, if the urgent recruitment of part-timers is the subject of the meeting, then the relevant people in the Human Resources Department should be invited. If there are certain departments requiring the mentioned part-timers, then their representatives should also be present. In such a way, they could impart what they need for a more effective headhunting.

The provided tips in making meetings effective will save not only you but your team members in wasting resources for discussions that do not result in any good outcome. Always opt for a meeting that solves problems, encourages results, and connects people.

Phrases You Should Avoid Using in the Workplace

Phrases You Should Avoid Using in the Workplace

Professionalism in the workplace, even if you are working remotely, should be practiced at all times. Be reminded that your location is the only changed aspect of your professional life. You are still expected by your co-workers to behave how an employee should.

Your efficiency at work is not limited to the output you provide for the organization. Your personality also exudes how effective you are as a virtual assistant, which includes how you communicate.

With communication as a pillar of your remote work, you should remember to practice avoiding phrases that are not appropriate in the workplace. To give you a few, here are the following:

“You look tired.” Everyone would be tired at some point in their work period. It may also dampen their mood if you even point it out. This could actually keep them from working efficiently since anxiety may sprout in them, particularly from worrying about how they appear among their co-workers. It could either imply that they may not be managing their work properly or they want to show that they are assigned a heap of activities unjustly.

If you prefer to comfort your colleague, it is best to actually invite them for a quick break or offer some help. It could show camaraderie, bringing harmony in the workplace.

“It’s not my fault.” This phrase may indicate that you are either not owning up to your mistake or you want to put the blame on others. To be professional is to resolve the issue at hand rather than finding out who erred. It may be a significant matter to identify the wrongdoer, but for everyone’s benefit, it is best to find a solution first.

If you are the one who made the error, you should admit it. In this way, you could prove that you are open to be reprimanded and corrected.

“That’s not part of my job.” It is simply right to correct your employer whenever you are being tasked to do other things that may go beyond the agreed set of responsibilities. However, if it is something that could improve your skills and open opportunities for you, avoid this phrase.

Be reminded that not all unrelated tasks to your current job are just added work. There are some superiors, who would like to prepare you for a bigger role in the future. Be observant and understand the intention of your employer.

On the other hand, if you feel treated unfairly, there are other ways to say you cannot carry out a certain activity in a respectful manner. Probably, you can give them an idea of your current tasks on hand and how your time would not be able to accommodate it any further.

“I can’t work with them.” Instead of rejecting a team setup from your employer immediately, consider finding a solution to make things work with your co-workers. This is regardless of you having a rift with them or you simply do not like them for certain reasons.

Be reminded that you cannot choose anyone you would work with in the professional world. You would not also learn to deal with different kinds of people unless you challenge yourself. You need it to hone your personal skills, which is as imperative as your technical ability.

“That’s not my problem.” This is a phrase that you should never say at work for it may imply you have no concern for your team members. Know that you are part of the organization. Hence, regardless of whether you are involved in the problem or not, helping out is the best way to go. This is either by simply giving a suggestion or lending a hand in anyway possible.

“That is a bad idea.” Instead of saying frankly that someone’s idea is bad, you should consider the feelings of your co-worker first. If you want to correct him or her, it is best to hear him or her out first. Afterward, state the pros and cons of the said thought. This could enlighten your colleague and lead to proper correction.

“I’m bored.” This could be a very insensitive phrase to use in the workplace. This is regardless of you experiencing it at a rare point in your career. Keep in mind that if you are lacking tasks to do does not mean the others are as comfortable as you are. This could actually make them feel treated in a wrongful way.

Moreover, being bored means you are no longer enthusiastic about your work. A job should be appreciated at all costs for you to perform well not only for your self-benefit, but for everyone in the organization. When you carry out tasks half-heartedly, it could affect everyone, who needs an efficient output from you.

A professional remote worker means that you also think twice before expressing yourself. It is crucial to understand that what you convey is also a reflection of your personality in the workplace. If you sound unconcerned, some may find you difficult to approach or work with. On the other hand, if every word you utter shows confidence and compassion for everyone, you could exhibit professionalism effectively.

How to Maintain Responsiveness at Work

How to Maintain Responsiveness at Work

Responsiveness at work is one of the most crucial factors when reporting from home. Since communication is the foundation that both client and employee rely on when coordinating online, without responsiveness, there would definitely be nothing to be accomplished.

If one does not reply promptly regardless of the platform, such as e-mail, SMS, or call, one would not be able to collaborate with a co-worker properly. Questions would not be answered, ideas would not be shared, and even issues would not be resolved.

Should you want to sustain seamless cooperation with both your client and team members even while working from home, responsiveness is a major matter you should concentrate on. There are basic ways you could practice starting today, such as the following:

Logging in your accounts on multiple devices. If you want to ensure that you would not miss any e-mail, message, or call, it is best to log in your accounts not only on your PC or laptop, but also on your phone. 

Be reminded that you may overlook notifications on your PC or laptop due to being focused on other tasks. Hence, another device that would advise you of important messages would be a great help.

Set your notification sounds. It would be useless if you keep your devices silent when working, if it is supposed to alert you of messages or calls.

You may simply set the notification sounds during your shift and ascertain that these are at the right volume. This is to guarantee that even when you leave your workspace for a while, you will still hear urgent notices.

Utilize various communication platforms. Working with e-mail alone would never be effective. It is always best to use messaging platforms to ensure that you would be reachable, whenever necessary.

If you are working in a team, setting a group chat for all the team members would be most beneficial. 

There are times that one does not open their e-mails on their phones, but logs in his or her messaging apps instead. If emergencies arise, one could opt for a messaging platform for a quick response.

Set auto-reply if you are unavailable. It is always best to leave an auto-generated e-mail or message, whenever you can, especially if you would be on leave or absent for a certain period. In such a way, your co-workers would not guess where you are. At the very least, they would think of an alternative immediately if they were not able to obtain an important input from you.

This goes the same with a call. If you can direct your contacts to a voicemail, that would be most advantageous, such as when you are currently in a meeting. This will give people the idea to call you back at a later time or leave the message they want to convey instead.

Do not categorize messages as important and less important. No matter how significant a message or not, it is always professional to respond on time. Simply put yourself in the shoes of the one sending you the missive. Who would want to obtain a response way too late, especially concerning work? There may be exceptions, such as when you are totally occupied or become offline due to emergencies, but still, whenever you can, respond to messages right away.

You would never know if your reply is of great importance to your co-worker and may delay his or her tasks. 

By starting to apply the aforementioned practices during work, you would have much easier time working with your client and co-workers. Being responsive is not about being professional alone, but also about showing care to your team members. It implies active cooperation for the achievement of the organization’s goals.