Top Five Communication Tools To Help You Make The Most Of Your Virtual Staff
A Virtual staff is generally composed of self-employed workers that provide technical, research, creative and administrative assistance to clients remotely from a home based office. They are also called a virtual assistants. Some members may work from their own homes, some may work in co-working offices, while some may work in branch offices.
A virtual staff is divided in different roles and they are given respective tasks according to their roles. Here are some of those tasks: General Virtual Assistance, Audio/Video Editing, Content Writing, SEO/Web Marketing, Graphic/Web Designing, and Web Developing. Business owners say, “in order to effectively use your virtual staff to grow your business, you have to hire for the role and not for the task”. This means business owners should build a team – a team that will work together to achieve the same goal.
Communication is one of main ingredients in any business. And it’s even more important when managing your online virtual staff where your virtual service professionals can be located all around the globe.
Remote Communication Tools For Virtual Staff
Here are the top five communication tools that will help you make the most of a virtual staff member and keep things running smoothly and effectively.
1 Skype
Skype is a great pay-as-you-go software that provides an affordable online alternative to business meetings on the phone.
2 Dropbox
Dropbox lets you take your collaborative documentation to the cloud with easy file-sharing between multiple users and multiple computers. Storing or backing up your files online lets you harness the power of the internet, and free up space on your own computer too. It also lets you instantly access the very same document that one of your colleagues or virtual staffers are using, and allows you to see what they’re editing in real time
3 Jing
Jing is a clever little program that allows you to instantly capture screenshots and add voice commentary to videos of anything you can see on your screen. You can also make video tutorials using this incredible tool.
4 Desk.com
Desk.com is the cloud-based collaborative customer service software which allows you to log, track and monitor all of your customer service issues.
5 Basecamp
Basecamp is paid-for project management software that lets you quickly and easily keep track of all of your tasks.
The beauty of being an online worker is that, one has the freedom to be what you can be, earn as much as you work, and most of all, work independently.
The following are some of the must have qualifications to be successful in being part of a virtual staff:
1 Assertive
It is important for you to be assertive since you will be in situations where you do not always have all the answers and the tools you need. In the end, it is really up to you on how you can handle such situations.
2 Hardworking
Virtual work is what it is. Virtual. Essentially, no one will be there to spoon-feed you or monitor how you work each day. You have to know how to manage these things and make sure you finish tasks before the deadline. As a virtual worker, you earn as much as you work, and that says a lot. If you want to earn more, you really have to work hard.
3 Independent
Most successful VAs are highly independent. When they are given tasks that they do not understand, they often do self-study. The internet is a huge resource where you can learn about anything under the sun! You can then add these new skills to your credentials and end up earning even more!
4 Honest
There is much to be said about virtual employees who are honest. In the long run, online employers will always value honest employees and give you more opportunities than if you try to get a quick buck by playing dirty.
Being part of a virtual staff is as easy as it can be hard. It is certainly not for everyone. But as long as you know what you are doing, you are willing to be better, you are willing to learn more and lastly, you love what you are doing, there will be a lot of opportunities for you.
The fact is, working as a virtual staff member has gone further than most people ever thought possible. It’s more than just filtering email and managing your social media (although that’s covered, too!). It’s also about personal and business growth.