Tip of the Week: WORKING FROM HOME, WORK/LIFE BALANCE

Wow!  March is here and I can’t remember what happened to January and February..  It is wonderful to be working, it is great to be my own boss and it is a joy to do what I love doing most…. so much so that the days fly by and the weeks merge into months.

Operating your own business does have its positive and negative points.

You are in control of your Company, you can decide what you will and what you won’t do, you can specialize in the kind of products and/or services you choose and which will bring enjoyment to your work.  And you can work at home if your business can function in that environment.  Of course that wouldn’t work if you have a “store front” operation or you have more employees than can be manageable in your home office.

There are negatives to home offices.  I am focusing on the biggest and most challenging problem here.

Everyone I know who operates a home office has faced the challenge of work/life balance.  They are either overwhelmed with work and letting their home and personal life take a back seat OR they have learned to deal with it (there are many ways – I will mention one of them here).

For instance, this week I had physiotherapy appointments to deal with an injury I sustained in a car crash in December.  I also had a mandatory appointment to see my doctor.  AND, I needed to make a visit to a senior for whom I have Power of Attorney (and she lives in a retirement home 1.5 hours away).  I also have many commitments to many clients and this is a very busy time for me.  And I have a family who needs my attention too.

I have a firm commitment to my clients and pay strict attention to timelines and getting the work done.  But I could not ignore my health or my commitment to perform my Power of Attorney duties to the senior or the fact that I am the mother of a teenage daughter.  Every Sunday night, I consult my coming week’s calendar in Outlook to see what timelines I have to meet and what appointments have to be attended to.  I also have a “Note” in Outlook covering each week and prioritize everything on my plate.  When timelines and commitments overlap, I make adjustments.  That includes notifying clients if there will be any delays.  I approach the client in an honest attempt to negotiate a mutually agreeable resolution.  Oftentimes the client appreciates the “heads up” notification and they are quite comfortable extending the time or pinpointing one task that needs to be completed immediately but that the others can be delayed by a few hours or a day.  Sometimes, the client takes the priority over my personal commitments as I know it is mandatory to complete tasks immediately.

I have more thoughts on strategies for a Home/Life Balance that I will address in future issues of this blog.  In the meantime, I would love to have input from others on how they manage their Work/Life Balance.  Please feel free to comment.   I would love to hear from you!

 

Diane L. Coville

ALTERNATIVE OFFICE ASSISTANCE

Tip of the Week: SHARED WORKSPACES

Can I gripe about the mega hours I am doing in client work and training classes and seminars and meetings ?  I would think I won’t get much sympathy when so many others are laying off, filing bankruptcy or just closing shop.

My client list has grown again and I am finding that I am spending a lot more time in activities, eg. emails, conference calls with clients, setting up new systems to do specific tasks for individual clients, researching more efficient software and procedures, etc. etc. as well as the actual client work.  This is beginning to create issues with the most productive use of my time and billable work time to clients.  Therefore, I am rethinking more “time efficient” ways of conducting the various facets of my business.  Organization is my strong point and streamlining procedures is another one.

One consideration is to review and choose the most productive “shared space” in which I can track communication with my clients, share documents, track progress of projects,etc.  There are many programs out there:  Basecamp, Central Desktop, ClientSpot, Smartsheet, and Google Sites to name a few.  And then there are programs which run on your computer only to organize and document all activity for each client/project in one program such as Lichen Software or Microsoft One Note.   Choosing the one program that is most adaptable to my needs is the first and easiest hurdle.  Convincing the clients of the benefits of joining me in an on-line program will be the biggest and most difficult problem.   I find one of the most important issues with the clients is privacy and confidentiality and they are reluctant to abandon the old methods of  regular email and attachments, faxing  and voice conversations to take the time and effort to work “with me” in using new methods of  conducting business with their virutal assistant.  And they are not convinced that entering a “shared workspace” on-line will provide the confidentiality that they need.  If you, too, have reached the point where your business needs some streamlining here are the links to check out some of the above-mentioned programs.

Basecamp:                http://www.basecamphq.com/

Central Desktop:    http://www.centraldesktop.com/

Client Spot:               http://www.myclientspot.com/

Smartsheet:              http://www.smartsheet.com/

Google Sites:             http://www.google.com/sites/overview.html

Lichen Software:     http://www.lichen-software.com/ 

Enjoy your week!

 

Diane L. Coville

ALTERNATIVE OFFICE ASSISTANCE

www.alternativeofficeassistance.com

Tip of the Week: ORGANIZATION

Ahhhh the life of the Virtual Assistant Professional.    Not unlike the positions I held over the years in corporate, small and medium sized businesses.  Only in the early years of my career was I Secretary or Administrative Assistant to one or two people.  Most often I was the Department Secretary or Administrative Assistant to all of the office staff.  Many bosses with many duties and projects and everyone with timelines and deadlines.

Working with my many clients, at times, creates scheduling conflicts and my need to be flexible and adept at juggling many projects/tasks at once and this was one of those weeks.  As well, clients needs may change, and suddenly I am providing more services or different services in the middle of a project.  And that was the case this week as well.  Thank goodness for Outlook which is my present contact management system and my scheduler.  But since my client list is growing and there are many quotes requested and projects coming up, I will be forced to purchase a more robust CRM system.  I think I have found it.

Lichen Software headed by David McQueen, offers 3 software packages at a very reasonable price to handle all my needs.  He met with me last month to demonstrate the many facets of his system and it will streamline a lot of my information in one place.  His software is not web-based.  You buy the software once and it resides on your computer but has the ability to be shared with co-workers or clients.  His website is:  http://www.lichen-software.com/dbase_microbiz_desc.html and provides a side-by-side comparison of features for the 3 software packages he provides.

This is also pertains to my tip for this week.

Whatever position you hold in a Business usually requires many skills, experience, tasks and responsibilities.  I believe that to be successful in effective management of your job, you must be flexible and organized.  And the tools to help you are a good CRM system and scheduler.  I keep records on everything – quotes, contracts, projects, client’s documents and emails and I even take notes when I have consultations with my clients.  In fact, after consultations, I transfer those notes to Word documents to include in the client’s files as well as keep a history on client activities within spreadsheets.  I also prepare a Notes tab in Outlook (presently) with all my activities, appointments and to do’s at the beginning of each week.  That way, nothing gets forgotten or overlooked.  Changes in clients’ needs may require shuffling the tasks around during the week, but I always know what I have planned for each day and am up-to-date on my deadlines.  And I have a very defined “filing system”.  There is a client folder for all emails in Outlook Express, a client folder in My Documents and a file folder in my file cabinet for each client as well holding contracts, hard copy emails, timesheets and invoices.  Efficiency is very important in any job and having all pertinent information in one place for easy reference makes sense.  Disorganization is a huge time waster.   Having all your records and paperwork in one place is also very beneficial when you get an urgent email or phone call from a client.  Sends a message that you are on task, in control and efficient.

Next week is Christmas!  Where did the time go…..  Seemed like Thanksgiving was just a short time ago.  And the New Year looms ahead.   I am excited about what this New Year will bring!   I wish one and all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy, Healthy and Wealthy New Year!

Diane L. Coville

ALTERNATIVE OFFICE ASSISTANCE