Virtual Assistants Archives

Guidelines for Effective Email Writing

by Jen LawrenceOctober 17, 2019October 17, 2019 Leave a comment

One of the biggest complaints in today’s modern communications is there are too many emails. We step away from our inboxes for an hour and BOOM! Thirty more emails. And then, we start to dig in and have to use extra energy and focus just to get to the main point of each message.

Let’s be honest – we’re all friends here. You’ve read an email and thrown your hands up asking, “What the hell do you want?”

Whether the email is too wordy or the asks are not clear, we easily get flustered when reading a message simply because… if it is taking this long to figure out what this person wants, how long is it going to take me to get through the rest of my inbox?

The reality is you may be the culprit as well. You may be sending emails that cause this anguish and frustration. While we can’t please everyone, we can certainly aim to write the best emails possible for the masses.

That’s where these simple tips come in.

7 Tips to Clean Up Your Digital Files

by Jen LawrenceOctober 3, 2019October 3, 2019 Leave a comment

Digital records management isn’t something we spend time thinking about until we need to find a file. We spend far too much time searching, wondering where we would have thought to save the file when we were working in it. Frustration sets in as we jam every term possible into the search bar and still we have to sort through file after file to find what we need.

I personally despise wasting time looking for files. It’s one of those delays that drives me nuts mainly because it’s so easy to prevent.

If you’re relating to this, don’t worry – most people do. We’ve become disorganized digital hoarders. With endless storage capacity and search functions, we aren’t as discerning about what we’re saving and how it’s organized.

How to Use LinkedIn’s Find Nearby Networking Tool

by Jen LawrenceSeptember 19, 2019September 16, 2019 Leave a comment

Have you ever been to a conference or networking event and you wish you could connect with everyone? Getting to every single person in the room can be daunting but you have a shared experience or interest and you’d still like to connect.

Picture this… You’re at a networking happy hour with your organization and there are lot of fresh faces. You’re working the room but it’s not realistic for you to get face time with everyone in attendance. Thanks to this function built into LinkedIn, you can at least invite them to connect with you and hey! You’ll schedule coffee with them later.

I’m about to change your networking life with a simple LinkedIn tip.

Who this is for:

Attendees of limited-seat workshops who want to connect with fellow attendees.
Speakers who want to open their LinkedIn to connect with their audience.
Networking groups that you want to connect with quickly and swiftly.

Tips for Email Management

by Jen LawrenceSeptember 5, 2019September 8, 2019 Leave a comment

Unsurprisingly, email tends to be most workers’ biggest headache. Whether it’s a burning desire to document everything or senders just like the ease of email, we are inundated with messages at all hours of the day.

How do we manage the chaos?

Well, first, start thinking of your inbox as a tool, not the bane of your existence. There are a lot of functionalities built into email clients to make our lives easier – we just have to discover them or actually use them.

So, set some time aside today and let’s get organized!

7 Tips for Hiring a Virtual Assistant

by Jen LawrenceApril 18, 2019October 18, 2019 Leave a comment

You’re working your little heart out, losing track of time, and starting to consider hiring a little extra help. And you begin to wonder, “Am I ready for a virtual assistant?”

The reality is if you’re starting to wonder if you’re ready for a virtual assistant you may actually be in desperate need of one.

That brings us to tip #1…

Tip #1: Hire a virtual assistant before you need one.

Hire a VA to help you scale your business, not to dig you out from being buried by it.

If you’re already buried, that’s okay. Let’s get you positioned to hire the right person, fast.

Tip #2: Know what you’re looking for.

Why You Should Hire a Virtual Assistant

by Jen LawrenceApril 12, 2019October 2, 2019 Leave a comment

The real title of this blog post should be “The Crazy Amazing Benefits of Hiring a Real-Life Virtual Assistant Instead of Doing Everything Yourself or Relying on Technology.”

But that’s not catchy.

I hear it all the time. “With all the technology today, why should I hire a virtual assistant?”

Simple. Technology can’t replace human critical thinking, strategy, brand awareness, autonomous behavior, compassionate response, and much more – all at once.

Sure, there are plenty of ‘virtual assistants’ out there – Alexa, Echo, Siri, Google Assistant, and tools to automate your business. You can set up all your systems and hope they do exactly what you’d like them to do. But chances are you going to spend more time managing your tools than you will be working on your business and still none of those tools can apply years of administrative and business expertise to make sure you make the right decisions for your business.

Sold yet? No?

5 Top Tips to Managing a Remote Team

by Jen LawrenceJanuary 25, 2019January 25, 2019 Leave a comment

In today’s work environment, odds are you have at least one team member who works remotely. Whether it is you, your boss, or a peer, remote teams face unique challenges and success relies heavily on everyone working together to build trust and be productive.

What is usually the culprit to dysfunctional remote teams? Communication.

I know. This is surprising to literally no one.

But what does this look like? What tactics work well? How do you get on the right path to success?

Here are five impactful tips to ensuring remote teams work well together.

The Good, Better, Best of Professional Development for Admins

by Jen LawrenceNovember 15, 2018April 25, 2019 Leave a comment

A few years ago, I interviewed to be the executive assistant to the CEO of a biomedical company. The day had gone pretty much as you would imagine – being shuffled between conference rooms and offices meeting various team members, answering carefully planned questions, hearing all about how great the company was to work for. When the time came for me to finally meet the CEO, I was more than ready to discuss the role truly in depth. He did a sufficient job of detailing the requirements, answering my questions about him, and continuing to sell me on the corporate culture.

He proudly highlighted the on-going programs they had for employees – one being themed Friday lunches (“I dressed up as a superhero last week!”) and the on-site training seminars. This piqued my interest as he outlined how cross-training helped boost employee morale and retention. Awesome – sounded great! So I asked the natural next question.

“How do you invest in your administrative staff?”

His response was, “Why would I do that? They’re just admins.”

Certification Programs for Administrative Professionals

by Jen LawrenceNovember 8, 2018April 25, 2019 3 Comments

Whether you’re an administrative professional looking for a way to validate your skill set or a manager looking to contribute to your admin’s professional development (thank you, thank you, thank you), certification is the perfect step.

Or maybe you’re just looking to understand certifications. That’s great too! Welcome!

An admin can spend years of doing professional development and training to become a badass at what they do. I’ve been there. I’ve taken everything from project management courses to writing workshops. I’ve worked hard to expand my business acumen and build up a toolbox of skills.

However, to be honest…it’s not enough.

As an admin, it’s remarkably difficult to gauge our skills prior to performance on the job. We can fill pages and pages of our resume or LinkedIn to set ourselves apart, listing every skill we claim to have. But honestly, how do you measure someone’s proficiency in office management or business communication? A manager can call for references or give a practical during the interview. This may give a glimmer of what a candidate can actually do but it’s not the full picture.

There is another better way…

Certification.

Why get certified?

Read More “Certification Programs for Administrative Professionals”

How to Effectively Use Email Hyperlinks

by Jen LawrenceOctober 19, 2018 Leave a comment

In a past role, I supported an executive with digital marketing materials for events. Our firm hosted a number of networking events as well as a large annual meeting. At any given time, we would have invites out for two or three events and sometimes there was overlap in invitees. Meaning, communication could easily get muddy.

Then I learned a trick that forever changed my email efficiency.