Tag: virtual assistants

Three distinct benefits that VA Central provides over other outsourcing solutions

Have you ever worked in an environment where one individual in the team is a nice person but clearly bluffed their way into their job – they don’t have the right skills – or where a person is good at their job but has such a poisonous personality – through grumbling, gossip or spite – that they cause havoc with team relationships. Both these situations can derail efficiency and productivity at a tremendous cost to a company. The costs are felt in lost revenue through inefficiency, fixing mistakes or bad service that loses clients. They are felt in having to pay recruitment costs to replace an unsuitable person and then spend time training someone new.  Plus they are costly in terms of damaging team morale.

Our mission at VA Central is to recruit Virtual Assistant who become valuable, long-standing team members who help each of our clients’ companies to flourish and grow. It’s the reason we take extra care to ensure that our candidates have the right skills and experience – and positive personal attributes that match each clients’ unique culture.

Here are three ways our clients benefit from the quality of our bespoke service:

  1. Well-matched, bespoke Virtual Assistants

Every one of our bespoke Virtual Assistants is sourced with a particular client’s needs and culture in mind. Our meticulous selection process involves first getting to know each of our clients and understanding their needs. Only then do we set about sourcing the best candidates for the job. We put the top three candidates forward for a client interview and there have been several instances where the candidates have been of such a high quality that a client decides to employ more than one of them.

  1. Skilled and experienced professionals

Only experienced candidates with the right skills make the cut. Successful applicants who make the shortlist are those that have the right tertiary education plus 3 – 5 years’ prior experience working in the role we are looking to fill. We have many instances where senior candidates are keen to work as Virtual Assistants in a first world market. These are highly qualified individuals who are passionate about their work and who are delighted to earn an hourly rate in keeping with the UK’s National Minimum Living Wage.

  1. Well-supported through ongoing training and development

We believe in life-long learning – for ourselves and our team of Virtual Assistants. Our clients benefit from our team of VAs being provided with ongoing support through regular training and personal development initiatives. There have been instances where our clients have requested bespoke training for their incoming VA – and of course we have been happy to upskill their VA accordingly.

And there is a fourth benefit. Our clients find it invaluable to take on a Virtual Assistant who lives and works in a compatible time zone so that the whole team’s working day is in sync. Our Virtual Assistants live in a time zone that is only an hour (or two in summer) different to the UK. They enjoy keeping UK office hours. The outcome is that in every way that matters, our VAs are present and working alongside the team, competently handling important routine tasks to free up their boss’s valuable time.

Effective Communication with Your Virtual Assistant

What is the difference between teamwork and collaboration?

Teamwork happens when people work together toward achieving a common goal. The key difference between teamwork and collaboration is that while teamwork entails the individual efforts of team members to achieve a goal, collaboration involves a team of people sharing their ideas and skills, working together to achieve a common goal.

Why are teamwork and collaboration so important?

Teamwork and collaboration are both essential to a company’s success. Each team member has unique talents and skills. When these are shared for a common purpose, it can give a company a profound competitive advantage.

Research agrees that teamwork and collaboration bring these three benefits:

  • Working in a team encourages personal growth, increases job satisfaction and reduces stress.
  • People are more likely to take calculated risks that lead to innovation and creativity if they have the support of a team behind them.
  • Collaborative problem-solving leads to better outcomes.

Integrating VAs into your existing team

Integrating your new Virtual Assistant into your team seamlessly is all about being properly prepared for their arrival. Here are 5 tips for a making your new VA’s entry into the company worthwhile and welcoming:

  1. Prepare your existing team

It makes sense that bringing in a new personality with new attributes and capabilities will have an impact on the existing dynamic of the team. Communicate what the new person’s role is and provide information on their background and skillset to get the team excited for their arrival. Use the new person’s onboarding to introduce them and provide insights on each team member.

  1. Assign an orientation partner

Having someone appropriate to answer simple questions is a great way to make sure a new person settles in quickly. Then your new VA won’t have to feel spare about interrupting a colleague. A “buddy” can also provide insights that go beyond run-of-the-mill orientation and so should be both loyal and familiar with the company culture.

  1. Pre-set up protocols and procedures

Ensure you have things like an email address and logins ready – and that your new VA knows in advance what to expect when they get to work on their first day.

  1. Make onboarding a priority

Onboarding should be a priority in your new Virtual Assistant’s first few days of work – including introducing them to their colleagues – and followed by any systems training that is required.  If your company does not have a formal induction programme, ensure you have prepared training manuals and company information to assist your new team member throughout their startup period.

  1. Establish which are the best communication channels

You can help your new VA get to grips with which communication channels to use in different circumstances by creating a short and succinct internal communication process document that outlines the purpose of each communication tool and taking them through work in progress to bring them up to speed and illustrate how each of them are put to use. This will help them to be productive right from the get-go.

Strategies and tools for effective remote collaboration

Enabling remote team collaboration requires bearing in mind exactly what your remote workers are being asked to accomplish, workwise, and understanding the practicalities of connecting team members. Here are 3 strategies to engender collaboration in your remote team:

  • Make sure your communication is always clear

The worst culprit in derailing remote collaboration is a lack of clarity. If your team finds it difficult to collaborate on joint work, it may be because an assignment was briefed unclearly, or because getting together was difficult due to conflicting work schedules. (Or your busyness may have made you a bottleneck.) To avoid these hurdles set clear upfront project guidelines, communicate the project scope clearly and use online project management tool to make sure everyone has updated information and to track progress.

Prepare by asking yourself questions like:

  • What are the project goals?
  • What information does the team need to accomplish the task?
  • Where will this information be held?
  • By what metrics will you track progress?
  • What collection of remote collaboration tools can you provide to support them?

For example, give the teams access to your diary to see your availability. Or set up a shared calendar as to when they can contact colleagues for additional support. That way, they will feel comfortable seeking clarification when needed.

  • Make the most of video conferencing

Working remotely can easily alienate colleagues from each other. To overcome this, schedule regular team video updates to build camaraderie. Scheduling regular meetings will helps create a routine for the team. Regularly seeing each other means that they will be more likely to feel comfortable collaborating. Ensure the team knows they can always jump on spur-of-the-moment calls, much like they would pop in on a colleague at the office.

There are several platforms that can help:

  • Google Meet
  • Zoom
  • Microsoft Teams
  • Slack

 

  • Use a project management tool

Project management software is the key to eliminating roadblocks and completing crucial tasks on time and well. The best thing about them is they reduce the chances of tasks slipping between the cracks. Project management tools show at a glance who is doing what and what progress they have made. They have the useful facility to include detailed instructions and comments, and to upload pertinent documents under the umbrella of the project. So a team member with a question can easily find the information they need.

Collaboration thrives in a culture of trust

With remote work comes a need for trust. This means your measure of work well done will not be based on time management, rather it will be based on the quality of each team member’s well-timed output. After all, the key requirement is that ultimately a project is completed well and on time – and that your team works well together to make the project even better. If all is progressing smoothly, then there is no need to micromanage the team. Instead, focus on helping in problem areas. By investing time in helping your team members to improve, you help their development and show that you value them.

Ensuring Data Security and Privacy When Working With Your VA

The UK’s legal requirement to ensure data security and privacy

In the UK, The Data Protection Act 2018 controls how personal information is used by organisations, companies or the government. The Data Protection Act 2018 is the UK’s implementation of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

  • The GDPR is set around 7 principles: Lawfulness, Fairness and transparency, Purpose limitation, Data minimization, Accuracy, Storage limitation, Integrity and confidentiality, and Accountability.
  • The definition of personal data includes the term “any information” by which the subject of the data is identifiable:

“Especially by reference to an identifier such as a name, an identification number, location data, an online identifier or one of several special characteristics, which expresses the physical, physiological, genetic, mental, commercial, cultural or social identity of these natural persons.”

Why is data security important?

In business, the main purpose of data security is to protect a company’s data that contains trade information or customer data. Unprotected data can be accessed by cybercriminals for malicious reasons and so compromise customer privacy. Data security is important because if a data breach does occur, a company can be exposed to litigation, fines and reputational damage.

Ensuring data security in remote teams

As technology allows organisations collect more and more data, effective governance and access management protocols are essential to scaling data use without losing control. While companies reap the benefits of reduced overheads when taking on Virtual Assistants, remote working has precipitated new cybersecurity threats and risks that could impact negatively on a business.

Training your Virtual Assistants on data security protocols

When it comes to any security, people can inadvertently be the weakest link. One of the most important aspects of data security is education. Educate yourself and your Virtual Assistants about UK data protection legalities and about the latest trends, threats, tools and best practices in data security – as well as drilling them to adopt and maintain secure data sharing habits.

Here are 7 best practices for protecting and sharing sensitive information:

  1. Encrypt sensitive data: Article 32 of the UK GDPR includes encryption as an example of an appropriate technical measure, depending on the nature and risks of your processing activities. If sensitive data must be stored on local computer hard drives, external hard drives, or flash memory drives it must be encrypted using security-approved encryption methods.
  2. Safeguard information to which you have access: Ensure you and every member of your team chooses strong passwords and changes them often. Do not leave paper documents containing sensitive information unattended. You should also update or delete the information as needed, disposing of it securely when it is no longer needed.
  3. Adhere to policy: Everyone in the company should know and adhere strictly to relevant policies. You may be bound by company policy, professional codes of conduct, legal obligations, or ethical standards that govern how you handle sensitive information. Insist that every team member sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) that prohibits the improper sharing of sensitive information.
  4. Restrict access: The best way to alleviate internal security breaches is by restricting access to as appropriate to each role. Access control systems allow company IT admins to define who within the company can access which files and networks.
  5. Get consent: Consent means that the subject of the data agrees for you to hold and share the information having understood why the information is necessary, how you will use it, store it and protect it.
  6. Use discretion when sharing: Before sharing any sensitive information (be it with a trusted colleague or vendor) ask yourself why you are doing it. Is it relevant, necessary and essential for a set purpose?
  7. Monitor and evaluate: Put your internal processes to the test to ensure preserving data integrity and security. Keep track of what information is shared, with whom and for what purpose to avoid negative outcomes and trouble-shoot if need be.

Top tools for secure communication and data storage

It is essential to learn about the range of tools available and ascertain which of these is the best for your company – and are the most reliable. Here are 3 common tools available:

  • Firewalls

Your business will experience a constant flow of incoming and outgoing information as team members access your network from multiple locations. Firewalls are an efficient first line of defense as they monitor this traffic. They are easy to implement and offer good resistance against external cyber threats trying to break into your network.

  • Encryption tools

Encryption can protect your communication from being intercepted, modified, or stolen. Encryption is a process that transforms your data into a code that only authorised recipients can decode. Encryption tools include Virtual Private Networks (VPNs), end-to-end encryption apps, or encrypted storage services. These encryption tools can be used for:

  • data in transit (data that you send or receive through your communication tools, such as emails, messages, or calls).
  • data at rest (data that you store on your devices or cloud services, such as photographs, documents, or contacts).
  • Multifactor authentication

Multifactor authentication can prevent unauthorised access to your stored information even if your password is compromised. Multifactor authentication requires you to provide more than one piece of evidence to verify your identity when logging in. For example, you may need to enter a code sent to your phone or email, scan your fingerprint, or use a physical key. It is wise to enable multifactor authentication for your all your IT and communication tools.

Last but not least, keep your computer software up to date

While it is likely that UK Estate Agents do not use the latest computer hard and software in order to maximise their use of modern digital tools, it must be said that it is important to avoid using outdated or unsupported computer software that may have security flaws or compatibility issues. Current software and regular updates are essential for maintaining the security and functionality of your IT and communication tools. It may be a pain, but it is also essential to regularly do software updates – these often include patches for security vulnerabilities. It is a good idea to turn on automatic updates to make the process as easy as possible.

Building a Strong Working Relationship with your Virtual Assistant

Your Virtual Assistant should be seen as an integral part of your team – not a “bolt on” employee who works from afar. Due to your VA working remotely, building a strong working relationship will not begin with face-to-face onboarding or being able to pop into each other’s offices to get an update or answer questions. Instead, it will entail structured interaction, using digital communication tools and automated systems. However, what does not vary is that it will be forged through mutual commitment to the success of the business and regular two-way communication.

Building a strong working relationship takes time. It is not passive or self-sustaining – it takes continual input and action. Practically speaking, from your VA’s perspective, their commitment to building a strong working relationship is founded on their dedication to doing their job well and turning in work of a high standard – along with a positive can-do attitude. From the business owner’s side, it has its foundation in a commitment to thorough onboarding and any training needed, followed by regular communication and support – and consciously creating a work environment that nurtures engagement and builds a sense of belonging. One of the main benefits of building a strong working relationship is that it engenders trust.

Creating a positive virtual working environment lies at the heart of maintaining a strong working relationship with your VA – or any member of your team. One of the most positive aspects of taking on Virtual Assistants is that it allows remote members of the team to keep to office hours while also having the flexibility to see to personal commitments. This enabling of work-life balance contributes to a happy working environment.

Here are five tips for building a strong working relationship with your Virtual Assistant:

  1. Prioritise onboarding
  • Start by ensuring your VA understands your core values and the company culture. Make sure to be specific in defining what is desirable behaviour and what is not – and what living out your company culture entails, so that your VA understands specifically how their actions and performance contributes to supporting your workplace culture.
  • Introduce them to the team and provide a potted pen of each of their job descriptions and how their positions may require collaboration.
  • Provide a list of their Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) by which their performance will be appraised.
  • Give them appropriate access to your technology systems, login details and the like, and ensure that your VA is provided with any technical resources to get them up and running immediately.
  • Take your VA though current work in progress and familiarise them with how you use any project management and other software.
  • Hand over a task list that outlines and prioritises their tasks, with milestones, deadlines and predetermined review dates.
  1. Maintain open communication channels

Simple, straightforward and honest communication helps to build a strong foundation. The starting point is to provide your VA with information on your preferred method of communication and the times of day and week when you are and are not available. In the early days it’s helpful to connect with your VA more than you will once they are well established in their role. Once your Virtual Assistant is up to speed, schedule regular check-in meetings to review progress, address any concerns and provide feedback.  When it comes to team meetings, by fostering open communication you can ensure that both in-office and remote employees feel valued and supported.  Encouraging everyone to participate helps to create a sense of community and “being heard” that will contribute to your team’s engagement and future success.

  1. Use online communication tools and platforms for seamless interaction

It is beneficial to encourage communication and collaboration as much as possible in a remote team. Leveraging project management tools such as Slack, Microsoft Teams, Asana or Google Docs can facilitate seamless interaction with your Virtual Assistant and between team members, bridging the gap between any in-house and remote team members. Used properly, these online tools will enhance real-time communication and collaboration. They make assigning tasks, updating job statuses, providing comments, and tracking progress easy – no matter the difference in time zones.

  1. Provide training and development opportunities

Again, your Virtual Assistant should not be seen as a “bolt on”. Investing in training and development opportunities to grow your Virtual Assistant’s skills and expertise will improve their performance. This in turn will impact on the success of your business. By gaining access to training materials and online courses they will stay up to date with the specialised skills that are relevant to their roles and remain current when it comes to the tools and software they need to perform their duties efficiently.

  1. Celebrate successes and milestones with your VA

Recognition and reward at work has been proven to motivate people and boost productivity. Acknowledge and celebrate the achievements of your VA. Recognising their hard work and contributions will help to foster a positive work environment and will reinforce their essential role in your business’s success.

Overcoming cultural differences

Virtual Assistants can be located anywhere in the world. Like the UK, South Africa is a diverse, multi-cultural nation. The great news is that research by McKinsey1 has found that not only are diverse workers crucial for enhanced creativity, they are also good for a business’s bottom line. Companies with a diverse workforce are 35% more likely to experience greater financial returns than their non-diverse counterparts. When building a strong relationship with a diverse team it is important for business owners to lead by example. For instance, foster an environment of open dialogue where openly sharing cultural insights is encouraged. Your enthusiasm for embracing diversity will inspire your team.

 

1https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/people-and-organizational-performance/our-insights/why-diversity-matters

Setting Clear Expectations

Setting clear expectations for your newly appointed Virtual Assistant is of vital importance and should be seen as part of the upfront onboarding process. Establishing your expectations from the get-go will not only support your VA in quickly getting up to speed on the key performance essentials of their new position, it will pave the way for their being efficient and productive down the line and will support their positive engagement with the team.

First make your expectations clear for yourself

It is impossible to build a set of clear expectations with your VA if you haven’t first determined what you need and defined these expectations for yourself.  Here is a simple, five-pronged approach when thinking through your expectations:

  1. What is my objective or end goal?
  2. What steps are there to completing the job?
  3. What is the required timing – and is this realistic?
  4. What does my measure of “good” look like?
  5. Are there any examples I can refer to?

How to set goals and expectations with your VA

Once you are clear you can set expectations for tasks and goals with your VA. Here are 3 helpful hints when establishing what you require:

  • Provide context: Explain why certain expectations are in place. When your VA understands the rationale behind your expectations, they are more likely to engage wholeheartedly with the task at hand.
  • Be specific: Being specific, ideally using clear written communication, helps to avoid misunderstandings by plainly outlining the desired outcome of a task as well as the series of steps needed to complete it. Your expectations become particularly specific when they are connected to metrics such as Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). The metrics used must be clearly defined and measurable.
  • Be realistic: It is important for you to understand the time it takes to do each task to set realistic expectations when considering resources and your VA’s capabilities. Overburdening your Virtual Assistant can lead to mistakes, time wasted, demoralisation, a drop in productivity and burnout.

Setting an effective task list

Creating a structured task list provides a blow-by-blow road map to effectively getting things done. This entails listing all the tasks that your VA is responsible to complete.

  • Some tasks on the list will be routine and repetitive.
  • Other tasks will be once-off initiatives.
  • Larger jobs and projects will require first breaking down the task into “sub tasks” or the elements that make up the whole. In this case, a series of deadlines for each sub task can be set toward completing the overall task.

It is important to work together with your VA to prioritise the tasks on their to-do list according to the importance and urgency ascribed to them. Once tasks or projects are underway you can monitor and adjust the task list as necessary.

The importance of regular feedback and reviews

Frequently checking in with your team and providing feedback is an ongoing aspect of practical expectation setting. This will allow your VA to course correct in a timely manner without having to re-do large chunks of work. And it will give you a chance to regularly acknowledge work well done. Regular reviews provide an opportunity for you to hold your VA accountable for their results as measured against your set expectations. Reviews also provide you with a platform for recognition – to help your VA to understand the difference they make to the business.

Tools for delegating and tracking project progress

Project management tools are specially designed to assist an individual or team in organising and managing their projects and tasks effectively. They are the modern-day conduit to efficient project management and task delegation when using the services of a remote Virtual Assistant. A sound project management system will also contain a task tracker that will keep reminding your VA what they must do and by when. It should also have a reporting system. Reports allow you to consistently monitor and communicate a task or project’s scope, timing, budget and progress at any time to anyone who needs to know.

Setting expectations upfront allows your team to be clear on what you expect from them – and what they can expect from you. It serves to reduce speculation and misunderstandings while focusing your team as it clarifies why, how and when you want work to be done. By establishing clear goals and deliverables on the day your Virtual Assistant steps into their role, you will lay the foundation for a happy and productive relationship that has a positive knock-on effect on the growth and success of your business.

How to achieve work-life balance

Today, people tend to see work and their personal lives as equally important. They make conscious career and work choices based on achieving work-life balance. Work-life balance can be defined as the equilibrium between one’s work and personal life, where one aspect does not swamp the other. What makes for work-life balance is unique to every individual.

With the rise in hybrid and remote work, work-life balance requires the dovetailing of work and personal life – or work-life integration – where work and personal lives fit together side by side in the best possible way.

  • For workers, work-life integration is made possible through enjoying a flexible work schedule. It is this flexible work schedule that makes work as a Virtual Assistant so attractive to many experienced and capable VAs.
  • For business owners, by delegating tasks to Virtual Assistants and reclaiming valuable time, they can lead a more fulfilling and balanced life, personally and professionally. Plus it is the key to a growing and thriving business.

Here are five ways taking on a Virtual Assistant can help you achieve work-life balance:

  • Free up valuable work time

A top-notch and experienced Virtual Assistant will take over time-consuming routine tasks like administrative work, project management, bookkeeping, social media management, and so much more. This frees up your schedule so you can concentrate on priority tasks with a strategic business benefit.

  • Improve overall productivity

Assigning tasks to a tech savvy VA will significantly streamline workflow and enhance productivity. With their passion for what they do, dedicated focus, and understanding of the latest digital technology, VAs often complete tasks more accurately and in less time than you would – with better outcomes.

  • Reduce work and financial stress

By capably handling routine tasks, Virtual Assistants can significantly alleviate stress. With the assurance that your team is competently handling operational detail, you can focus on what you do best. Virtual Assistants are also an extremely cost-effective way to add more hands to your business, in an era when cost-efficiency is vital to success.

  • Enhance personal time

When it comes to avoiding burnout, paying attention to your personal life (without feeling guilty that you are taking time out) is as important as a manageable professional life. Whether you want to spend quality time with family, pursue a hobby, or take a holiday, a Virtual Assistant can free up personal time and can be trusted to oversee day to day operations while you take a break.

  • Improved wellbeing for all

A business owner’s poor work-life balance can hurt their own employees. Reduced stress and more personal time result in better focus and energy at work and being more present in your personal life. Achieving a better work-life balance will significantly contribute to your overall physical and mental wellbeing – and benefit those around you.

It is easy to fall into the trap of thinking that as a business owner you must work as much as physically possible for your business to thrive. Partnering with a Virtual Assistant who will shoulder routine tasks should not be seen as a sign of incompetence, but rather as a strategic move that frees up your limited time. Even better, working with Virtual Assistants allows you to delegate tasks without the added overhead costs associated with traditional employees. Ultimately, a trusted VA will lighten your workload and free up guilt-free personal time without adding to a financial weight that impacts on your much-needed down time.

Creating a Daily Success Plan With Your Virtual Assistant

As a UK Estate Agent, finding ways to maximise efficiency and curtail costs is the key to achieving long-term success. Nothing saves you more time than delegating tasks to a Virtual Assistant. Today’s Virtual Assistants are supremely versatile. If there is a task that can be done remotely, there is an appropriately skilled VA who is able to take it off your plate – from appointment scheduling and email management to market research, CRM, sales and letting administration, social media marketing and bookkeeping.

How can you make the most of working with a Virtual Assistant?

The answer lies in creating a daily success plan that alleviates the need to micromanage your VA while keeping your finger on the pulse of what is happening in your business. Technology is very helpful in this regard, offering a range of online work and project management tools that allow for remote team interaction, project planning, implementation and tracking.  However, in the beginning, extra communication is key.

Here are five considerations when creating your daily success plan:

  1. Clearly define your VA’s role

Know upfront what you want from your Virtual Assistant. Is your VA full or half-day? Decide which of their duties have the highest priorities before guiding them in allocating their time and resources.

  1. Establish parameters for the working day

Establish the times when each of the team – both remote and in office – will be working and available for interaction. This should include the hours they will take breaks or be away from their desks for personal activities.

  1. Have realistic expectations − time is limited

To avoid your VA being overcommitted (which can lead to them being overwhelmed – especially as they settle into the position) work out how much time, realistically, is needed for them to complete each task.

  1. Be flexible

There is much research that supports the idea that the length of a workday is irrelevant. What matters is how people structure their day. People who take regular short breaks are far more productive than those who work without stopping for a break. Flexible work arrangements can offer an advantage to businesses and their people. Employees appreciate having flexible schedules, as it can make it easier for them to achieve work-life balance.

  1. Always rank tasks in order of importance and urgency
  • Prioritise tasks according to importance

If two projects must be worked on simultaneously, but one is more urgent than the other communicate which project is to be completed first.

  • Prioritise tasks according to urgency

If something must be done quickly, but not necessarily immediately, have your VA prioritise it accordingly in their to do list.

When creating a daily success plan, the more procedures and systems you have in place, the quicker and easier it will be for a Virtual Assistant to be effective in taking routine tasks off your shoulders.  For example:

  • Both you and your VA need to establish the hours in which you will and won’t communicate and agree to your response times to emails, texts, and voicemails. This will ensure you are both on the same page with clear expectations.
  • Establish the preferred method of communication, whether this is via phone, text, email or using a project management app such as Asana or Slack.
  • Set regular daily or weekly deadlines for the completion of routine tasks – and schedule any regular tasks to happen at the same time each week to build consistency.
  • Hold a regular team or individual check-in call at a mutually agreed upon time to answer questions, provide input and check on progress.

Once your Virtual Assistant is onboarded and brought up to speed, exercising trust is essential (as it is in any professional relationship). Open, two-way communication builds trust and will serve you well by keeping your Virtual Assistant up to date and aligned with your goals and expectations. It will also provide the opportunity for them to communicate needs and considerations with you. While you may have initial reservations about delegating important tasks to a VA, it is crucial to trust their abilities and the expertise for which you hired them.

In a nutshell, putting an efficiency boosting online management system and robustly upheld procedures in place, supported by regular open communication, will lead to a seamless working relationship between you and your VA.

The Art of Delegation

When it comes to freeing up quality time to lead and grow a business, the concept of improving “time management” falls short of the mark when in fact what is needed is “priority management”. Priority management is only possible through delegating tasks that are not among your top priorities, freeing you to focus on the tasks that are most valuable and impactful for your business. One of the most effective ways to accomplish this is to take on a Virtual Assistant – or several of them.

The art of delegation

Business owners who master this skill can leverage their Virtual Assistants’ expertise and experience to achieve incredible results. Here are three tips on the art of delegation:

  1. Provide big picture context: First explain why a task needs to be done, rather than leading with how it’s done. When a Virtual Assistant does not understand how their role or a project fits into the big picture, they are less likely to be inspired to give it their all. When you take the time to provide your VA with context and explain their vital role in the company reaching important goals, then you are gifting them with a sense of purpose that will impact their performance.
  2. Consider how you communicate: Delegation is not just about dishing out tasks. For the best outcome, delegation is interactive. It requires both giving and receiving information. This two-way communication not only helps to build a connection with your VA, it enables the exchange of thoughts and ideas. It provides the space for your them to ask questions and properly understand the required outcomes of a task or project.
  3. Onboard and provide guidance – to a degree: Take the time to walk your new VA through their tasks and answer any questions they have before they get started to ensure they’re set up for success. This includes providing:
  • an understanding of what is required of them,
  • access to existing documents, and details about the work
  • guidance on how you want the work to be done,
  • review dates and deadlines for the delegated work
  • priority, goals, and expectations of the work
  • an understanding of the desired outcome

The worst things you can do to yourself, or your Virtual Assistant, is “half-delegate” or micro-manage them. Onboard and train your new VA when they are getting started then step back and allow them to pick up the reins.  Not only is taking on a VA about freeing up your valuable time – it is about empowering the right person in the right role to achieve their full potential.

What should you be delegating to your Virtual Assistant?

When it comes to task delegation – whether it’s handing over managing your inbox, customer relationship management, generating leads, managing social media or handling repetitive administration tasks – how do you decide what should be delegated to your VA?

The answer is simple. Delegate everything that falls outside of your top priorities, providing you with the time to lead and grow your business. Modern Virtual Assistants are experts who are skilled in a wide variety of roles. They are also technically proficient to the degree that they can help to level up a business that needs to automate tasks and use digital technology to streamline workflow.

The outcome of mastering the art of delegation is that it facilitates business growth. It effectively saves time, grows you as a leader, develops your team as professionals and inspires them to perform better.  This in turn grows the teams’ capacity to handle more business and for you to manage larger teams while retaining the capacity to focus on strategising, annual planning and other significant tasks.

The top 3 time-saving tools for business owners

As a business owner, proper time management is essential to sustaining personal productivity and ensuring the success of a business. One of the keys to remaining focused on top priorities, according to famous business author Stephen Covey, is not to prioritise what’s on your schedule, but to rather schedule your priorities. Because, as Stephen says in his book, Seven Habits for Highly Effective People, “most of us spend too much time on what is urgent and not enough time on what is important.”

  1. Being a skilled delegator is a powerful time-saving tool

One of the best ways to delegate tasks effectively is by taking on a skilled and experienced Virtual Assistant. Handing over your business’s routine work to a VA in the areas of administration, operations, marketing and bookkeeping will free up valuable time to invest in what is important.

As Stephen Covey defines it, “delegating involves clear, up-front mutual understanding and commitment in five areas.”  These are:

  • Desired results: creating a clear mutual understanding of what needs to be accomplished, focusing on results (what is needed), not methods (how it’s done).
  • Guidelines: setting parameters and warning your assistant of potential ‘failure paths’ – or what you know they should not do.
  • Resources: briefing your assistant on the technical, organisational and financial resources the person has at their disposal to accomplish the desired results.
  • Accountability: establishing the standards of performance that will be used in evaluating the results and the job’s deadlines – the specific time when report backs and evaluation will happen.
  • Consequences: specifying the knock-on effects and outcomes of a task or project well or poorly done.
  1. Automate and optimise calendar use

An online calendar like Google Calendar – which is free and can be visible to your whole team – can be a great tool to help you gain better control of your time. There are several ways a VA can help you to manage your online calendar. For example, a Virtual Executive Assistant who knows your preferred weekly routine can block time, set up your appointments for you, send automated reminders and help to prepare meeting documentation. They can be preemptive in making sure you have what you need ahead of time and handle any last-minute reorganising when a meeting runs late or there is an unforeseen complication.

Here are six ways you can use your calendar to optimise your week:

  • Plan your following week in advance on a Friday afternoon.
  • Start with priority items.
  • Include important commitments like exercise and family time
  • Plan your meetings and phone calls into blocks of time
  • Block time for other daily tasks
  • Keep one day free from meetings to allow time to focus on tasks without interruption.
  1. Employ an online project management tool

Regular communication between business owners and their team members is essential to business success. With the prevalence of remote work, this communication is often not as simple as wandering over to a person’s desk to follow up or share important new information with them. An online task management system helps to improve communication by providing a central place for each team member to report on and update tasks or exchange information. This helps increase productivity by providing the necessary structure and organisation for managing projects.

Here are four ways to optimise the use of your project management software:

  • Find the project management system that’s right for your business.
  • Choose a platform that is optimised for mobile to allow your team to be productive and efficient wherever they are.
  • Make sure the software can integrate with other key digital applications to sync your data and workflows across different sources and destinations.
  • Find someone to champion the software.

Your Virtual Assistant can champion your project management tool – such as Asana or Trello – by creating tasks or projects, assigning tasks to team members, tracking progress, and ensuring that everyone in the company is updating project information on a regular basis. A tech-savvy VA can connect your project planning software with your email, calendar, or messaging app to send notifications, reminders, and updates to your team members and clients.

More energy for free time

One of the greatest benefits of using time saving tools in your business is that that this will allow for taking guilt-free time out. Project management tools allow you to pre-determine when tasks and projects will be completed before you even start the work. This means being able to schedule the most appropriate time out of the office. And having trusted Virtual Assistants who will see to keeping the business operating smoothly while you are away, and will give you peace of mind that your business is in good hands and not disrupted while you take quality, personal time to relax and re-energise.

The Future of AI in Property

From chatbots to online listings and virtual tours, AI-powered technology has already found its way into many facets of UK Estate Agency. It should not be ignored because, in our opinion, while AI will never match human capabilities, it is a phenomenal tool in the hands of a tech-savvy human Virtual Assistant. We predict that while AI will never replace human estate agent teams, those who do not use AI tools will be replaced by those who do.

AI – what’s the big deal?

The Third Industrial Revolution – starting in the late 20th century – has been a period of radical technological advancement. It has totally transformed many industries, including manufacturing, transportation, retail and healthcare. The most profound catalyst of change has been the electronics industry. Through advances in electronics, the first industrial automation devices were developed and so were personal computers. Today, at the sharp end of the Third Industrial Revolution, the rise of AI is the next profound catalyst for advancement.

Here is a selection of advanced AI applications that are already a reality*:

Natural language processing (NLP)

Natural language processing (NLP) is a sub-category of AI designed to bridge the gap between human and computer communication. For example:

  • Chatbots are computer programmes that are already commonly used to interact with customers by text or audio. Next level NLP already has vastly enhanced capabilities. In cognitive retail, human capabilities can be integrated with automated customer relationship management (CRM) products to provide “human” levels of service via online platforms. This AI application uses machine learning to make informed product recommendations based on customer history, location and other data.
  • New language-based technological advancements in AI will vastly improve people’s voice activated web navigation and searching experience. This type of hands-free internet interaction – facilitating generative voice to type and type to voice interaction – will improve information accessibility for individuals with a disability or nominal technological expertise. Earlier in the year, Elon Musk’s brain-chip startup Neuralink livestreamed its first patient, Nolan Arbaugh, who is paralysed below the shoulders and who is now implanted with a chip, playing online chess and moving his laptop cursor by thought.

Machine learning

Machine learning is an application of AI that allows systems to process data and then “learn” to improve the performance of a specific task without interim programming. Deep learning is an advanced form of machine learning that can simulate human learning patterns. This allows the AI to gain an understanding of unstructured data. It can also formulate intelligent decisions based on data analysis. For example:

  • In the field of bioinformatics, scientists use deep learning AI-software to identify patterns in massive data sets, such as sequenced genomes. This analysis can help in the development of new drugs to treat diseases by determining which proteins are encoded by a certain gene.
  • Emotional detection systems powered by deep learning AI can detect human emotions without any visual input. Researchers at MIT have developed a system that learns to identify human emotions based on heartbeat data collected by wireless signals. This technology could one day be used by law enforcement as lie detectors or within smart homes to detect if an occupant is experiencing a heart attack.
  • While NLP allows Chatbots to interact easily with customers, deep learning allows them to locate and provide the requested information beyond scripting.

Machine perception

Machine perception is the ability of a system to simulate the human perception of the world. AI uses machine perception to extract information from different data sources. For example:

  • In autonomous delivery, companies are increasingly using AI for commercial navigation purposes. For example: Amazon Scout is a small, autonomous delivery robot that can handle “last mile” deliveries. The robot uses sensors to navigate sidewalks and avoid obstacles and pedestrians. Amazon has been testing Scout in selected areas in the United States.
  • Geospatial analytics leverages geographic information, spatial data, location data, and increasingly, high-resolution imagery, computer vision, and other forms of machine perception AI to extract structured data that can be used for specific applications and industries. Today, AI-powered satellites can track economic trends from space. For example, the company, Orbital Insight, can predict retail sales based on satellite images of retail store parking lots.

AI can streamline Estate Agent operations by automating routine administrative tasks such as paperwork, contract management, and scheduling, freeing agents to focus on their top business priorities. Here are three more ways Estate Agents can already use next level AI to improve their business operations:

  1. Improve on property valuation discrepancies
  • Accurate numbers: AI algorithms simultaneously work with massive amounts of information that can include past sales, market trends, demographics and available amenities – ultimately providing more accurate property valuations.
  • Fast appraisals: AI streamlines the valuation process. It can be as simple as uploading pictures of your property and an accurate valuation pops up on your screen.
  1. Streamline lead generation and follow-ups
  • Speed to lead: Speed matters in the estate agency game. By implementing AI-powered chatbots as a client interface and qualification tool before qualified leads reach your estate agents you automatically streamline your lead management process.
  • Personalisation: AI-powered Chatbots will allow you to address people by name, reference their specific needs, and offer valuable insights tailored to their situation.
  1. Marketing analysis and content creation
  • Market analysis: AI can sift and analyse vast amounts of market-related data to identify emerging demographic and market trends, providing valuable insights to estate agency professionals. This information can help estate agents devise effective on and offline marketing strategies.
  • Content creation: AI can benefit estate agents by automating tasks such as content writing, generating property descriptions, creating and editing visual content and providing virtual interior re-design.

While AI tools do come with costs and can have their own sets of challenges, the benefits they bring in terms of streamlining efficiency and providing timely, tailored customer engagement are invaluable. Ultimately, successful Estate Agents will be those who harness the power of AI to work smarter and grow their business.

 

*https://burniegroup.com/29-cutting-edge-applications-of-artificial-intelligence/