PaulaW

That’s right everyone can do admin!

 Administration, Blog, Efficiency, Virtual Assistance  No Responses »
Oct 162013
 

It’s no secret, everyone is able to do admin, but is it the most effective use of your time?

Yes you may be able to create your own newsletter, type a letter, format a document, build a PowerPoint presentation and update your website, however a person who specialises in administration would probably take less time to do the job as they would be focusing on what they are good at.

Ask yourself a couple of questions:

  • do I enjoy administration
  • am I good at administration
  • is doing my own administration it the most effective way to use my time

If you answered no to any of these questions, then maybe it’s time to consider an alternative solution to get your admin done so you can focus on the tasks that allow you to better utilise your time and stop spending so much time in the office.

There are a number of options to consider a full-time assistant, a part-time assistant a temporary assistant or a Virtual Assistant.  While these are all great options a Virtual Assistant (VA) has some great benefits including support being provided on an as needed basis, a VA has extensive office experience so no training or recruiting costs, and you only pay for the time worked and not for unproductive time or coffee breaks and no need to pay sick or annual leave or superannuation.  Click here to read more of the benefits of partnering with a VA.

Now imagine how much more productive you would be if you were able to focus on your customers and doing what you do best, and with little time and effort from yourself, your emails are being screened, your website is staying up to date, your documents are looking professional, your social media accounts are active, and you are keeping your clients informed with a regular newsletter, you may even have more time to enjoy your weekend or to spend with family and friends.

If you would like to find out how a VA can create more time in your day, contact me for an obligation free assessment on paula@wynbs.com or 0411 047 545.

6 Keys to Motivating Your Team

 Blog, Engagement, Motivation, Tips, Warwick Merry  No Responses »
Oct 162013
 

I have seen many speakers, read many articles and heard many ideas on how best to motivate team members.  There are so many opinions and ideas with different steps and methodologies that it is easy to lose focus on what is important, the team member!

Unfortunately, there is no “one way fits all” approach to motivating team members.  But there are the five key factors you need to take into account if you want your efforts to have an impact.

1.    Make It Personal

A cookie cutter approach to rewarding or motivating your team will not work. Every one of your team members has different dreams, goals and reasons for coming to work.  For some a hand written note from the CEO will mean the world, for others only cash will do.  Get to know your team.  Find out what makes them tick.  What hobbies do they have? What does their family need? What can you get for them that they would love but can’t get themselves? 

Money is not always the answer. In fact, it is frequently not the best motivator.  A lot gets taken in tax, it just becomes money in their bank account and nothing special.  There also comes a time when people have enough money.  Find out what hits their hot buttons and then hit it!!  (Repeatedly if you can and if they deserve it!)

2.    Do It In The Right Location

Some people love the spotlight. Nothing would make them feel better than to be up on stage in front of the entire company receiving rapturous applause for a job well done.  For other people, this would be their idea of hell.  They just need a little bit of acknowledgement from one or two of “the right” people and that is all they need.  Again, you need to know the personality of your team member to acknowledge them in the right location.

3.    Make It Worthwhile

If the effort to motivate is not worthwhile, you will find you have in fact DE-motivated them.  When I started in the IT industry, I had worked hundreds of hours overtime on a particular long term project and then got a bonus that worked out being 2 cents an hour.  The bonuses were the joke of the office. If they had given us and extra 3 days of annual leave it would have cost them the same and we would have been thrilled.  One of my coaching clients said, “I can’t bear the thought of getting another movie ticket for doing a good job. It is such a waste.”

 Sometimes the “token gesture”, while well-meaning and with good intent, does more harm than good.  Make sure that what you are doing is worthwhile for the team member and not just going through the motions.

4.    Link It To Behaviour

Ultimately you are motivating your team to get them to repeat certain behaviours.  So if you are having a conversation with them and CEO about what a great job they have done, the sales results they have generated or the completion of a project, make sure they associate the conversation or reward with the behaviour.  It is very much like Pavlov’s Dogs.  You want the behaviour related to the award so that they repeat the behaviour.

5.    Make It With Pride

For many people, receiving an acknowledgement is about the emotion of the situation and not any physical reward.  Many managers have handed out rewards, bonuses and even pay rises like Santa throwing lollies to crowds of children.  “Here’s one for you and one for you and one for you…..”

Make it special. Make it really count for your team. They need to feel loved and appreciated and have pride in their accomplishment.

6.    Do It

Motivate your team however you can. Don’t worry if you get it wrong. For many people the fact that you are trying something is enough.  But do something. Do not believe for a moment that they salary or wage is enough.  You need to do something extra to keep them fired up and with a sense of loyalty and belonging.

Typically, saying “Thank You” and acknowledging their efforts and results will make a huge difference.  So even if you are restricted financially and can’t do anything special for the team you can at least acknowledge their work and what it means to you and the company’s overall results.

 

The reality is that you cannot motivate anyone on your team. Motivation is up to them. It is something that only the individual can do. All you can do is create the circumstances in which they are most likely to remain positive and driven to get the results you are after.  Get to know your team. Find out what they like and what energises them, as individuals and as a team. Something as simple as a team BBQ could do wonders.

Whatever you chose, stop thinking about it and do it.

 

Thanks to Warwick Merry for contributing this article for our blog.

Warwick Merry is the Get More Guy, an expert in how to Get More results. He is also the Co-Founder of The Exhibiting and Sponsorship Institute.  For further information visit www.warwickmerry.com or www.EASInstitute.com

Manage Your Inbox

 Blog, Efficiency, Tips  No Responses »
Sep 182013
 

Do you find your Inbox in Outlook is always overflowing or filling up with emails?  Although most emails have a purpose, not all of them need to be dealt with straight away.

A good strategy to follow is the 4 D’s – Delete it, Delegate it, Do it (if it can’t be done in 2mins), defer it.

 

 To help manage your Inbox, why not set up email rules to direct emails to various sub directory’s for reading and actioning at a later date.  Here’s how:

1. Create appropriate sub-directory’s in your inbox, such as by Personal Info, or by Client Name.

2. Create rules, to direct emails to the appropriate sub-directory.

  • Right Click on the email in your inbox
  • Select ‘Create Rule’ (a pop up box appears)
  • In the first section, select the first box ‘From email address’ (recommended)
  • In the “Do the Following” Section, select ‘Move the item to folder’
  • Click on the ‘Select Folder’, and choose the appropriate folder to direct it to.  At this stage you can create a new folder if an appropriate folder doesn’t exist.
  • Click ‘OK’, another pop-up box will be displayed, stating ‘the rule has been created’.
  • Select the box ‘Run this rule now on messages already in the current folder’, and select OK.
  • Emails in your inbox that fit this rule, will disappear from your inbox, and you should be able to find them in the appropriate folder.

Just remember to check your sub-directory’s on a regular basis, so you don’t miss anything urgent. 

I recently cam across this article by James Wilson of Henry & Horne outlining 4 ways to Take Control of your inbox. Read it here.

Who are you online?

 Angela Vithoulkas, Blog, Eagle Waves Radio  No Responses »
Sep 172013
 

So, you have taken the plunge, set up a business online and finally seen all of your ideas placed before the world. Self satisfaction meter is pointing towards “cool”, life is good. Of course it’s not a business yet because there is no income and no one knows about it except the people you have asked to test it or look it over. But how hard can the rest be right? I mean, just how hard can it be to build something from scratch online amongst millions of other voices?

When I first had the idea to build a small business radio station –www.eaglewavesradio.com.au I never imagined the obstacles I would face as an online brand. I am a hands on retailer, a Café owner who can literally touch and see and sometimes even smell her customers. Have I ever mentioned Mr Tall Flat White who comes in every morning from the gym freshly showered, flushed…anyway, I think you can see where I’m going with it, lol.

 

On The First Day…

I had an idea, I began to build it and even though I am a seasoned business owner, I still naively thought it couldn’t really be that difficult. It’s the internet, everybody is on the internet and everybody is online, right? Throw up a website, put some content, pics and get going. You have told everyone about your fab idea, they ALL have told you its fab so therefore must be a slam dunk. And then the work begins. The hard hard work of getting your name out there, of building momentum, clicks, hits, traffic and engagement. There is only so much family and friends can do, and it’s not a Facebook page. An online business is about making money, about offering something of value in a world that has layer upon layer of competitor that’s spread globally. Lucky I didn’t think about that when I had my moment.

I think that more than ever people want to identify an online business with a person in some way; they want to feel more secure that there is a heartbeat in the frequent cold climate of online activity. It’s a cut throat world that is even more intense than American TV show ratings. It’s an exact scientific measurement and numbers don’t lie.

One of the truly most enlightening experiences has been seeing and hearing the amount of so called experts who all seem to know how to build your online business. I mean they all just seem to know. They know how to charge as well. I do not mean to slight any professionals out there, and I acknowledge that there are some seriously savvy people who get it ( I work with a couple of them ), but the online world has developed a by product that has taken a few of us newbies for a ride down a suck money out of me lane.

Idea & Reality

When you have the idea and concept for your online business, like many business ideas, you don’t necessarily know how to make the product, you just know there is a need so you start. At this early stage, you don’t see yourself as a web developer, SEO expert or PR magician.

You weren’t born coding or formatting, or at least I wasn’t. But then again, I have never owned a radio station before either.

When I got over how much I didn’t know – it really overwhelmed me at first since my comfort zone was obliterated; I started to edit the noise of the experts. I took off my very dark startup online sunglasses, saw the clarity of what I was doing – building a business just as I have always done. Yes, huge operating differences, but new businesses are not for the fainthearted, it’s the courage under fire scenario that gets you through.

Fresh Is Best

Building your brand reputation online is about building your brand offline as well. Relationships need to be established, nurtured and leveraged. Affiliate marketing considered and you must keep your window fresh. That’s a café analogy, if my deli looks dull then I can’t sell my food. If you don’t keep you content fresh online then it will go stale and nobody likes stale anything, virtual or other.

I don’t have all the answers, but I don’t stop asking the questions and testing the experts. I educate myself around there opinions but take responsibility on my strategy. Of course it’s the execution of all matters that separates the winners. Great idea, sensational concept, online reality and strategic execution all add up to the first step. If you build it right, market it effectively, refresh and develop your idea and content, then the incline won’t leave you feeling as if you have emphysema. But then you have to increase the level of difficulty as well, no rest for you! Online is 24/7.

Who are you online? was first published on Angela Vithoulkas’ Blog and Women in Focus.

Keyboard Shortcuts to Help you Work More Efficiently

 Blog, Efficiency, Microsoft, Tips  No Responses »
Aug 062013
 

Did you know you can use your keyboard, rather than your mouse, to control your computer? 

When I first started using a computer I learnt Word Perfect, and I’m showing my age when I admit that this was before having a mouse was normal, so everything was done via keyboard.  As the mouse became more popular and programs changed to suit the mouse’s uses, as a typist, I continued to use keyboard shortcuts as I find this is quicker than taking my hand from the keyboard to use the mouse.

Almost any action you can perform with a mouse you can perform with a keyboard.  By learning some of the basic keyboard shortcuts you can learn to work more efficiently.

Here is a list of useful shortcuts for everyday use in Microsoft programs:

  • Alt + Tab – Switch between open programs
  • Ctrl + O or Alt+F+O – Open a file
  • Ctrl + N or Alt+F+N – New document
  • Ctrl + S or Alt+F+S – Save current file or document
  • Ctrl + P or Alt+F+P – Print document
  • Alt + F4 – Close file or document
  • Ctrl + Z – Undo an action
  • Ctrl + Y – Redo an action
  • Ctrl + Home – Move to the top of the document
  • Ctrl + End – Move to the end of the document
  • Ctrl + X – Cut
  • Ctrl + C – Copy
  • Ctrl + V – Paste
  • Ctrl + A – Select All
  • Ctrl + Shift + C – Copies the formatting of selected text
  • Ctrl + Shift + V – applies the copied formatting to a new selection
  • Windows Key+E – open Windows Explorer
  • Windows Key+M – minimize all of your open windows, leaving just the desktop left exposed.
  • Windows Key+Shift+M – restores the window
  • Ctrl+Arrow Keys – in Microsoft Word, the left and right arrows allow you to move the cursor to the beginning of the previous word or the next word; the up and down arrows will do the same with paragraphs.
  • Shift + Arrow Keys – Hold shift and press one of the arrow keys will highlight text in Word (or a group of Excel cells)
  • Ctrl+U – Underline Text
  • Ctrl+B – Bold Text
  • Ctrl+I – Italicize text

Most of the Microsoft Office programs have more shortcuts; to find them; you can do the following:

  • Office 2007 and prior – Open a menu and if there is a shortcut available it is listed next to the menu item.
  • Microsoft 2010 or later – When you click Alt you will note letters/numbers are shown above the menu items, click the letter/number to take you to that menu item.

For a more details list of keyboard shortcuts for Microsoft Programs, click here.

Hopefully this will make your day a little more productive.

 

What is your favourite keyboard shortcut is? 

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