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Keeping High Level of Professionalism Even at Home

April 25, 2022August 8, 2022Leave a comment

Companies doubt the productivity of remote workers for they feel uncertain that they could be as reliable as they are in the office than in their homes. For them, tons of distractions can be found, which may affect one’s attention to his or her tasks.

As a virtual assistant, one must prove that the denoted matter should not be anticipated to all remote workers. Indeed, it is much easier working from home, not to mention the level of comfort you can attain is unsurmountable. Basically, it is about the mentality of the employee that determines whether he or she would keep his or her comfort a hindrance in sustaining professionalism.

There are many ways of keeping professionalism anywhere you may be, such as the following:

Setting boundaries. As a virtual assistant, one must set boundaries starting from time management. If you have a specific schedule to follow when working, you must not let personal appointments or matters affect it.

If you work from 9 to 5, let it be blocked in your calendar for the day. Make sure not to set meals, hangouts, or even calls that are not related to your work.

To make it much easier, isolate yourself in your home office or workspace during those times. If you have family around during your shift, you may kindly remind them not to call on you while working.

Making a home space a workplace replica. The environment affects how you perceive your situation. If you want to make yourself more motivated to do your tasks, regardless of your location, create an office space that would house all your work-related things.

If you could separate a room for your work alone where your office desk, internet, and telephone could be set up, it would be more effective. It may not be helpful if your bed is reachable whenever you work. This could disrupt the workplace ambience you are trying to achieve.

This could be helpful, as well, if you often attend video conferences. With a background that shows your workspace instead of a home itself, you would appear more professional to people at the other end of the line.

Guaranteeing better prevention of late reporting and absence. You would be more trusted as a remote worker if you show that being at home is actually a perquisite to your employer in terms of your tardiness and attendance.

With your home office a few steps away, you would have no reason to clock in late. Furthermore, with more time to your loved ones, you would have no ground to be out of office frequently. You could attend to their needs easily as travelling to and from work would no longer be part of your schedule, adding time for your family.

Additionally, if you work at a different time zone, you would have more free time to take care of errands and attend other appointments without conflict to your work schedule.

Should there be an instance of travelling, as long as you have your necessary equipment, you could still work. This also implies that absence would not be an option, as long as you have the resources with you.

Giving more importance to communication. Given the fact you will be more dependent on messaging platforms as you work from home, you would value effective communication more. Keep in mind that communication is the foundation of remote job.

Without establishing seamless communication between you and your employer, you would not be able to attain the input you require for every task. This could result to your poor productivity, ending with your negatively impacted work performance.

To keep one’s professionalism, a virtual assistant should always be attentive to the updates of his or her employer through e-mails, messages, or even calls. Responsiveness is also an important factor. If you do not remain receptive, you will not be able to coordinate your activities well, resulting in poor output and work performance.

Aiming big. No matter where you are, as a remote worker, your professionalism would remain intact if you do not let go of aspiring to be a better version of yourself. This would actually reflect on your work.

If you fix your mind into growing as you learn more about your job, you would be more motivated to provide better output. Also, you will be more engaged in every activity you carry out, either individually or in teams.

Working from home is not equal to stagnancy. Even at home, you could be better. You could learn more skills and gain more achievements. As mentioned earlier, with the resources available, there is nothing you cannot accomplish at work.

The aforementioned ways of keeping professionalism regardless of being at home show that remote workers have the same potential as the ones situated in the office. With a established mindset to be a valuable contractor or employee, anyone could make big leaps.

Why Virtual Assistants Are More Effective at Work

March 21, 2022March 21, 2022Leave a comment

Previously, most companies shunned the possibility of allowing their employees to work from home. For them, this scheme will never be effective. First and foremost, they care about the fact that there is no physical supervision being done. They believe that staff are best monitored when being seen. Apart from that, the said companies were not open to welcome technologies that could make collaboration with employees easier anywhere and anytime.

Due to the pandemic, the tide has turned. One could say that it became a change that has been imposed to all companies. Instead of a choice, businesses had no option but to let their people report from home. This is to prioritize safety without jeopardizing their operations.

Truth be told, it can be said that all companies have now realized that their employees or now, virtual assistants, have become more efficient in what they do due to their home-based setting. However, if you are still among the unconvinced few, here are reasons why virtual assistants are more effective at work:

No More Traffic Mood Breaker. Anywhere you may be, you would likely encounter traffic on your way to the office. This is regardless of having your own car or not. Furthermore, this can happen even if you jumpstart your day early.

According to clinical psychologist, Carla Manly, traffic is one of the external stressors that could have a ripple effect on your schedule for the day. She also added that stressful commute can result to mood changes, which will make your brain respond more negatively.

Hence, commuting to work could make or break your mood for the day. If it is the latter, expect that an employee would not perform well at all. He or she may even disrupt the harmony in the organization by showing signs of irritability.

Closer to Family Is Always Better. There is nothing better than being close to your loved ones regardless of being committed to your work. This became somewhat impossible for some people due to being based in the office or a more distant area.

However, with the work setting of a virtual assistant, your loved ones could only be a room away. This allows an employee to spend more time with his or her family, giving him or her more motivation at work.

More Comfort Means Better Productivity. Working from home is the greatest comfort an employee could get. Regardless of what you wear and where you sit, you can carry out your tasks, as long as you have your PC, laptop, mobile phone, or any other office device.

Without making much effort to prepare for the day physically, virtual assistants would find it a leisure to work, making them more productive.

An extensive international research done by Ipsos and Steelcase’s Workspace Futures Team showed that over 10,000 office workers lose around one hour and 30 minutes of productivity due to distractions, one of which is discomfort.

Being at Home Means More Safety. With the ongoing pandemic, there is no denying that it is much safer to work at home. Virtual assistants have this privilege to gain comfort while working without compromising their health.

From transport to the office, there is no assurance of protection even if you follow the safety protocols against the COVID-19 virus. No matter how careful you are, a short exposure to a positive person could still happen, especially in an office. Just by touching the doorknob, telephone, document, or any surface, you could be infected.

With the guarantee of safety, remote workers feel more at ease and retain a positive attitude while at work.

Fewer Distractions Mean More Results. Though virtual assistants are also required to work in teams, there will be fewer distractions when at home. One good example is being able to concentrate on your task at hand without worrying about noises around you.

Moreover, if you are a person, who hates gossip, constant conversations with co-workers, and even clutter, you will execute your tasks well if you are based in your abode.

Did you know that shoulder tapping is one of the most common office distractions? This is confirmed by most programmers in Quora when asked about their most common distractions during the working day.

Setting your home workspace that is free from as many distractions you could imagine would undoubtedly help you seize the day, every day.

With the aforementioned reasons why virtual assistants are more effective at work, you will definitely know why more and more companies are adopting the change. Sooner or later, work results would certainly be their concrete reason to let go of the doubt in the efficacy of employing virtual assistants.

Virtual Teamwork: How to Make It Happen

February 24, 2022Leave a comment

Working from home does not mean that you would always carry out tasks or projects individually. Though you are not connected physically to your co-workers, there would also be instances that teamwork has to be done.

With the rising number of employees working online, teamwork is becoming more prevalent and a matter that has to be sustained in companies. Otherwise, goals would not be met at all, leading to losses, both in terms of business reputation and monetary value.

Virtual assistants or remote workers are simply connected through e-mails, messaging platforms, and video conferencing. Despite this, there are still various ways to make teamwork happen the easy way. Specifically, these means are mostly directed to every remote worker’s work ethics. Here are a few to consider:

Do not cut off communication. As mentioned earlier, remote workers are simply connected through e-mails, messaging platforms, and video conferencing. Hence, without using any of these, no communication would be done. There would be no relay of tasks, clarification of concerns, and even exchange of ideas.

If you are working in teams, communication should always be open. Your lines should always welcome questions and even occasional touch base with one another.

Communication is critically necessary to ensure that teamwork could be done and maintained. Without it, even issues that have to be discussed among team members would not be addressed. This leads to misunderstandings, affecting the overall output of activities.

Help one another no matter the position. In teams, it is expected that there would be pioneers and neophytes. In this situation, the former should always be lending a hand to the latter, not only during training but as they continue growing in the organization. Not simply because you are experienced enough in what you do, you would expect the newbies to perform as well as you do. You should never look for yourself in others. Be an inspiration instead to produce more people that would benefit the company.

On the other hand, even if you are just new in the organization, you should not take advantage of the fact that your superiors would always guide you. You should also have the initiative to learn the way of things and make yourself helpful in your own ways. Being short in experience does not infer you should slack off, as well.

Respect each other’s space. Indeed, it is necessary for team members to always communicate with another and be with each other. However, virtual assistants should also have their own space at times.

To make things simpler, one should also respect the fact that each remote worker has designated tasks to carry out. By implication, you must never expect anyone to be there always when you call them or reach out to them. There would be instances that your team member may need to finish his or her part in the project. Never let insensitivity take over you. Lack of response or distance for some time will not always mean that your team member is neglecting you.

Never practice credit-grabbing. Teamwork means every member’s success is everyone’s success. Regardless of how much you have done for a certain project, you should never demand an individual recognition. Be reminded that everyone is equally important despite differences in contributions.

Always remember that if you are in a team, you would not be able to race until the end without your members. Instead of dwelling on your individual gain, be thankful that you have people behind your back as you grow professionally. It is much easier when you learn from and work with others. When you work in a group, you may even gain more skills as your team members share their experiences and knowledge with you.

Always remember that two are always better than one. No matter how skillful you are, there are matters that you cannot carry out alone. Moreover, your ideas are not always the best ones. In other words, it is always beneficial to get more insights from people around you.

As a good example, in completing a software development project, the features you could add may be further improved if you will welcome input from team members. Remember, there are details that you may not spot, but others can. You may think that your user interface design is already friendly for the younger generation since you belong in the age group, but what about the older generations? This is when opinion from your team members belonging to older age groups would definitely help.

By applying the provided ways to make teamwork happen, you would be able to reap its benefits to the fullest. You will not simply obtain work-related success in every project you will handle, but you may also gain friendship in the long run due to the congruous work ethic you portrayed.

Open Communication Means You Can Speak Up

February 3, 2022February 3, 2022Leave a comment

As a virtual assistant, people often think that it is all about following orders and carrying out the tasks expected of you. There are times that some employers even go overboard to the point that their remote workers cannot even speak up or open up their side in different matters. This should not be the way things are in work-from-home setup. Online work is still a job. The only difference is the setting of the contractor or employee.

Open communication has always been an integral part of an employer-employee relationship, which is inclusive of those working from home. In actuality, it is much more important since face-to-face conversation is no longer involved in remote work. All you have are your messaging channels, such as e-mail, conferencing, and messaging applications.

Both parties involved in a remote work relationship should understand that without open communication, nothing could be accomplished properly. It is given that an employer should be respected and complied with. Nonetheless, open communication also entails that a contractor or employee has the right to speak up.

One good example is in a situation of misunderstanding. Let us say the employer is disappointed over an unaccomplished activity. As a result, he or she decided to cut off the involved remote worker and this is without hearing his or her side. If only he or she allowed the virtual assistant to speak up, then he or she would have understood that it is not an intentional mistake. Instead, it is due to incomplete instructions given by him or her. This occurs often in a remote work setting. The remote worker does not receive the necessary materials for a certain task, resulting in delayed output. Take note that he or she made attempts to get in touch with his or her employer and exhausted possible resources to make things happen.

If only open communication was applied in the aforementioned example, the problem did not end with a person losing his or her job. Moreover, the employer may still have a reliable employee to work with.

Other than the given instance, open communication on the end of the virtual assistant should be used in terms of helping out your employer. By speaking up, you could help him or her improve his or her operations in many ways. It should not always be a “Yes, that is great.” You should also try saying, “What if we try this?” By applying open communication, you can be a valuable asset to your employer. Try correcting their possible incorrect handling of situation, giving them better options, and voicing out your thoughts on their plans.

Some are disinclined to open communication for they think remote workers would be way too disrespectful and may forget their boundaries. Relatively, if you are working with a professional virtual assistant, you would not have this kind of problem. A remote worker with integrity would know his or her limits in communicating his or her thoughts, ideas, and even disputes. There would always be respect and consideration involved in his or her statements.

Conclusively, only if open communication is applied properly, a remote work relationship would never fail even in the long term. There would always be understanding of one party to another. Hence, better execution of every activity or objective involved.

Improvement as a Remote Worker Is a Continuous Process

December 29, 2021Leave a comment

Being a remote worker is no longer a far reality for most people. As the pandemic ensues, there is no denying that more and more employees will have to get used to a comfortable workplace setting, specifically, for utmost health protection.

Nonetheless, the comfort brought upon by being a work-from-home worker should not negate your professional improvement. Your home office is now your ground, where you would mold yourself into a better employee as time passes, unless, you are a naturally stagnant person, who does not chase improvement of one’s self.

Improvement should not be defined as knowing what you need to do with regards to your work. As a good example, you should never consider yourself an improved employee simply because you got used to your tasks or you have finished the training. Learning what to do is different from being better at what you do.

If you want to be a better professional, you should look far ahead on what more you can be. How can you do this? It is easier said than done, as they would always say, but there is no refuting that it all starts on knowing what steps to take.

Primarily, you would never improve unless you do not know what should be improved. As mentioned earlier, it is not simply knowing what you need to do at work. You have to be better at what you are tasked to carry out. For instance, it is not simply submitting the deliverables on time, but challenging yourself to give results earlier than expected. Find out where you are most consistent, and you will be surprised at how much you can actually improve at.

Furthermore, you should also ask yourself if you have a career goal in mind. Do you see yourself handling bigger tasks in the future? If you do, then ask yourself, can you already be relied on in terms of the basic and small ones? At times, remote workers tend to be complacent with their usual activities, to the point that they do not realize it is a sign that they are not improving at all. Observe and you may discover that you are not progressing at all. Your employer may actually be hesitant to trust you for bigger responsibilities because you do not give him or her reason yet.

Simply because you are working online, you can no longer be a better professional. In truth, when you are a remote worker, there is a wide spectrum of skills you can obtain. This is regardless of your usual day-to-day tasks. If your job is concentrated on administrative tasks, why not take trainings to explore other work, which you have been interested in since then. For instance, website development, graphic design, accounting, etc. The online work industry is way too open at present for you to ignore the many opportunities to learn.

You also have to admit your mistakes at work if you want to improve. There is no person that would get better unless he or she embraces the truth that one errs. No matter how used you are to what you are doing, there will be instances that you will somehow lose focus or forget an important detail leading to your misstep.

Improvement as a remote worker can also be defined by how you appreciate the work you currently have. No one would be able to better himself or herself unless he or she obtains comfort in his or her space. If you get impatient, that is when you would start seeing your work as a burden or a chore. When that happens, even the possibility of getting used to your job is no longer there.

Lastly, bettering yourself comes from not-so-technical things, as well. Who would be a better professional, who does not even give importance to professionalism, teamwork, loyalty, or even honesty? No matter how effective and productive you think you are, if your personality is questionable at present, then you are overall an inefficient employee. Assess yourself and do not be consequential simply because you give results. Remember, if you are talking about skills, that could be taught. However, if you tend to give importance to how you deal with people around you, that could leave a mark not only on your superiors, but on your co-workers, as well.

As you go on with your professional journey, remember that you are in a continuous process of improvement. Be vigilant and watchful of yourself. If you maintain to do so, a path full of possibilities for success and growth would be laid down for you.