Tag: virtual assistant

A Thanksgiving: What to Thank For in Having a Virtual Assistant

In line with the Thanksgiving holiday, which is being celebrated in a number of countries, it is a good thing to discuss what to thank for in having a virtual assistant. With the recent development in staffing, there is no refuting that more employers are appreciating how valuable it is to have remote workers. Instead of being skeptical about it, they are now welcoming a team creation out of virtual assistants.

There are various reasons why you should be well pleased for deciding to hire a virtual assistant. To give you a few, which will remind you that your gratitude is laudable, here are the following:

Utmost Convenience. There is no invalidating the fact that having a virtual assistant would provide you a high level of ease in different aspects. One good example is being assisted everywhere you will go. Even if you are someone who travels a lot, with your remote assistant available to communicate anytime and anywhere, you would not lose any needed help.

As long as you have the platforms to use, internet connection, and gadgets necessary, you can get in touch with your virtual assistant conveniently. This means if you need urgent appointments to set, travels to schedule, or rooms to book, you are all set.

Accessible Skill Diversity. A typical virtual assistant has various skills to offer. This is brought upon by his or her experiences that were obtained through open opportunities online. Unlike office-based work, most remote projects or positions are open to anyone willing to be trained. As a result, a virtual assistant can easily gain more knowledge and skills to offer as his or her years in remote industry increase.

Flexibility. Since a remote worker is usually based in his or her home, there is no problem if the work schedule has to be changed instantly, whenever necessary. This is regardless of the virtual assistant following a different timezone to that of the employer. 

Most virtual assistants can even work on a night shift basis to keep up with the operations of a company based in an area, which can be 12 hours behind.

High Level of Commitment. Since there is a high level of convenience on the end of the virtual assistant, he or she has no further reason to go on frequent leaves or absences. Being at home and near his or her family would make a remote worker more motivated to report for work. 

Productivity would certainly increase, as well, given the much-needed work and life balance can now be achieved by any virtual assistant. Imagine being able to take care of your loved ones just a few steps away from your office.

Small Business Friendliness. A virtual assistant could be the best answer for small businesses looking into gearing up for expansion without having to suffer from too much labor cost. For instance, by hiring a remote worker, you can already have customer service without having to deal with office space and lots of taxes.

The provided benefits of having a virtual assistant are unquestionable reasons for you to give thanks. With this development in the employment system, running your business is more trouble-free without having to compromise your much needed growth.

Preparing Against Power Outage, Remote Workers' Greatest Foe

Preparing Against Power Outage, Remote Workers’ Greatest Foe

Working remotely is highly convenient not only for the remote workers, but for the employers at the same time. Instead of setting up big office spaces, you no longer have to worry about delaying your operations as long as your virtual assistants are set. You simply have to ensure your company’s files and applications are accessible in any unit regardless of location. 

However, the aforementioned convenience can be disrupted by many problems, such as power outages. When blackout hits, it is common that virtual assistants tend to leave work early or miss their entire shift. 

Fortunately, there are ways for remote workers to prepare against power outages. All it takes is following these simple tips:

Keep yourself updated to the power maintenance schedule. At present, electricity providers use various platforms to keep their customers notified when power maintenance will be done. You should take advantage of this, such as by following their social media pages. You may also request for updates via e-mail or SMS.

Make sure your devices are charged after use. You should make it a habit to charge your devices after use. For instance, following your daily shift, ensure that you charge your laptop and mobile phone. At the very least, you can be certain that the next day you utilize these devices, they are fully functional despite the possibility of power outage affecting your area.

It became a practice for most remote workers to only charge their equipment whenever the battery is low. This should be avoided, regardless of whether your location is prone to blackouts or the contrary.

Prepare a backup internet always. Besides charging your devices, you should also have an alternative internet connection. Power outage implies your wired internet will no longer work. 

Apart from saving credit for mobile data, if you are using a wireless internet device, you should also make certain that this is fully charged always.

It is also helpful if you are near an area, such as a restaurant or café, which offers free internet connection. This could be an option if you ran out of solutions for the backup internet.

Nonetheless, this tip goes hand in hand with the second one. Even if you have a way out from your internet issue, but your PC or laptop has no power backup, you still would not be able to work.

Maintain your generator properly. If you have a portable generator at home, it is imperative you follow the procedures in maintaining it. Aside from keeping a stock of fuel, you should also see to it that it undergoes periodic inspection for issues. Moreover, you should consider oil change, battery power check, and battery cleaning among others. By doing so, you would not have any issue using it in times of blackouts.

Set a go-to place as an alternative home office. There is a possibility that power outages may last for days, particularly if the damage is due to natural disasters. In this instance, it is advisable to find a place that you could set as your home office temporarily. For instance, an available co-working space you could rent for a short period or a friend’s house that you would be welcome to stay in for a while.

With the given tips above, you would be able to report as normally as you could despite power outages. Simply keep in mind that missing work due to blackout could mean a lot of things, such as missed deadline, attendance issue, delayed team members’ work due to your late input, and overall poor performance record. These could be prevented by being proactive in dealing with power outages.

Why Working on a Fixed Schedule Is Advantageous for a Virtual Assistant

Why Working on a Fixed Schedule Is Advantageous for a Virtual Assistant

Working remotely has always been associated with flexibility, not only in terms of location but in schedule, as well. Virtual assistants tend to have more convenience in blocking a time dedicated for their work. However, flexible time may be favored by most of your peers, but it does not mean it may work for you. You could start with the fact that not all tasks or projects do not require constant coordination with your team members.

Concerning the said matter, it should not be overlooked that a fixed schedule in remote work has its advantages, which may be ideal for your current job. Here are a few:

Better Understanding of Operations. If you are new in the team, it is best you work on a fixed schedule following the operational hours of the company. This would provide you a better understanding of how things work. Through this, you would be able to figure out your role in the organization better. Furthermore, you may be able to identify what other things you could contribute to the team to make the operations more efficient.

If you work on a flexible schedule, you would probably be simply focused on your tasks alone. You may not even comprehend the significance of other co-workers’ corresponding works. This may in turn cause you to delay others or not even consider helping out to accomplish a project as a team.

Having a projection of how the entire company works will make you a more considerate employee rather than just a productive one.

Seamless Coordination. There is no assurance that working flexibly could offer you seamless coordination. Indeed, tasks may be relayed via e-mail or messaging applications, but there would always be clarifications involved. Particularly, if an activity would need a team of people for accomplishment.

If you work on a fixed schedule, your employer would be able to reach out to you at the right time without worrying about waiting for your response. This goes the same if you have issues to raise. This is more advantageous if urgent retort is often needed for your task.

On the other hand, should you work on a flexible schedule, it is most likely that you would not even have a chance to catch up with your employer or team member. There would definitely be instances that it would take hours before a reply can be expected. Things could go amiss if this is the case.

One good example is when your employer would often require your assistance whenever a meeting is to be set. For instance, he or she would need to meet up with clients. In order to do this, he or she has to check his or her schedule with you from time to time. If you are not working on a fixed schedule, your employer may find it difficult to reach out to you. At the very least, if you work on a set block of time, more so alongside his or her working hours, confirmation of his or her available time would be done swiftly.

Personal Interaction. It is not healthy to have limited personal interaction when working. At times, it also helps if you are able to coordinate with your team members regarding various matters. Working on a fixed schedule enables you to do this.

If you are a remote worker based in another country than that of your team members, working alongside their schedule will make you feel one with them. This would allow you to ask questions, clarify confusions, share ideas, or even simply chat while on break. 

Working with people instead of individually in a remote setting will help you grow. If you interact, you may learn from your team members’ work ethics. Furthermore, they may be open to giving you guidance as you carry out your tasks, and vice-versa.

With the benefits of working on a fixed schedule provided above, you may now be able to consider it as an option in your remote work setup. You may ponder giving it a try, particularly if you are encountering issues with your flexible setup, such as limited understanding of your tasks, miscommunication, and poor engagement among your co-workers.

Self-Assessment as an Ongoing Process for Remote Workers

Self-Assessment as an Ongoing Process for Remote Workers

Leave a comment

Working virtually has become an accepted setup nowadays, following the height of the pandemic. With no option but to let their employees work from home, the convenience of home-based reporting was uncovered further. Apart from the remote work setup being appreciated, even independent contractors or freelancers were further welcomed as equals of office-based employees.

It has long been debated that virtual assistants could be unreliable in terms of their lack of personal interaction and dependence on communication platforms. Nonetheless, as time went by and how their performance remained at par with every employer’s standards, this argument had ceased gradually.

With the aforementioned fact, remote workers have the obligation to continue proving that they could be an effective resource in the long run. Hence, one’s performance must not deviate from the employer’s expectations. In order to do this, a virtual assistant should consider self-assessment as an ongoing process during their employment.

It is natural for a remote worker to appraise one’s self during the adjustment or the early stage of work. For instance, you just started reporting to your employer and you have to evaluate whether you are coping well with the training or not. This is an established routine to ensure that you are at pace and would not disappoint in terms of your learning efficiency.

However, self-assessment should not stop when you find out that you are already accustomed to your tasks. There will certainly be a period that you will perceive this. You tend to accomplish your activities more quickly, and you can already be someone to train and guide your fellow co-workers.

In the long run, you should always see yourself as someone who is prone to making mistakes. Assess if you are failing to think of this matter. You never know, your contentment could lead to poor judgment.

One good example is the constant disregard to your employer’s reminder regarding the new training materials you should check, which could help you with your tasks going forward. Given you consider yourself adapted to your work, you end up not checking the said materials. There came a time that you made a mistake, which could have been prevented if you had been considerate to your employer’s prompt.

Relating to the given instance, no matter how settled you are at work, there would be changes that would come. You need to continue learning; you need to keep on growing.

The activities may seem monotonous, but it does not mean that there could be no change with how these are being done and no possible issue could arise while carrying these out.

On the other hand, self-assessment as your key in keeping yourself in check could help you identify your current or frequent errors. This would give you the ability to amend your mistakes right away without making things worse.

A good example is when you noticed that lately, you have been missing the deadline of projects frequently. This evaluation could lead you to check various factors that contribute to this poor performance. One, you may not be managing your time effectively. Also, you may be prioritizing your tasks incorrectly. Moreover, there could be distractions around you (which you may have brought yourself) that keep you from committing to the accomplishment of the projects. 

Relatively, by identifying the possible causes of your mistake, you could eliminate them and keep your good performance preserved. You may start using a time management tool, such as a scheduler or calendar. Every day, you may begin a habit of listing down the high and low priority tasks you should work on. Lastly, you may remove distractions that could be hampering your concentration while at work, such as social media, television, snacks, etc.

At times, not only the people around you can help pinpoint the improvement marks you should keep in mind. It is also probable that you will judge yourself best since from your strengths to weaknesses, you know yourself more than anyone.

Keeping High Level of Professionalism Even at Home

Keeping High Level of Professionalism Even at Home

Leave 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.