Tag: 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.

Five Best Practices Before Starting Your Remote Work

Five Best Practices Before Starting Your Remote Work

Working from home is not entirely different from reporting to an office far from your place. You perform the same tasks and coordinate with the similar group of people in your company. This also implies that even your productivity should not have any disparity despite the change in your location. You are still expected to deliver results and ensure efficiency daily.

Did you know what you do prior to starting your shift could affect your overall performance in your job? This is why it is fairly imperative that you develop a routine that will make sure to help you get the best out of your skills during your work.

To help you with the aforementioned matter, provided below are some best practices before starting your remote work:

Get enough sleep. Sleep would always be a crucial part of anyone’s lives, even in terms of work. Without getting enough rest, you would not have the energy to accomplish your tasks well. It may also impair your health, making you incapable of working at all.

According to The Cost of Poor Sleep: Workplace Productivity Loss and Associated Costs, a study in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, an employee’s productivity is reduced due to sleep deprivation.

Also, without proper sleep, your reaction time may likely be affected, making a simple task of responding quickly in a conversation difficult for you.

Exercise. If you are a person who got used to sitting for hours during work, exercise is definitely what you need. Being stagnant will never give you either work or health benefits.

Moreover, in the journal Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, a study by researcher Tim Puetz and Patrick O’Connor showed that exercising could boost your energy levels and decrease fatigue, which is highly helpful before working. Instead of having energy drinks or coffee, you might as well resort to exercise, which is not only beneficial to your body, but also to your mind.

Listen to music. To relax your mind before starting your shift, maybe some music would keep you in check. It could boost your mood and make you feel better before reporting. This could make you feel more motivated to carry out your tasks.

Music and work have long been associated in different studies. One study in 1995 showed that the employees’ work performance of a large retail organization improved significantly when they were allowed to listen to personal stereos for four weeks. This is in comparison to those who were not permitted to do so.

According to most researchers, music makes employees feel calm and focused. This is also probably the reason why some employers allow their workers to listen to music during work. This privilege has long been associated with better productivity.

Eating a healthy meal. It is always best to make sure your body is nourished with nutrients prior to working. Though many were used to simply having a cup of coffee to start their day at work, this may not be helpful to you.

A study in the British Journal of Health Psychology stated that people who eat more fruits and vegetables would benefit their mind. You will be more creative and more engaged at work. Moreover, your mood will be lifted, which is a great perk to anyone.

Preparing in advance. This practice should always be a part of a remote worker’s routine since it could affect how your day would start. If you prepare your workspace at the last minute before your shift, you would likely waste much of your time instead of getting on your priorities right away.

Making sure your resources are set properly is one way of avoiding delays. One good example is the possible update of your PC or laptop. If you would open it early on, you would not be delayed for a few minutes or hours before working. Virtual assistants, who get caught up by automatic updates, suffer late accomplishment of work and missed meetings.

With the provided practices, you would definitely have a better day at work. Remember, it is all about how you design your routine. Do not let any poor habit keep you from performing your job effectively. Plus, the given tips above are mostly beneficial to your health. Hence, you will win remarkably in many ways just by following them.

Open Communication Means You Can Speak Up

Open Communication Means You Can Speak Up

Leave 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.

Remote Work The Future of Workplace as Shaped by the Pandemic

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

Leave 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.

Initiative and the Different Ways of Showing It

Initiative and the Different Ways of Showing It

Leave a comment

One question you should ask yourself if you are planning to improve your work performance is, “Do I have initiative?” Many virtual assistants may be skillful, but not all of them could have the initiative in many situations in the workplace. Some may give you useful business material, but cannot be relied on whenever you are not present. Hence, a lack of initiating an efficient action when deemed necessary.

If you want to develop yourself as a well-rounded virtual assistant, you should practice your initiative. This is one distinguishing feature that clients look for, given the fact they hired you to assist them both when they are around and the contrary.

There are different ways you could show that you have initiative, and these are surprisingly simple. Given below are a few examples:

Taking charge when necessary. Your client is not always available to handle the tasks in the workplace. There will be times that you will decide on his or her behalf. Nonetheless, of course, there are limitations to this. You have to confirm with your employer if you can make your own decisions regarding certain matters when he or she is not available. Although there would be surprising instances that you suddenly have to take a step without further approval, clarifying things out beforehand is a safe move for you.

One good example is when you have to provide a certain quotation for a customer. If you often get approval from your employer regarding this, but there came a time that urgency was required, you may provide a quotation as you considered fit. Simply ensure to put yourself in the shoes of your employer. Consider what he or she would decide to do in case he or she is in the same situation. This is when knowing your client’s personality matters a lot.

Understanding vague instructions smartly. There are clients, who would often provide you instructions that are quite difficult to understand. Due to rushing and upcoming meetings, some of them would leave you with unclear orders. In other words, you have to use your intellect to ensure that the output you will provide is what they need.

For instance, you were required to search for lamps, which could be offered by the company in the next quarter. Instead of providing your client a research, comprising all kinds of lamps, you have to consider the nature of your business. Does the company offer office supplies? If that is the case, then you may only focus on lamps that could be used in a workplace or home office. On the other hand, if your firm is focused on home improvement, then you could work on a broader search for lamps, which could be both for offices and house furnishing.

Avoiding procrastination. It is also an initiative when you work in advance to ensure that cramming would not get in your way. Be reminded that most clients prefer that you do not let things pile up. Urgent tasks will come sooner or later, resulting in more things to manage. Do not let delayed work ruin your reputation, which is more likely when you postpone activities unnecessarily.

Take advantage of your free time, whenever the season is not hectic. Furthermore, effective time management will help you be productive every day. Simply prevent distractions and keep yourself focused during your work.

Understanding your client’s situation. If you are an executive assistant for your client, you have to accept the fact that you will organize him or her instead of the other way around. Should there be a time you noticed that he or she is often struggling in keeping up with his or her appointments, initiative comes in by how you could solve this. Instead of letting your client simply ask you to input appointments for him or her, you may also create a system of reminders, so he or she would not miss any activity during the day.

Additionally, if your client is already burdened with tons of documents to complete, offer your help, even if he or she does not require you to assist.

The aforementioned ways are effective means to show your client that you can be trusted and relied on regardless of him or her being focused on other matters of the business. Simply practice taking initiative and you would soon be accustomed to the trait.