Whether you aspire to be a virtual assistant or you or thinking about working with a virtual assistant, I thought I’d share some quick tips I’ve learned and would have benefited from implementing sooner:

1. Be clear from the beginning on your preferred method and hours of contact (applies to both client and VA).
2. Discuss the “finicky” things right off the bat: font type, font size, paragraph justification, etc. – they might seem like small things but getting them right early can ease your working relationship.
3. If you have a concern over anything, do not wait to mention it to the other party. Sooner said, sooner fixed; don’t hope it will just magically resolve itself!
4. Be very, very clear about deadlines.
5. Read every email or communique from your client CAREFULLY. Check for attachments immediately, even if you don’t need to do the work right away.
6. Spend a few minutes each week, for each client, thinking of ways you can improve the service you provide or find new items you can assist with.

I can tell you, from experience, that it is hard to make mistakes and feel for even a moment that you may have let your client down or let yourself down. But we are all human and we are bound to have moments of imperfection. Be honest with your client if you feel you should have done something better. Offer a discount or some other small token if necessary. Thank your clients for being understanding and remember when they have issues crop up that they are just like you and don’t take criticism personally. Just do better the next time!

In my very last law office, I noticed a trend toward lawyers who didn’t know how to use dictation machines or who didn’t feel they provided much value. These lawyers often simply sent instructions by email or typed up the body of work they needed done and had their assistant simply format it properly. It was a very busy office and I think the lawyers felt more comfortable as the emails were easy to identify and re-send if their assistant was unavailable and another assistant had to take over the task. Pretty common sadly in a place where there were usually 3 or 4 lawyers to each assistant.

Recently though, I’ve discovered the wonderful combined benefits for digital transcription. I had never worked in an office that used anything other than old-fashioned micro-cassettes for dictation. And up until now, the majority of my clients have communicated with me via email and my online work space, always with written instructions, rather than oral. Digital dictation is an incredible improvement over cassettes! I should have known, since Andrea Cannavina of LegalTypist uses it almost exclusively in her virtual legal assistant business and she knows what she’s talking about!

Thanks to a new client though, I’ve recently begun to work with the digital transcription software from Express Scribe and it is so easy to use! My client just provides me the dictation (via email or upload to my secure workspace) and I’m ready to go. Each email is clearly labeled with pertinent info and it’s very quick for the lawyer – for example, I did an Affidavit for a client yesterday. It took him just over 3 minutes to dictate everything he needed to.  Then I transcribed the body of the document and properly set it up according to required format. The lawyer can say “put a backer on that” and it takes a few seconds, but it would take much longer for him to set up said backer himself, much easier to have me do that and free up his time for more directly client-related responsibilities.

Why is it faster to dictate than to type? Well, for starters the average “speaking” words per minute rate is 120-150 words per minute. For most people, that means they speak much faster than they could type. And of course as I mentioned earlier, you may be able to speak an instruction, but the work involved in performing the task can take much longer. If you dictate “please proofread entire document – all 70 pages” that won’t take long, but actually proofreading may take a fair bit of time. It’s probably a good idea to truly evaluate your typing speed, versus the speed an assistant may have, to determine who should be typing up your documents and correspondence.

An additional benefit of dictating, is that a lawyer can dictate from anywhere, regardless of if they have access to their computer or the internet. You can dictate while commuting to work, from your home office or from your vacation if needed (not recommended though!)

Need more info? Check out this post at The Greatest American Lawyer for a breakdown of some of the benefits of digital dictation for lawyers or The Advantages of Digital Dictation from Law Practice Today. And if you want digital dictation software check out Express Dictate.

I am pointing the review out on my blog, though I have no obligation to do so, because I truly believe Chrometa is a tool that can help lawyers and virtual legal assistants who charge clients on an hourly basis. It’s a handy addition to my arsenal and I think you would find it to be the same!

photo credit: wwarby

That’s because while I say I “multi-task”, there are times when too many things going on at once just means you do everything poorly. So I may multi-task when I get a sandwich for the 7 year old, while starting dishes and listening to a story from the 4 year old, I don’t think multi-tasking while actually doing client work is effective.

There are multiple ways to use time-blocking in your work, whether your are a virtual assistant, a lawyer or even a student. I like the suggestions over at Croll Organizing, because it is similar to how I manage my day.  Meredith of Yellow Highlighter VA has a good method as well.

I personally spend time on my email first thing in the am, then I pick a project and spend dedicated time on it. Then I take a Twitter break, then another work project, etc. Of course I also block in time for fun with the kids – today we walked to the park!

I like to use the timer on my stove for measuring time blocks, the kids then know when the buzzer sounds that it is the end of work time for that block and they can have my attention. Doesn’t help much with the toddler yet – but at least the older two get it!

So, I use Gmail for my catchall email account.  The email for my virtual assistant business is through my host (laurie AT halosecretarialservices DOT com) but is all forwarded to my Gmail account.  I simply find Gmail to be easy to access and easy to work with. It also then gives me the option of chat and use in my iGoogle homepage.

Today I realized that I can fully integrate my google calendar and docs into my Gmail left sidebar – wow! So much easier than having to open a separate tab. I simply went into my gmail settings, clicked on labs and then enabled both google calendar and docs to show up! I also moved my chat and labels to the right side bar to make everything more visible.

Now I can see my schedule and plan my daily tasks much more efficiently. I always schedule time for client tasks and my own marketing plans in my google calendar, with popup reminders, which definitely increases my productivity. And the more organized I am, the more time I have to devote to my clients’s needs!

Hope this helps you other virtual assistants and other business owners!

Do things at off-peak hours

Going to the bank at 2pm often is much quicker than going at opening or at lunch time.  Going to the grocery store just after lunch on a weekday or first thing on a Sunday morning is much less time consuming than going on a Saturday afternoon. Commute times can be slashed if you can leave much earlier or later than the general population.

These are just a few simple suggestions, but many of your regular activities involve more time than you realize simply because of when you do them.  Maybe you can’t adjust them all, but any flexibility you use to allow you to complete tasks or errands at off-peak times will improve both your efficiency and your attitude (after all nothing is as frustrating as wasting time!!)

Hope that this helps a little – take care!!

Today I spent an extra hour waiting to get new tires put on my Jeep.  For me that was wasted time and unfortunately I was trying to keep a 4 and 1 yr old amused, so I really couldn’t take advantage that time.  But the first 1.5 hours I was waiting (yes, 2.5 hours total, not my idea of good service!) I used the time to great advantage, even with my little boys in tow.

I walked to a couple of nearby stores to pick up some things I need for the upcoming weekend, I picked up some office supplies and I found a new pair of jeans, all things I needed to do and I wanted to get them done since I was out anyway and waiting around.

But if I hadn’t had little boys with me, I could have used the other hour to advantage too.  I keep my notebook and calendar handy at all times. I could have brainstormed some blog post ideas and given some thought to the marketing I need to work on.  I could have telephoned a business contact and had a quick discussion.  I could have got onto my mobile browser and checked in with my Twitter pals!

Don’t let wasted time interfere with your day or the running of your business! Always keep on hand a couple of small projects or items you can work on in situations where you are stuck in wait mode.  Some more suggestions for things you can do in a few minutes while waiting:

• Write cheques to pay bills
• Send quick emails from your mobile phone
• Review your upcoming calendar dates and appointments
• Phone dentist/doctor/accountant etc to schedule necessary appointments
• Keep a book handy so you can catch up on your reading

See, there are so many things we can do to keep up with the little tasks that sometimes get neglected!

Take care!!

BUY IN BULK

Yes, this tip is still business oriented! When you need office supplies, buy as many as you can afford.  Stock up on printer cartridges or post-it notes or even just your office coffee beans!  The fewer trips you make to the store the more time you have to focus on your work.  I know that it’s easy to allow “important” things to distract us.  I mean, who can go without coffee when they’re tired at 2pm (or a slurpee if you’re my BFF)?  If you run out of a supply that’s a necessity you’ll end up heading to the store and you may never find your focus again that day.  So buy in bulk and save time!

Touch mail only once (yes that means email too!!)

It’s so easy to look through our mail and take a “quick peek”.  It’s even easier to glance at our inbox to see what’s coming in and how full it’s getting.  But we should resist the temptation and instead choose 1-3 times per day to sit down and truly manage our email.  What should we just respond to right now? What should we delegate? What should we just delete because we’re never going to have time to actually read it anyway? What can be archived for future reference?

I work really hard at keeping my inbox clutter-free.  It means that I don’t waste time re-reading emails and more importantly, critical deadlines don’t get missed because I didn’t have time to actually read all of my mail. Same with the “paper” mail (not that I get much of that thankfully!)  Bills are immediately put into their proper place to await payment and invitations are promptly responded to.  Junk mail promptly is delivered to the recycling bag!

So don’t be tempted to look at your mail until you have time to actually work through it.  You’ll be glad you waited!!