Category: virtual assistance

Simple Ways to Make Your Mondays Better

Simple Ways to Make Your Mondays Better

Monday would always be a day that most people dread. After the weekend of respite, you would feel the need to extend your rest but cannot do so for the first work day is coming. Monday is not at fault. It is simply the way things are. This is regardless of working in the office or at home.

However, starting your week right can be done in a better way. If you do not want your start of the week to pass poorly without even making your day at work more efficient, there are simple things for you to do:

Start with a plan. Monday is a good day to plan out the entire week. By planning, you would be able to prioritize the activities that need more attention due to urgency and importance. Furthermore, it is not always effective to just work as the tasks come. This could result in you concentrating on menial work. 

You could set a timeframe for each activity you will work on. For instance, for your current social media management project, market research may be done on Monday and Tuesday. Afterward, Wednesday could be a day to create graphics for postings, and so on.

Schedule meetings or appointments ahead. If you will be meeting with people, such as clients, suppliers, or contractors, Monday would be the right time to ensure that you would not be missing a slot on their calendars. The earlier you can coordinate with them, the better.

By doing so, you may also fill in your calendar accordingly. You may avoid conflicting schedules with your other commitments. By seeing your schedule ahead, you could manage your time more effectively throughout the week.

Focus on improvement. By treating Monday as an improvement check day, you could better yourself every week. Simply review how the last week had been and you would be able to do this.

You can check the lapses you had made previously, such as managing your time poorly, delaying a task frequently, or coordinating a concern ineffectively. Identifying these problems could keep you in check throughout the week. 

Touch base with co-workers. If you are working in teams, a touchbase meeting every Monday is a good way to start the week better. At the very least, you would have social time instead of focusing on work the whole day.

You can have a small talk about how the weekend has been. Furthermore, you may even share ideas on how you could spend the coming days more productively. 

Having a personal connection at the start of the week could be a boost to anyone, especially to those, who tend to feel less driven when working alone.

Wear positivity. If you want to feel better every Monday, then you should wear positivity. Think that if you would start your week right, you should begin with yourself. Smile as the day starts and think of affirmative thoughts. For instance, instead of fearing a big project to work on, think of how you would improve your skills by accomplishing it. 

The small ways mentioned above are your means of transforming your Monday into a friendly day. Think of it as your jumpstart to a productive week ahead and a more reliable you.

Customer Service: Delivering a High Quality One the Easy Way

Customer Service: Delivering a High Quality One the Easy Way


Every business requires excellent customer service. Your company is built for people you will cater to, regardless of your product or service. If you do not take care of them properly, you will not only damage your business’ reputation but suffer financial losses, as well.

Delivering high quality customer service can be done the easy way. It is incontestable that there are challenges facing people, who are acquiring your product or service, particularly because of the fact personalities vary. However, if you simply follow these tips, things could be much more manageable:

Study what you offer. Regardless of whether you sell items or offer services to your clients, you should be well aware of what they are. For instance, if you are recommending a product, your customer would never be convinced that it should be bought unless you give them insights on its advantages for him or her. This goes the same when it comes to service. Apart from presenting the pros, you should also give your client information on how it would be done in detail. Making them aware would help them make a coherent decision to either obtain your service or otherwise.

Maintain an affirmative attitude. Regardless of providing customer service via e-mail, message, call, or face-to-face, you have to maintain a positive disposition. It can easily be portrayed in-person since you can approach with a smile and warm greeting. However, you can also show a favorable personality and be someone that the customer can confide his or her concern with even through calls. Simply smile and it will certainly be reflected with how you speak while on the phone.

Making the clients feel comfortable is a sure-fire way of making them open up to you better. If they are agitated or indignant, showing them you are willing to listen and help would definitely appease them.

Showing a good attitude is not all about smiling and being composed. Moreover, you have to show respect and express gratitude. Always say “Thank you.” and apologize, whenever the situation necessitates it. Customers are humans, after all, and they will always appreciate when they are treated properly.

Respond immediately. It must be a part of your goal to provide a response to customers immediately. If you are a team, this should be a major rule to all members. Either small or big, a customer issue should be rectified right away.

Even if the matter is only an inquiry, speed is what clients value when reaching out to a company. Speed reflects how attentive and considerate you are to them. Expectedly, if you do not give a customer a prompt response, his or her problem may be delayed further and could even get worse.

It is also best to set different communication channels for people to use. In such way, if you cannot respond via e-mail, they could send an SMS, make a call, or even send you messages on social media platforms. The more options there are for them to get in touch, the quicker your response would be.

Anticipate your customers’ needs. Some clients do not realize that they need more of your products or services unless you give them the idea. This shows that you anticipate what they would require in the future, making your service more personalized.

You may also try presenting them your upcoming promos, in advance. In such way, you can make them feel that you give them priority in getting the best offers. This could even help them in terms of budgeting their finances.

Take feedback into consideration. Whenever delivering customer service, acquiring feedback is a must. You need to find out if you still lack in certain areas or there are more expectations from the clients. If you want to provide high quality customer service, you must be willing to make changes, whenever needed. It is also imperative that should there be mistakes on your end, you are willing to accept and change it.

Creating a good impression on your clients would be beneficial in growing your company. It is also essential to make the customers feel that you are affable to work with, making them more loyal to you.

Seven Simple Calendar Management Tips to Practice

Seven Simple Calendar Management Tips to Practice

Working remotely does not mean everything is convenient and easy. You will still encounter instances of rushing to meet deadlines, struggling to compromise with the client’s requirements, and keeping up with the operational standards of your company without trading off work quality.

One of the crucial factors in making sure you are spending your day at work productively and efficiently is managing your schedule properly. It is not all about thinking of what to do and not to do daily. There are ways that could keep your time managed more effectually, such as through calendar management. 

Nonetheless, it is not all about setting appointments. There are different practices that you could do to ensure your calendar is used advantageously, such as the following:

Set appointments with realistic length of time. This is most effective when it comes to setting up meetings. Most would practice scheduling meetings at a certain length of time, such as half an hour. This is regardless of what type of meeting it is. This should not be the case since a phone meeting may only take 15 minutes and an in-person meeting may take longer. 

By doing so, you will be more precise in dividing your time for the day. You may even save more time for other more important appointments.

Try time boxing. If you are finding it difficult to manage your time given you have tons of activities daily, time boxing may work for you. This practice would keep you focused on one activity at a certain time. For instance, you will set an hour for writing an excerpt for your marketing material, then you have to work on the said task within that time frame. After one hour, you will stop and proceed to the next activity.

Time boxing will help you avoid missing deadlines and ensure to concentrate on all tasks effectively.

Do not forget to create gaps in between activities. Never practice setting appointments one after another. For example, you will have a meeting from 8:30 A.M. to 10:00 A.M., then you will have another at 10:00 A.M. exactly. This would result in procrastination and may cause pressure on your end.

It is most effective to set up short breaks in between. These gaps could even help you attend to unanticipated matters, such as sudden calls or urgent messages.

Never forget to set reminders. Your calendar may be overlooked if you do not set notifications for the activities you have scheduled. You need reminders to remember what you have to do at a certain day and time. To make things more efficient, do not simply rely on the calendar app notifications, but set up e-mail reminders, as well. Doubling the notices will keep you in check.

Figure out your most productive hours. If you want to secure priority tasks, make sure they are scheduled to be done in your most productive hours. This will assure that while carrying out these critical activities, your brain’s cognitive abilities are at its peak.

You would be able to determine your most productive hours by checking when you are most proactive and slacking less. Some find themselves more efficient an hour or two after their shift starts, while others find themselves more competent after lunch time. 

Color code your appointments. Make sure to set specific colors for different types of events, such as blue for attending meetings, yellow for accounts handling, and green for answering e-mails. This practice will give you quick insight on how your day would be at a glance.

Plan for personal breaks. Do not simply give attention to work-related appointments. You are also human and require recharge from time to time. Hence, it is imperative that your calendar also includes breaks, exercise times, and even activities with your family and friends.

If you find time to unwind, you will also give yourself time to sustain your well-being. Remember, you would not be able to attend to all your appointments unless you are healthy yourself.

The aforementioned tips can be easily applied as soon as now, if you want to improve how you manage your daily work. Start saving time, avoiding procrastination, reducing stress, and eliminating distractions throughout your day.

Why Working on a Fixed Schedule Is Advantageous for a Virtual Assistant

Why Working on a Fixed Schedule Is Advantageous for a Virtual Assistant

Working remotely has always been associated with flexibility, not only in terms of location but in schedule, as well. Virtual assistants tend to have more convenience in blocking a time dedicated for their work. However, flexible time may be favored by most of your peers, but it does not mean it may work for you. You could start with the fact that not all tasks or projects do not require constant coordination with your team members.

Concerning the said matter, it should not be overlooked that a fixed schedule in remote work has its advantages, which may be ideal for your current job. Here are a few:

Better Understanding of Operations. If you are new in the team, it is best you work on a fixed schedule following the operational hours of the company. This would provide you a better understanding of how things work. Through this, you would be able to figure out your role in the organization better. Furthermore, you may be able to identify what other things you could contribute to the team to make the operations more efficient.

If you work on a flexible schedule, you would probably be simply focused on your tasks alone. You may not even comprehend the significance of other co-workers’ corresponding works. This may in turn cause you to delay others or not even consider helping out to accomplish a project as a team.

Having a projection of how the entire company works will make you a more considerate employee rather than just a productive one.

Seamless Coordination. There is no assurance that working flexibly could offer you seamless coordination. Indeed, tasks may be relayed via e-mail or messaging applications, but there would always be clarifications involved. Particularly, if an activity would need a team of people for accomplishment.

If you work on a fixed schedule, your employer would be able to reach out to you at the right time without worrying about waiting for your response. This goes the same if you have issues to raise. This is more advantageous if urgent retort is often needed for your task.

On the other hand, should you work on a flexible schedule, it is most likely that you would not even have a chance to catch up with your employer or team member. There would definitely be instances that it would take hours before a reply can be expected. Things could go amiss if this is the case.

One good example is when your employer would often require your assistance whenever a meeting is to be set. For instance, he or she would need to meet up with clients. In order to do this, he or she has to check his or her schedule with you from time to time. If you are not working on a fixed schedule, your employer may find it difficult to reach out to you. At the very least, if you work on a set block of time, more so alongside his or her working hours, confirmation of his or her available time would be done swiftly.

Personal Interaction. It is not healthy to have limited personal interaction when working. At times, it also helps if you are able to coordinate with your team members regarding various matters. Working on a fixed schedule enables you to do this.

If you are a remote worker based in another country than that of your team members, working alongside their schedule will make you feel one with them. This would allow you to ask questions, clarify confusions, share ideas, or even simply chat while on break. 

Working with people instead of individually in a remote setting will help you grow. If you interact, you may learn from your team members’ work ethics. Furthermore, they may be open to giving you guidance as you carry out your tasks, and vice-versa.

With the benefits of working on a fixed schedule provided above, you may now be able to consider it as an option in your remote work setup. You may ponder giving it a try, particularly if you are encountering issues with your flexible setup, such as limited understanding of your tasks, miscommunication, and poor engagement among your co-workers.

Self-Assessment as an Ongoing Process for Remote Workers

Self-Assessment as an Ongoing Process for Remote Workers

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Working virtually has become an accepted setup nowadays, following the height of the pandemic. With no option but to let their employees work from home, the convenience of home-based reporting was uncovered further. Apart from the remote work setup being appreciated, even independent contractors or freelancers were further welcomed as equals of office-based employees.

It has long been debated that virtual assistants could be unreliable in terms of their lack of personal interaction and dependence on communication platforms. Nonetheless, as time went by and how their performance remained at par with every employer’s standards, this argument had ceased gradually.

With the aforementioned fact, remote workers have the obligation to continue proving that they could be an effective resource in the long run. Hence, one’s performance must not deviate from the employer’s expectations. In order to do this, a virtual assistant should consider self-assessment as an ongoing process during their employment.

It is natural for a remote worker to appraise one’s self during the adjustment or the early stage of work. For instance, you just started reporting to your employer and you have to evaluate whether you are coping well with the training or not. This is an established routine to ensure that you are at pace and would not disappoint in terms of your learning efficiency.

However, self-assessment should not stop when you find out that you are already accustomed to your tasks. There will certainly be a period that you will perceive this. You tend to accomplish your activities more quickly, and you can already be someone to train and guide your fellow co-workers.

In the long run, you should always see yourself as someone who is prone to making mistakes. Assess if you are failing to think of this matter. You never know, your contentment could lead to poor judgment.

One good example is the constant disregard to your employer’s reminder regarding the new training materials you should check, which could help you with your tasks going forward. Given you consider yourself adapted to your work, you end up not checking the said materials. There came a time that you made a mistake, which could have been prevented if you had been considerate to your employer’s prompt.

Relating to the given instance, no matter how settled you are at work, there would be changes that would come. You need to continue learning; you need to keep on growing.

The activities may seem monotonous, but it does not mean that there could be no change with how these are being done and no possible issue could arise while carrying these out.

On the other hand, self-assessment as your key in keeping yourself in check could help you identify your current or frequent errors. This would give you the ability to amend your mistakes right away without making things worse.

A good example is when you noticed that lately, you have been missing the deadline of projects frequently. This evaluation could lead you to check various factors that contribute to this poor performance. One, you may not be managing your time effectively. Also, you may be prioritizing your tasks incorrectly. Moreover, there could be distractions around you (which you may have brought yourself) that keep you from committing to the accomplishment of the projects. 

Relatively, by identifying the possible causes of your mistake, you could eliminate them and keep your good performance preserved. You may start using a time management tool, such as a scheduler or calendar. Every day, you may begin a habit of listing down the high and low priority tasks you should work on. Lastly, you may remove distractions that could be hampering your concentration while at work, such as social media, television, snacks, etc.

At times, not only the people around you can help pinpoint the improvement marks you should keep in mind. It is also probable that you will judge yourself best since from your strengths to weaknesses, you know yourself more than anyone.