Articles
5 Useful Tips to Help Virtual Assistants Keep Their Groove
Posted on September 15, 2014
Virtual assistants are considered the business owners’ saving grace. They do most of the administrative office tasks that include (but not limited to) transcription, content research, blog posting, SEO, social media marketing, data mining, and project management.
Though they are not in-house employees, they still feel the pressure and experience stress even when they’re a thousand miles away from the actual workplace.
Each of them falls into countless stressful situations due to different reasons: the boss always monitors them too closely; he constantly changes directives at the last minute, or; he is unsatisfied almost all the time.
How do virtual assistants perform well while coping with the stress that comes with the job? Here are five things to keep in mind:
Be courteous all the time.
The administrative virtual assistant’s job involves dealing with people including your boss through emails or calls.
Remember to always treat them with courtesy. Spread goodwill and positivity through simple and polite gestures like responding to their requests and questions promptly, and saying ‘please’ and ‘thank you’.
Treating others with courtesy takes just a few minutes of your time at work. However, it can help you establish good rapport with your peers, boss and clients, thus increases harmony, satisfaction, and effectiveness.
Be innovative and assertive.
Research on new trends, which can enhance your skills, make your job easier and your performance superior. Your boss or client will thank you for it.
Learn to be assertive as well. Know that trying to handle everything is a surefire way to get burned out. Be clear about your limits.
If you think your boss is not willing to take some of the work load off your shoulder, at least try to suggest new strategies you have learned to make things more efficient.
You can use stress as a motivator.
Some people use work pressure, deadlines, and demands as factors to motivate them in giving their best to succeed. You can take them as a positive challenge to discover alternative ways to overcome them.
But, it is not healthy to constantly be subjected to stressful situations, whether it motivates you or not. It could, in fact cause you serious health problems.
Health is wealth.
The more stressed you are, the more vulnerable you are to colds, flu, and other chronic illnesses. So never take your health for granted even for your job.
Good health is a big contributing factor to great performance at work. So it is important to give it due attention as well.
Learn to manage your stress at your work. It will have a great impact on your physical and mental well-being.
Keep calm and compose a mantra.
Never lose your cool while on the job. Throw your tantrums after work, when no one is around to hear your rant. Your performance can suffer if you let your worries cloud your day, so keep calm.
If you must, devise an affirmation- a mantra (short and positive statement) that focuses on your coping abilities. Next time you feel that you can’t handle things any longer, repeat your mantra ten times, ‘I feel calm. I can handle this.’
Virtual assistants can survive every work struggle if they arm themselves with positivity. As long as they set their minds to do great and conquer stress, their clients can always rely on them for the success of their businesses.