virtual assistant – Page 8 – Philippians Virtual Assistance Services

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.

Tardiness Is Never a Trait to Keep as a Virtual Assistant

February 7, 2019June 12, 2020Leave a comment

If you think flexibility is dominating the online or home-based work industry, then you should think again. Since then, clients have never considered remote workers different from office-based ones in terms of performance at work. In truth, there are even cases that they will expect more from you. Why? This is due to the fact that they are aware you are already conferred with convenience to work at home and near your family. Hence, an upraised commitment to your job is anticipated.

One of most important things to keep in mind as a virtual assistant is to practice abiding by the schedule your client has set. Indeed, there will be cases that your tasks are not provided yet, but this is not a reason for you to report late.

Your client or employer is observing you, no matter how silent he or she can be in terms of those aspects. Show your professionalism even if you are at home and working. In such way, your client will consider your ethics praiseworthy, which could end in a stable work for you. Who would not want to work with someone who does not neglect following even the simplest instruction as arriving on time?

According to others, they have this sickness that keeps them from arriving early or reporting on time. You should know that there is no such thing as that. In contrary, what you are experiencing is a result of voluntarily letting yourself get used to the unprofessional habit.

If you are aiming to make a change, then you should start resetting your work-related habits. One good way is to avoid setting appointments near your scheduled reporting time; as much as possible, clear an hour or so prior to your work.

On the other hand, you should also try setting alarms or reminders, particularly on your mobile phone (which you often hold) to keep tabs of your reporting time. This is helpful if you have more than one gig or freelance work.

If you are a night owl and your work schedule makes you snooze involuntarily prior to your reporting time, you should then find sufficient time to slumber during the day. In such way, your body will be able to control its urges to take a rest in the evening. It may be difficult for the first few days, but your system will get a hang of your new sleeping pattern.

Lastly, you should have a psychological motivation – keeping your client or employer satisfied with your performance and eventually, maintaining your professional standing. Be reminded that your reputation as a virtual assistant is also at stake here. Do not ruin it by a habit that can be corrected easily if you only decide to.

It is not too late to make a shift. Remember, it is your choice when it comes to your overall work performance. You choose to be late, to be a not-so-dependable virtual assistant, and to be someone who cannot follow a simple instruction. Yet, you can choose to be the contrary of everything that was mentioned.

Why Reading Makes You an Effective Virtual Assistant

February 5, 2019June 12, 2020Leave a comment

In truth, it would be seldom you could encounter someone keen in reading books, news, or even a short piece of article. For them, reading somehow is tiresome, despite being aware that it could give them a lot of benefits to reap.

As a virtual assistant, you should know that reading is one of your free and most efficient means of honing your skills. There are lots of reasons why, which include the following:

It provides you a better understanding of how things are done. Apparently, there are cases that you thought you already know what you are doing. Then suddenly, you check out recent research and tutorials in making things easier in executing the concerned activity – you ended up knowing more techniques in carrying it out.

If you are a virtual assistant, you should keep yourself updated on recent trends in carrying out tasks for your clients or employers. For instance, in terms of transcription, aside from manually jotting down what you have heard and understood in an audio file, there are also software applications to make things easier. Although the said tools may not be as accurate as manually transcribing, it could be helpful in other means, such as in taking care of files that are totally inaudible for you.

It gives you the edge to improve your English communication skills. Reading provides you a very reachable solution to bettering your English communication skills, either written or spoken. This is due to the fact you would be able to pick up new words to broaden your vocabulary every time you read. Additionally, you will also get used to the construction of sentences in the correct way.

To make things more efficient for your English training, you should focus on reading materials coming from authoritative sites. In other words, you can be certain that prior to publishing their content, it is being proofread and edited accordingly by experts.

It provides you the confidence to converse. If you want to entertain your client or your colleagues, reading could help you a lot. You could share what you have acquired by reading certain pieces of content either online or in a book. This will not give you a way to impart knowledge but to sustain a warm atmosphere among your co-workers.

Opening a sensible conversation also provides you a good impression. People would most likely consider you welcoming.

It keeps you supported in maintaining good work relationships. Apart from learning about virtual assistant skills, reading could also open your mind in embracing ways to maintain a good employer-employee relationship.

Tons of research studies are available around that could provide you a better grasp of understanding your client. Moreover, you may also obtain help with your current dilemma. For instance, you do not know how to approach your client about a certain issue with your communication. In truth, experts from around the world could assist you with various solutions, which may include psychologists or even business professionals.

It protects you from the work-related stress. If you want a way to spend your after-work time efficaciously, you should try reading. You do not have to settle with news, studies, or research documents you could find online. Why not try settling with novels or books of your interest? This will keep you isolated from the stress around you given your mind will be shifted in focus.

With the aforementioned reasons, you definitely have you to avoid thinking twice prior to browsing content online or picking up a book at least once every day. You do not have to boot and read almost all day. Instead, you should go slowly, such as starting with an article a day or maybe a chapter in the Bible.

Patience Is a Key to Establishing Good Client Relationship

February 1, 2019June 12, 2020Leave a comment

As a virtual assistant, it is understood that you will come across various types of clients during your home-based career. There will be ones, who you can describe as the best people to work with. However, there will be cases that you would describe your client as exacting or someone that gives you much pressure with regards to work.

Moreover, there will be ones that are very new to virtual assistance. As a result, they commit mistakes that will test your patience expectedly. Indeed, even virtual assistants have to cope with a client’s shortcoming.

One good example is when a client is not aware that he or she cannot simply call or reach out to you whenever he or she pleases. Lots of virtual assistants could attest that this somehow happened to them one way or the other. Nonetheless, you should remember that it is all about speaking up. There is no disrespect if you want to put a boundary between your personal and professional space. If there is an established schedule for you, then you do not have to worry at all, given you can simply state to your client that you are only available during those times.

Another good instance is when a client thinks he or she does not have to elaborate things for the tasks to be done. There will be ones, who would expect a lot relative to your output without even considering the need to explain what they really need. This is common in graphic design projects. Still, as a virtual assistant, patience is a virtue in this situation.

Once again, it is all about voicing out your concern. Prior to starting your work, you should complete your requirements. Otherwise, it will be your peril provided that you are at risk of repeating your work or making mistakes. If you are paid by the hour, you would never want this to transpire.

Speak up by explicating that your viewpoint will not meet his or hers if some parts of the project are explained vaguely. It will also be a problem for your client if repetitive work will arise; to be specific, missing deadline is highly probable to happen.

If you will analyze the aforementioned situations, you could practice patience by working your way to establishing a good communication ground between you and your client. As noted, you should not lose faith in settling things out. It is your loss if you will simply leave your job or project, more so your client, due to such instances. Everyone makes mistakes and there will be misunderstandings if one is new to something.

Start making forbearance a part of you, and you will definitely sustain harmonious relationships with your clients or employers.