The Importance of Setting Goals

Picture it….you’re cruising down the road on a beautiful spring day. The top is down, the breeze is in your hair, the birds are singing and all is right with the world. As you come around the curve you suddenly see a fork in the road. You stop, confused- which way do I go? A stranger is passing by so you stop him. “Sir, which way should I go?” He answers, “Where are you trying to get?” You pause, confused and realize that you have no idea. Getting in the car seemed to be a good idea at the time. But now you realize that you are lost.

This situation may seem a little far fetched for most people, but it is what happens in business when you don’t set goals. Goals are the benchmark that keeps on track as we go thru our day to day lives in business. It is terribly important to set goals when we start out, and to review and re-set them along the way. As we all know, being self employed is full of hidden forks in the road. Many of us have gotten up a good head of steam in a direction, only to realize that we have taken a wrong turn, and are no longer doing what we set out to do. So let’s talk about how we find and set our goals.

According to the Franklin- Covey Time Management system, goals are a subset of what they call Governing Values. These values are what gets us up in the morning- what led us to go into business in the first place. We all have a value (or more) that has driven us to make this journey. That value describes the person that we want to see in the mirror. Some examples of Governing Values for self employment may be: “I am financially free,” or “I am independent in my career,” or “I lead a balanced life between my work and family.” It doesn’t matter what value brought you to this decision, they are personal and different for each individual. They describe the person that we WANT to be, and whether we have gotten there or not, we always state them as if we already are.

Once we have discovered these values, the next step is to describe them in a tangible form. These are our GOALS. It is very important to quantify our values in terms of goals. This allows us to know when we are getting there. Values are intangible. They are descriptions more than finish lines. Goals give us the measurement of our success. Again they are personal and different for each person. While there are probably many of us who share a value of financial freedom, that value may have vastly different meanings for each of us. For you it may mean a summer home in the Hamptons and several pool boys, for someone else it may just mean making enough spare cash to put fuel in that gas guzzling SUV that seemed like such a good idea when I was in the “corporate world.” Again, it doesn’t matter what they are, setting them allows you to measure your success based on what is important to you.

After you have made a list of goals, just a few or many, you should prioritize them, giving each a value as compared to the others. This may seem a little anal, but it serves a very important purpose. As you all know, we are faced with decisions every day- forks in the road. One road may lead to getting closer to one goal, the other fork leads us to another goal. A third fork may seem really enticing, but lead to a short term gain completely outside of our long term goals. Having our goals prioritized tells us which road to take and keeps on track and making the decisions that will inevitably lead us to that person in the mirror.

Once you have set and prioritized your goals,” you can break them down into smaller, intermediate and short term goals. We all know how to eat an elephant. (One bite at a time) Now we have a road path - a map to get us where we really want to be.

How to work effectively with your VA?

The decision has been made and you are now ready to start working with a VA but you are still a little hesitant as to what to expect and how to start this working relationship off on the best foot.

VA’s do not work well with everyone; we are highly skilled, hard working, independent individuals. We are not secretaries or administrative assistants; we are skilled in various aspects of business such as desktop publishing, bookkeeping, human resources, website design, marketing etc. VA’s are smart business owners who provide a vital service to business owners that save them time and money.

If you believe in micro managing - a VA will not work for you, if you need someone at your beck and call – a VA will not work for you, if you are not open to new ideas or if you look down on administrative type people – a VA will not work for you, if you are impatient and expect work to be completed within an unrealistic timeframe – a VA will not work with you!

To create a long lasting working relationship with a virtual assistant, you must understand that VA’s are successful business owners and have a lot to offer other business owners. VA’s have years of experience working in both corporations and small businesses and they know what it takes to build and run a successful business.

Here are some tips to help you to work alongside your VA for many years:


Ø Treat you’re VA with respect at all times
Ø Communicate with your VA on a weekly basis, this can be done through email, phone, instant messenger etc
Ø Be clear and concise
Ø Be open to their ideas and suggestions - they work with a variety of clients and may be able to offer to offer some great tips
Ø Provide your VA with as much information as possible so they understand what your business does and can act on your behalf when necessary
Ø Be prepared that you will have to sign forms before you begin working with your VA
Ø Be considerate and provide your VA with as much notice as possible regarding your project, understand that they have deadlines and projects for other clients too
Ø Provide your VA with feedback so they know if you are pleased with the job they are doing
Ø If your VA contacts you with a question regarding your project, get back with them as soon as you can so as not to slow up the process
Ø If you are having a problem with your VA, bring it to their attention immediately
Ø Always pay on time


When you begin working with your VA, they will take the time to discuss policies and procedures with you and they will explain how exactly they work. This is also the time to tell them how you like things done but be open to any suggestions they might be able to provide to you with.

The most important aspect of a great working relationship is the fact that you enjoy working with the other person and you respect them.

Skype

I will be leaving for Ireland shortly to spend Christmas with my family in Ireland. We have also decided to extend our stay through the month of January, possibly longer so I have been doing a lot of research on office systems so that I can transfer my business without any interruption to my US clients.

I looked at a lot of phone systems and finally decided to go with Skype. I was quite surprised at the amount of people that are currently utilizing this system, it received rave reviews.

• With skype I can have a # in NC that clients can use to call Ireland and they will only be charged for the call to NC.
• There are no set up fees and no contract
• All you have to do is download the software and get a headset ($25)
• You pay a minimal yearly fee to receive SkypeIn, with that you also receive free voicemail
• Their rates are very inexpensive
• It is very easy to use
• The sound quality is VERY clear

Although it is a new service, so far, so good. I am very impressed with it and will continue to utilize it for my business.

http://www.skype.com

Making my office more productive

There are some necessary procedures that should be in place to ensure that your office is working like clockwork.

Did you know that you can gain a lot more hours in your day if you have an organized office.
Organized and efficient = more productive = increased profit.

Let’s take it one at a time and look at all of the different systems in your office.


Let’s start by looking at your phone system:

Ø Do you have someone who answers the phone for you

o Do you need someone on a full-time basis to answer the phone or would a part-time person or a virtual assistant work better

o If you are the person answering the phone – Are you wasting valuable time answering calls all day, how many hours a day are you spending on the phone, would this time be moe effective if it was spent with clients?

o If you are spending a lot of time on the phone, maybe you should look at posting specific hours on your website as to when you are available to speak with clients and allow your voicemail to pick up when you are not


Next we will take a look at your email system. As business owners we receive hundreds of emails on a daily basis, some are from clients, potential clients, junk mail etc, we can spend hours per day going through our email which is unproductive time.

So how do we change that?

Ø You can set up filters in your email so that junk mail goes directly into a junk folder

Ø You can also do this for other emails that you receive – newsletters, billing, resumes, marketing, blogs, articles etc

Ø When you receive an email, take a moment and decide what you want to do with it – delete it, put it into a folder, reply to it.

Ø Check your email at certain times during the day otherwise you will find yourself stopping and starting tasks –again this is unproductive time


Now we will take a look at how much paper you have in your office. This is where a lot of the chaos occurs

Ø Switch your bills to e-bills where possible

Ø Send invoices electronically

Ø Keep detailed information on your pc in individual folders and always keep a back up somewhere safe, preferably away from your office

Ø File your paperwork on a weekly basis – look at each piece of paper and decide what to do with it – Throw it out or file it. Once you keep up with your filing, it becomes less of a horrendous task.

Ø Set up files for yourself so that all of the paperwork that you do have is filed correctly – color coded files work very well and are very easy to use

Ø Set up templates for your office so that you don’t have to create a new invoice/fax page every time


It is imperative that all business owners have some kind of a calendar management system. It’s impossible to remember everything – yes, even Virtual Assistants forget things which is why we swear by calendars.

Ø If you have an assistant, have them set up a calendar for your appointments, important dates, bills to be paid etc and have them email reminders to you

Ø Or you can have them set up a shared calendar so that you are able to view it whenever you choose. Outlook is great for this or yahoo has a shared calendar system also.


Making a list helps us to focus on the task at hand

Ø At the beginning of every day, take the time to make a list of what you would like to accomplish that day

Ø If you prefer you can make the list at the end of your day for the next day

Ø You can also incorporate this with your PDA or your outlook so that you follow-up on certain tasks


Finally we will take a look at the office layout which can sometimes hinder your productivity also:

Ø Make sure that everything is close by so that you don’t have to spend time finding things– filing cabinet, supplies, printer, client’s information, your phone etc

Ø If you are home based, you don’t necessarily have to have your supplies in the same area as your office, but it helps if you don’t have to wander through the entire house all the way up to the 3rd floor to get some ink!

Ø Invest in a good light or lighting system so that you have plenty of light flowing in

Ø Try and have a closed room so that when you leave at the end of the day, you close the door and your workday is over

Ø A door also keep distractions and noises out – there is nothing worse than being on the phone with a client and your dog starts barking in the background, it doesn’t provide your potential client with a professional image of your business!


If you put all of the above systems in place, your office will become a lot more productive and a lot less stressful!

You can receive more tips and resources such as these if you subscribe to my free monthly newsletter ”A Virtual Revolution” of if you have more questions about organizing your office, you can contact me at gfoley@ajwd.com and I would be glad to offer you a free consultation to see how we can help you.

Getting ready for the New Year

Happy Thanksgiving to all

I can hardly believe that thanksgiving is over and Christmas is less than 4 weeks away. My shopping is done. I do all of my shopping throughout the year so that I don't have to compete with the christmas shoppers so now I can relax and look forward to the holidays.

Now that I am caught up, I can start to think about next year and what I want to accomplish in my business.

Here are some ideas to start you thinking about your goals for next year:

• Attract more clients
• Review my marketing plan
• What direction should my business take?
• Start an ezine
• Increase the number of ezine subscribers
• Does your website need a new look?
• Start your own blog
• Start writing articles - this is a terrific marketing tool
• Start offering teleclasses
• Find a new target market

Start 2006 off right and increase your business presence both off and on-line!

Employees want a flexible schedule

Having worked for years in human resources, I spent many hours in my office listening to employees complaining about the lack of flexibility within their work schedule and how they have to use personal time when their children are sick or for doctors appointments. I've also never understood how a woman can be expected to give birth and then 6 weeks later get back to work! That was one of the reasons I decided to go into business for myself.

According to a study done by a FL staffing company, employers are still not getting the message that employees want more flexibility. Only 35% of employers cited time and flexibility as one of the main retention driving points, compared to 60% of employees. Another survey showed that only 14% of employers expected their workforce to leave that year compared to 40% who were currently job hunting!

Recruitment is very expensive. There is so much involved, even if you are a small business owner hiring someone on a part-time basis, it will cost. These are some of the costs involved:

• Creating and placing job advertisements
• Receiving and reviewing resumes
• Scheduling interviews - taking time away from your responsibilities
• Background check/drug tests/assessment tests
• Training - setting time aside to train your new employee
• Ongoing training

After putting all that time and effort into finding the right person for your business, why would you not input the same energy into keeping that employee happy.

Here is how employers and employees rank the importance of the same 8 factors:

Employer

1 Management Climate

2 Supervisor Relationship

3 Cultural & Work Environment

4 Benefits

5 Growth & Earning Flexibility

6 Training & Dev

7 Financial Compensation

8 Time & Flexibility

Employee

1 Financial Compensation

2 Benefits

3 Growth & Earning potential

4 Time & Flexibility

5 Mgmt Climate

6 Supervisor Relationship

7 Cultural & Work Environment

8 Training & Dev

Employers need to start listening to their employees and their needs and wants and a flexible work life is high on their list of priorities. Wouldn't it better to have a happy employee rather than one who is constantly on the look out for a better job!

Take our survey

We have put together a survey and would appreciate you taking the time to complete it and provide us with your opinion of the virtual assistant industry so that we can make improvements in our business and provide you with exactly what YOUR business needs.

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