professionalism – Page 2 – Philippians Virtual Assistance Services

Never Misuse Your Privileges as a Virtual Assistant

April 15, 2019June 12, 2020Leave a comment

You are a virtual assistant, who has the greatest benefit of working at home. Thus, you do not have to socialize with a lot of people while working, helping you focus more on your tasks. Also, your family is near your reach, giving you fewer worries even if you are on duty. This gives you the security to attend to your loved ones, particularly in times of emergencies. Furthermore, you have the convenience of not battling with traffic – simply open your PC or laptop, and you are good to go.

There are many advantages a virtual assistant could have besides the ones mentioned above. Unfortunately, not all seem to take it into account. There are ones, who still end up in the ill-use of their privileges, which should not be the case.

If you are a virtual assistant, you have this benefit of asking for leaves as easily as possible. Simply imagine how less disconcerting it can be to know that you do not have to see the facial expression of your client when asking for approval.

Due to this, there are some, who take advantage of this and make it a habit to be off-duty, stating various reasons relative to the matter. You should never establish such personality, for it will be your peril one day – easy dismissal from your job. Remember, your absence even in a day is already a great loss to your client. Many tasks will be delayed and your client may be off track, for you will not be there to assist him or her.

On the other hand, there are virtual assistants, who tend to abuse their privilege of having stagnant hours in a day. As a result, they do activities unrelated to their work, risking them in missing the urgent requests of their client. Be reminded that even if your client does not provide you work that would fill in your hours for the shift, this does not mean that he or she will never need you at unexpected times. In truth, the said hours are meant for you to stand by, specifically for emergency requirements.

Thus, if your client sends you a missive, you should at least be as responsive as possible. Remind yourself that you do not have work at those idle hours. This means that you have all the time in the world to attend to your client’s concerns.

Another good example of this matter is when a virtual assistant does not even set up a conducive workspace. As a result, whenever he or she speaks with his or her client, the latter would hear unnecessary background noises, resulting in distraction. Be reminded that even if you are home, you should at least keep your environment free from such, especially when communicating with your client. This will appear very unprofessional. Even if they understand you are at home, keep in mind that you are working and you should act like one.

Indeed, there are virtual assistants, who become less appreciative of their benefits as a home-based worker, but this does not mean you should be one. There are many ways to become an effective one, such as by starting to appreciate the advantages you got on hand.

How Understanding Your Client Takes You a Long Way

April 9, 2019June 12, 2020Leave a comment

You need to understand that a relationship between you and your client is two-way. In other words, aside from your employer considering your situation as a whole when it comes to assigning you tasks, you also have to give regards to his or hers as well. This is a bigger picture that some virtual assistants miss.

To make it clearer, one good example is when your client misses providing you a task for your shift. As a result, you kept on waiting during the day and you wasted your hours, which is not a good feeling for you as a virtual assistant who is paid by the hour. This is despite the fact your client does not mind to pay for your stagnant hours.

When the said type of situation arises, you should avoid acting hastily and bother your client repeatedly. Indeed, there will be cases that you should already have the initiative to reach out and ask for tasks, either via message or call. Still, you have to keep it to the minimum. Otherwise, you may end up becoming an annoyance to your client. Why? This is due to the fact that you fail to realize first what should have caused him or her from missing to provide you activities to carry out in a day.

Keep in mind that your client is most likely a person, who is filled with appointments to attend to, not to mention the other tasks he or she has to carry out daily. This is highly applicable if your client is a business person. This only means that there is a big responsibility on his or her shoulders. A simple task (for you) of giving a task may not be the case for him or her, especially now that it would consume his or her valued time.

Another good example of understanding your client’s situation is in terms of analyzing his or her mood. You cannot simply say that a person is not fond of you or having negative feelings towards you due to a simple “short and direct” reply. Be reminded, once again, that your client is a busy person. Thus, you could anticipate that your client will not even have plenty of time to speak with you or elaborate things further when you are inquiring about something. They would be straightforward as much as possible.

Do you know that some virtual assistants even encounter clients, who do not even communicate after sending tasks? Hence, consider yourself fortunate for having a busy client, who still finds time to support you.

By being an understanding virtual assistant to your client, you would have a better approach to dealing with him or her. You would not demand too much for attention or time. Instead, you will do your best to ensure exemplary work delivered to him or her without putting much pressure on his or her highly engaged life.

With a personality as such, your client will be more confident to trust you and work with you going forward. This could also be a ground for him or her to keep you for the long-term.

Why Reporting Your Daily Accomplishments Matters

April 2, 2019June 12, 2020Leave a comment

Communication has always been an essential part of taking the role of a virtual assistant. However, it is not simply a single entity, but is composed of various factors that should be identified individually. One of the essential components of effective communication in virtual assistance is updating the client of your daily accomplishments.

Various virtual assistants tend to make the mistake of not even giving their clients report on the things that were finished for the day. As a result, problems arise. For instance, clients would need to spend extra time simply to check if you have done your work for the day. This will definitely be a bother, especially if he or she is often caught up with tons of appointments daily. Remember, you are a virtual assistant for various reasons, one of which is to lighten the burden of your client.

Moreover, there is a possibility that your client may even doubt if you have done anything for the day. This is normalcy, especially if the virtual assistant simply logs in and leaves work without even considering to update his or her client. This has been experienced surely by a handful of VAs already. The end scenario is always that he or she has to defend his or her end. This is an event that could have been prevented in the first place.

By updating your client, you will also help in keeping him or her aware if he or she is still supplying you tasks as necessary. There are clients, who depend on what you report prior to delegating further activities on your end.

There are various ways to keep your client aware of your daily accomplishments. One good example is to maintain a habit of updating him or her every time you have done an activity. This is regardless of not receiving any response from your client often. As long as you are certain he or she is able to read your updates, this could already work.

On the other hand, you may report at the end of your work day instead. Simply ensure that your report is concise enough, which will keep your client from reaching out to you and clarify things out. Otherwise, this would just make the whole idea of updating him or her useless.

As a virtual assistant, updating your client could also be your opportunity to keep open communication between you two. This is also your chance to ask questions and even propose better means of executing certain activities for him or her. Alternatively, as you exchange words regarding your tasks, you can even learn from your client as he or she shares how things should be done more effectively.

Always keep in mind that even though you are a virtual assistant, this does not imply that you have to alter your work ethics altogether and adopt robotlike manners. Even if you are working home-based, you should still preserve human touch while reporting to your client. You may not be physically present, but you can appear to be such with the way you work.

Communicate continually.

Things to Remember Prior to Filing a Leave

March 20, 2019June 12, 2020Leave a comment

Even virtual assistants are entitled to file leaves whenever they need to take a break from work for various reasons: illness, deceased relatives, rest, etc. However, you should keep in mind that even if being a virtual assistant does not impose lots of strict rules when it comes to leaves, you should never abuse it.

To give you an effective guideline prior to filing a leave, check out the following points:

Being the Newly Hired Member of the Firm. You must remember to take things slowly if you just started working for your client. As much as possible, you keep your attendance perfect or neat. This is to give your client a good impression, which would likely last throughout your tenure with him or her. Nonetheless, this does not mean that you should sustain this habit in the beginning only.

Take note that as a new member of the organization, you still have a lot to learn. Hence, you must dedicate much of your time to get a grasp of your tasks. If you will keep on filing absences or leaves, this is beyond impossible. It will be a waste of time for the client since delays are up ahead.

Understanding Your Limit. If you do not want to make your client think twice in keeping you as his or her virtual assistant, you should avoid long vacations, unless highly necessary (e.g. you will take care of your deceased relative’s funeral or recuperate due to an accident or sickness in the hospital). Should there be a possibility to be absent in a minimal number of days, consider it. This shows that you are cognizant of how essential your presence is in your client’s firm.

Keeping It Seldom. There are virtual assistants, who tend to be absent for only a day or two but do this frequently. No matter how you think you are doing it in a clever way, know that your client will soon comment about your behavior. Take note that a typical office employee may be sanctioned for being absent in at least three (3) days for a certain period of time. You are already fortunate not to be warranted by this rule. Thus, again, do not misapply your exemption.

Making Up for Days Lost. As a virtual assistant, you are free to make up for the lost hours due to your leave. This is a good solution if you want to ensure your client that you do not want to affect his or her operations negatively due to your absence.

In truth, you may even accrue the lost hours for your leave in advance. This will enable you to carry out projects or tasks without your client fretting about deadlines.

Requesting With Respect. Always show respect whenever asking for leave approval. Enclosed in this point is the need to inform your client as early as possible. In such way, he or she could prepare, such as by finding someone to take over your tasks temporarily. Avoid last-minute requests, unless this concerns unprecedented occurrence.

Do not expect that your client will always say yes. Thus, accept his or her denial with a sincere understanding of his or her reason why.

With the aforementioned facts above, you should be able to use your privilege to ask for leaves in the most professional way possible. Remember, you are still treated as a typical employee and you should never misuse your convenience as a home-based worker.

Understanding the Relationship of Time and Professionalism

February 26, 2019June 12, 2020Leave a comment

As a virtual assistant, you are expected to act like a professional staff or employee. Be reminded that being a home-based worker does not exempt you from behaving like a typical member of an organization. You should consider that you are only dissimilar in the aspect of your workspace.

One of the ways to maintain professionalism as a virtual assistant is to take into consideration time in various matters of your career. To explain further, given below are top pointers for you:

Meeting Deadlines. Apparently, the top thing you should consider in terms of relating time and professionalism is meeting deadlines. If you want to create a good impression to your client or employer, do not make it a habit to procrastinate. Ensure that prior to beginning a project, you have planned out the small activities relative to it without conflicts with your other activities.

Setting Appropriate Schedules. You will encounter clients, who would ask you about the best schedule for you to work. If you want the best results with regards to your performance, you should at least be available during the normal operating hours of your client’s company. This will allow for seamless coordination.

Indeed, there are already virtual assistants today that work on a flexible time, but this does not mean that this is always feasible. If your primary task is to assist your client or carry out activities alongside members of the organization, you should at least follow their schedule.

Many clients also prefer a schedule following their timezone so that they will not have a hard time reaching out to you, especially in cases of urgency.

Coordinating Professionally. If you have to touch base regarding your work or outstanding project, you should also consider time and professionalism simultaneously. How? You may do so by checking first if you could actually reach out to your employer and not just assail him or her with e-mails and messages. Always think over his or her possible commitment at the present time. For instance, you observed that every 9 A.M., he is often in a briefing with his top management members.

In the aforementioned situation, it is best to wait at least an hour or so prior to communicating with your client. Yes, leaving a message could work, but it would somehow be distracting to him. Most executives today keep their communication lines open even in meetings, but it is your professionalism that should tell you not to go overboard and take advantage of it.

Calling Respectfully. You and your client may have differences in terms of timezone, but this does not imply you can call him or her at an appropriate time on your end but the contrary on his or her end. A good example of this is calling your client during your morning hours despite knowing these are evening hours on his or her end. This is total disrespect.

There is, of course, an exemption regarding this. If your client is the one who called you first, then there is no reason for you to worry. Simply do not disturb your employer’s supposed out-of-office hours, which should at least be dedicated to his or her own or family time.

Estimating Completion Time of Tasks. As a professional virtual assistant, you should also be transparent enough when estimating the time you need to execute a certain task or project. Always provide a realistic time frame to avoid disappointments in the end. This will also help you carry out the activities more effectively. As anticipated, when things are rushed, the end result is not always considerable. Being professional does not mean you always have to impress despite being uncertain of your capacity.

With the given facts, you would already have a deeper understanding of time and professionalism. Use them efficiently when working and you will definitely not fail to maintain a good reputation as a virtual assistant.