Philippians Virtual Assistance Services

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.

Time Management: Make Your Day at Work Much Better

August 25, 2021August 25, 2021Leave a comment

Remote workers failing to meet deadlines are most probably practicing poor time management. Yes, it is particularly comfortable working from home, but it also implies that there would be more factors that could hinder proper time allocation for work. You could start with the distractions, which would keep one from focusing on his or her job – the internet, television, house chores, unexpected guests, etc.

However, it is not an excuse for you to perform ineffectively at work simply because you are based remotely and you cannot keep yourself from being caught by home-related disruptions. There are various easy ways to ensure the time dedicated for your job would not be impacted negatively. Remember, despite being in your comfort zone, professionalism should remain intact. This is not for your employer alone, but your reputation as a remote worker or virtual assistant.

To begin with the ways you may follow to ensure your day at work is much better, here are some time management tips to keep in mind:

Identify most time-consuming activities during your day. These activities are the ones that would most likely keep you from spending sufficient time at work. Once you have found out these time wasters, you could already manage yourself better. Let us say you identified social media browsing as your major time waster, then while reporting, you should keep your accounts logged off. Though you may still sign in your accounts to kill time, once again, but being offline could be a start of disciplinary measure. It could keep you from constant notifications luring you into another time wastage.

Set a time for each task at work. Time would never adjust for you. Hence, what you need to do is manage yourself. Put restrictions to yourself while at work. You can do this for every task you will carry out. For instance, you need to accomplish a report for the month worth of sales. Set a couple of hours for it at a specific schedule, say, 10:00 A.M. to 12:00 P.M. Within those hours, you would only focus on the said sales report without succumbing to calls, texts, or e-mails.

Know what to prioritize. You have to consider the relation between your energy levels and how effective you can manage your time. Be reminded that at the start of your work, it is when you are most active. Hence, it is best to carry out the biggest and most important activities at the onset of your shift. This would also guarantee that you would not be compromising the quality of your output given you can pour out all of your resources to the said tasks.

Keep in mind that multitasking is not always the solution. If you think you are accomplishing more by multitasking, then probably, you are wrong. A study done by David Strayer, Ph.D., University of Utah’s Director of Applied Cognition Laboratory, stated that 98 percent of people cannot multitask. It is not a surprise if you are part of the said percentage. Take note that this study is not based on observation alone, but in accordance to what Strayer found out in the brain region structure of multitaskers and the contrary.

Take a break. For certain, this is a surprise for some, since they may think that having a respite would require time. However, your mind and body also require rest. Human beings will never be machines and can only focus for 90 minutes before needing rest. This has been discovered by Nathaniel Kleitman and was named ultradian rhythm by other researchers. How would you know a break is necessary? There are signals, which include concentration loss, drowsiness, and hunger among others. Without break, you would not be able to function more effectively and even think clearly.

With the aforementioned tips, you can already begin your journey to better work days. Conclusively, it is more about managing yourself instead of chasing time. It is simply discipline to achieve your goal daily. With the changing setting of workplaces due to the pandemic, you should be more motivated to shape yourself into becoming a professional remote worker regardless of your location – either office or home.

How to Avoid Delaying Your Work Due to Absence

July 12, 2021Leave a comment

Working at home became a norm nowadays, particularly due to the pandemic. It is no longer a choice, but rather a system that has been pushed due to the incapability of people to return to their offices. Primarily, because of safety concerns and the unknown end of this worldwide crisis. With no questions asked, there is no business that would prefer to keep their operations stagnant.

Given the aforementioned facts, if you are a home-based worker, it only means that things are not literally different aside from your workspace setup. You are still an integral part of a company. Without you being at work, things could get affected. It may be a project due at a certain date or your co-workers getting the burden with your extra load.

How could you prevent this? Of course, before anything else, when it comes to getting ill, that is something that is uncontrollable. Even if you are following a healthy diet, there are certain times that you will be struck by a sickness unknowingly.

To give you a few tips on how to avoid delaying your work due to absence, here are the following:

Prepare internet connection backup. Being a virtual assistant means you should have a backup of one of the most important things you need to work from home – your internet connection. One source would never be enough. Disconnections can either be scheduled and often unannounced.

Though it is a great idea to subscribe to two internet service providers, backup in the form of mobile data can also work. As long as you can set up a hotspot and your applications are working just fine with your connection, then all is set. At times, it is all about the reception in your location.

Ensure your laptop is 100 percent charged always. If you are using a laptop, it is always best not to leave it low in battery. This is for the possibility of power outages. Some batteries may last up to eight hours or more, which gives you the assurance that even if there are blackouts, you can continue with your work.

Make sure your laptop or PC is pre-checked. Did you know that most home-based workers miss their work simply because of OS updates? There are updates that take hours. Due to that, virtual assistants can miss their reporting time or their entire shift (particularly, if they work for only a few hours for a certain client).

Instead of waiting for an update and unexpectedly face hours of processing it, schedule restart for updates at a time that would not interfere with your work.

On the other hand, there are also applications that take time to load before opening. Hence, make it a habit to open your laptop or PC at least an hour before your shift. This will help you avoid procrastination should your client require you to finish a task right after you started your shift.

The listed tips are just a few of the things you can do to prevent absences, resulting in delaying your pending tasks. Remember, being at home does not mean you are meant to be too comfortable, to the point that you will neglect your responsibility as an employee. It is always best to show that despite being in a convenient setting, your reliability remains intact.

Remote Work: The Future of Workplace as Shaped by the Pandemic

January 15, 2021Leave a comment

Pain. Struggle. Anxiety. Depression. Uncertainty. These are the words that could top the list of adjectives for what happened in 2020. No one anticipated the vastness of the COVID-19’s effect on the world and not just on a small community. At first, it was taken for granted, mocked even. People were dubious of the fact that there could be a virus, which is unseen by the naked eye, that could stop the world. Unfortunately, whatever doubts there are, all were mistaken. COVID-19 became a part of the history of mankind as one of the most destructive viruses in the world.

The virus did not simply detriment the health of the people, but even their livelihood. With the onset of the killer virus, lockdowns were implemented, which resulted in the unexpected and unfortunate closure of most companies in the world. The businesses that you thought to be highly lucrative and impregnable for years to come suffered unimaginable losses.

The jobs of the society being the focal point, you can clearly see that companies were not prepared for what took place. They have seen how they failed to create a shell for their businesses to keep further losses at bay. Most importantly, entrepreneurs realized and regretted the fact they could have at least saved more only if they have welcomed the idea of remote staffing. Nonetheless, this is no longer the time to keep on pressing the issue. This is the moment to open the possibility of welcoming home-based workers.

If you believe that your business would not operate effectively with virtual assistants or remote staff, then what occurred during the pandemic may convince you. Companies were able to continue their operations by deciding to set up remote workplaces for their people. Indeed, it is undeniable that cutting manpower has been far-flung. However, one cannot refute the fact that businesses managed to salvage their work by keeping their core employees functioning despite being at home.

From the given reality, you can see that establishing a team of remote workers could be your future defense. By simply setting up communication means and applications for your people to use, everything could be done as usual as it had been.

For instance, you are a restaurant owner, you could keep things in order by having your administrative work handled by your employees remotely while keeping just the right number of people in your physical store. This may be a partial setup, but still a good preparation for the possible extension of this “social distancing community.” On the other hand, if you have an accounting firm, then you should know that all of your functions in the business could be done from home. If everything has been all paper in your company, do not fret, for there are various software applications that could convert your company into a paperless one. The process may be tedious, but it is worth it.

It is not yet late to prepare your company for what is coming, and it is incontestable that the future is remote work. Do not let another unforeseen damaging force ruin your livelihood. Start making a change; a change that will not simply protect you and your people, but keep you in pace with what the world demands.