Tag: virtual assistance

Why Setting Deadlines Matters for You and Your Virtual Assistant

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In the virtual assistance world, it is common that clients let their virtual assistants decide when to actually finish their work – somehow providing them this chance to be proactive and independent. Nonetheless, do you know that setting deadlines also have its considerable perks for both parties?

There are some cases that without a deadline, your expectations may not meet at all. You may suddenly need the work in a couple of days, whereas your virtual assistant has not been able to begin with the task given he or she thought it could wait for a week or so. This contradiction could be prevented with the help of deadlines. It is not a school type of rule, for it also conveys a lot of things ideal for your employer-employee relationship.

To give you ideas, provided below are facts supporting why deadlines matter for you and your virtual assistant:

Planning is being welcomed. Due to the lack of deadlines, the essence of planning is often disregarded. Remember, planning is highly detrimental to the success of a certain project. If your virtual assistant will not be provided ample time to plan out, things could end up with revisions or less than likely output for you or your firm.

If you will set deadlines, your virtual assistant could consolidate his or her other tasks with the concerned project. He or she may also outline his or her schedule efficiently in order to give way to the execution of activities needed. No more multitasking, which has been proven to be unexpectedly ineffective.

Late submissions are reduced. When you set deadlines, you have the power to make a submission earlier than needed. For instance, you need a presentation for the upcoming board meeting in four days. Instead of actually requiring your virtual assistant to deliver the presentation a day before the board meeting, you may simply give him or her two days to complete it. In other words, by the second day, he or she should have given you the work.

There will be no more procrastination on both ends. You can even pave way for revisions or changes since there is still a considerable time left for those.

Improved speed in production is being endorsed. Since you will limit the time your virtual assistant has to use in completing a task, you will also support him or her in increasing his or her pace in production. Whenever deadlines are absent, VAs tend to relax and set time limits according to their convenience. This is not a good thing for it closes the door for improvement.

The aforementioned three points prove that deadline, no matter how trivial it may sound for you, is totally necessary despite how trustworthy or reliable your virtual assistant is. It only takes a minute or less to decide when you need a certain work from your employee; definitely, it will not waste your time, but the contrary once you practice setting deadlines.

Importance of Setting a Schedule With Your Client

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There are a lot of problems arising when there is no consistency or set of standards followed when working with a client. As a virtual assistant, you should remember that at times, it is you, who should be taking the first step in ensuring problems will come out of a lack of organization. One good example is when you do not agree upon a schedule with your client.

It is true that there are virtual assistants who tend to work on a flexible schedule. It does work for some, but there are instances, it will not.

One good way of explaining this is with an example situation:

Imogen and Claire just started working last week. The former is the client in this circumstance, wherein Claire is the virtual assistant. Apparently, Imogen complained about not getting responses from Claire via their chosen messaging platform last Friday. However, when Claire’s side was obtained, it was found out that she already worked beyond her hours, which is four hours per day. It is also added that Claire informed Imogen that she will be starting her work at 9:00 A.M. PST, but the client is complaining of not having a response by night time at 10:00 P.M. PST.

After further investigation, Imogen has been used to sending messages to Claire almost the whole day from Monday to Thursday, while the virtual assistant has no complaint in attending to it. In other words, the client got used to getting replies and at one time, she did not receive one, she already panicked.

If you will analyze the situation above, it is apparent that lack of schedule could result in unnecessary complaints and unfair treatment to the virtual assistant (though this is not the intention of the client). There must be a boundary all the time, and the best solution is a strict schedule to follow. In such way, the client will be aware that the virtual assistant is obligated to respond during her working hours. On the other hand, he or she has the freedom not to respond to client’s inquiries not until her next shift.

Clients should be aware that a virtual assistant is not a round-the-clock employee. They may work in a flexible manner, but they also have the right to obtain some hours of personal privacy away from work.

Of course, virtual assistants, most of the time, should initiate setting up a schedule. It is one way of protecting one’s self from the aforementioned issue. One cannot blame the clients all the time, for once you get them adapt to a certain routine, they will definitely anticipate it to occur going forward.

Professionalism: An Effective Key to Retaining Your Virtual Work

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When people tend to become comfortable with what they are doing, at times, they forget how important their traits are when dealing with their superiors or co-workers. There are cases wherein they would think that their long experience in the field would already secure their job forever, if not, for a long time. Due to this, they become too proud of what they can do, resulting in poor socialization with their peers at work.

You should know that this also happens in the virtual world. There is a tendency for virtual assistants, who have years-long experience in the field, to actually think that they are better than others. The worst part is, this is even reflected to how they deal with their clients or superiors. They have this “Oh, I can find another work.” thinking. This must be prevented at all costs. You may think that your attitude is not a big matter to discuss, but far from your expectation, it is actually damaging the entirety of your career, piece by piece.

Professionalism is the best term that you could use to describe the trait that will take you a long way in the virtual world. Be reminded that it is not simply about being committed to your job. No, it is never relative to that alone – it can be applied in many ways.

One good example is when you actually care about your clients instead of focusing on your own good. Let us say, we are talking about Mike and Johanne, with the former being the client and the latter as the VA.

Mike provided Johanne a series of tasks, which should be the done in a week. He was too busy to actually check each of the accomplished work in every platform used. Thus, he trusted that Johanne would actually carry out whatever should be done while considering the deadline, which is by the end of the week. He also asked for a daily report to get an insight of the progress.

Unfortunately, Johanne did not adhere to the simple request of providing a report. As a result, Mike is confused as to what he had accomplished within the week. While Johanne insisted that he had finished all the work, there is no proof at all, since there are no reports and there are no outputs.

Mike decided to put a halt on his work. The situation is made worse by Johanne by being unresponsive after this decision. Instead of complying with his client’s request of report and explanation, he decided to keep mum. Despite countless messages, Johanne decided to ignore for an unknown reason.

This situation is a big picture of lacking professionalism on the part of Johanne. In the first place, he did not follow the simple instruction of his client. Also, simply because he lost the job, he would already leave the client hanging. He had committed to finishing all the necessary work. Hence, even if it all turns out unlikely, you should close the book in a good way.

Be reminded that as a virtual assistant, the end of a client-employee relationship must be expected. No matter what the cause may be, you should initiate parting ways with a good impression. If you made a mistake, admit it. If not, then defend your side professionally. As for the aforementioned situation, Johanne only showed that he is not worthy to be considered a reputable virtual assistant, for he just ruined the trust of the client. You may also say that the respect has been absent throughout the scene.

If you have respect, you should consider being in the shoes of your client. What would you feel if your staff is treating you that way? It would be disappointing, as well.

As written in the Bible, in Luke 6:31 to be specific, “Do to others as you would have them do to you.”

If you want to become a reputable virtual assistant, attitude is a very important thing, which includes professionalism. Be reminded that at present, most clients include personality in their requirements for a VA. This is to sustain a harmonious relationship among their employees, which leads to better operations of a company.

 

Why Admitting Your Mistake Helps

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Virtual assistants or home-based workers have the privilege not to be supervised in the flesh by their clients or superiors. Due to this, they, at times, make the mistake of covering their pitfalls. Far from their expectation, it could actually put their employment in peril.

In virtual work, it is essential that you open up almost everything to your client. Why? This is due to the fact the only foundation you have with your employer-employee relationship is good communication. Basically, good communication entails that you should also be open about your mistakes. You cannot always be the perfect VA or worker for your client. There is no one such as that. You have to admit that there are cases, especially during your first few months, that you will err.

This topic cannot be expressed effectively by just saying, “You should admit your mistakes to your client.” It should actually be relayed with an example.

One good example could be a virtual assistant who is assigned to supervise their team of VAs in behalf of his superior, who is ultimately the owner of the company. We can name the VA as Clark, whereas the superior as John.

Clark is very committed to his job and perfected every single thing he does for John. Unfortunately, he met a client, whom their VAs carry out tasks for, who is very abusive in terms of requirements. This client of theirs tends to ask their VAs to squeeze in a lot of tasks in strictly limited hours of work, which is totally unjust. John even reminded Clark to ensure that this would not happen.

At first, Clark was able to coordinate with the client to avoid this issue. Nonetheless, the client is too hard-headed and egoistic to actually change. As a result, VAs were abused despite the chances provided by Clark. He thought that by giving the client more chances after every plea that this abuse should no longer occur, everything will go well.

Unfortunately, it came to a point where John was contacted by the client and the latter actually wants to end the relationship with them. Why? The VAs already failed to meet her standards for she is asking the impossible already, such as finishing a five-hour worth of work in just an hour. This surprised John, for he is not aware of anything amiss with their VAs and the client.

In the end, John confronted Clark. The VA has no choice but to admit the mistake he did – he did not inform John the moment the client abused their rights as a VA. It should have been like that since John has more power to actually stop this incorrect behavior all along.

The result? John may have been disappointed with Clark, but the VA’s confession made him trust his employee more. He admitted that it is rare to find an employee who is brave enough to claim whatever error he has done, and ensure it will not be repeated going forward. The action also allowed John to actually lecture Clark on how to become a better employee, someone who is reputable and trustworthy.

As time went, Clark was able to handle client issues more effectively with John being involved whenever necessary. Knowing that when things get awry means John has to intervene, he became a more effective part of the team. He knew his boundaries and accepted there are things he should not handle by himself.

Apparently, the example situation may have been simple and not actually everyone’s expectation in terms of explaining the topic. However, it still successfully implied that admitting a mistake could result in a better situation in your work.

Communication: A Key to Effective Virtual Work (VA’s Perspective)

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Virtual work has now been considered as a better alternative to office-based work due to many factors. Let us begin with the difficulty of traveling from one place to another. There is no denying that most virtual assistants chose to work from home since commuting from their home to office have only been excruciating for them. You cannot blame them to complain. Just imagine your day being consumed by being on the road for hours!

Another factor that makes being a home-based worker more advantageous is the ability to be near your loved ones. Working in the office has taken this privilege at an unlikely level – mothers not being able to rear their children or fathers not being able to witness their children grow. Is that how life should be? Apparently, no.

However, no matter how you consider virtual work your future, you should have to consider a lot of things to make it work. Now, we will focus on communication. Neophytes in the home-based work industry would think having an employment online will be the same with working in the office. No, it will not be entirely the same. In truth, it is more sensitive and requires more commitment.

Let us go back to why communication is one thing you have to focus on while being a virtual worker. Truthfully, without it, you will not even be able to get a job online, more so in keeping your occupation.

To make it clearer for you, given below are top reasons why communication should be the foundation of your home-based work:

It is what your client depends on to make everything work. Without communicating with your client, you will not even get to know him or her better. Plus, the work that has to be done or his or her requirements will not at all be disclosed.

Since he or she will not be able to work with you in the flesh, what he or she will rely on is the messaging platform you will use. This could be e-mail, Skype, Messenger, Viber, Zoom, or anything that you could think of being used to communicate virtually.

It is what makes you worth being paid. Without communication, you will not be able to inform what you have accomplished. Remember, not all clients have the time to check what you have finished in a certain shift immediately or regularly. They depend on what you report to determine what you have done for them or their operations in a day.

It is what keeps you a reliable employee. Communication will always give you the chance to prove that you are a reliable virtual worker. How? By opening up about something that is not right with the tasks you are working on. By making your client aware of improvements that could be applied to their systems. By admitting your pitfalls and assuring that you will be better in the future.

If you will analyze it, you can say that without communication, no virtual work would even be on your plate.

The question now is, how could you improve communication with your client? It is simple: maximize the use of the messaging platform you are currently utilizing to be in connection with him or her.

Whenever you are reporting or logging out, inform him or her. Report whatever you have accomplished in a day. Ensure that he or she is updated with his or her future appointments. Keep him or her aware of your project’s progress. Voice out what you think should have made the proposal better.

There are too many ways you could improve communication while working online. As stated above, MAXIMIZE it.