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Achieve greater productivity by resetting your working hours

achieve greater productivity 2020 New Dawn PA Website Blog Graphics

Working from home has many benefits – no commute, flexibility and it allows you to maximise your productivity.

However, making sure you identify and make the most of the times that you are at your most productive is essential if you are going to avoid wasting hours staring at social media or ploughing through tasks at a snail’s pace.

Sound familiar? Even in an office environment concentrating can be exceptionally difficult at certain times of the day, so could you reset your working hours to achieve greater productivity?

Do you remember enjoying a morning chat as you made the first coffee of the day? Or battling to stay awake and focused as you fought a post-lunch carb slump?

Working from home brings these same distractions just in a different guise – Is the washing on? Have you tidied up? Have you lost an hour checking your social media/ emails/ the news?

While working from home brings flexibility to your working hours it may also have made you more aware of the times when you are at your most productive.

When do you work most productively?

The secret to efficient working practices is to find the times when we work at our best, with focus, clarity and efficiency.

Are you a night owl who will happily burn the midnight oil, or is an early start the way to get you fired up for the day ahead?

The idea of tracking your productivity is to work smarter not harder. By identifying the times that you are at your most productive you will be able to achieve more in a shorter time, rather than force yourself to focus through a slump where everything takes twice as long.

Taking a little time to discover when your productivity levels peak will pay off in the long-term, helping you to accomplish more in a shorter time.

If you are finding you achieve far less than you should or are easily distracted, spend one or two weeks tracking how you feel at certain times of the day. Note down when you got the most work done and when you struggled.

Do you get more done if you get up at 6am and work for 2 hours before breakfast? Are you most productive between 9am and 12pm – or do you sail through work between 7pm and 9pm?

How to work productively

Write it down then try to work out a schedule that works for you as putting in place a routine makes getting going each day far easier.

Battling through work when you are tired and distracted will not benefit anyone, instead consider breaking your day up into chunks that capitalise on the times when you are most productive. Listen to your body and get moving and head out for a walk when you feel stifled, do something around the house for half an hour, put some music on and relax – whatever it takes to break the cycle.

While working from home may present many more distractions than a traditional workplace, it also allows you the flexibility to work at the times that you identify as being more productive.

Rather than sitting in traffic when your productivity is at its highest you can get stuck in straight away.

If night-time is your time to shine, you don’t need to worry that the office isn’t open, just turn off the TV and put in a couple of hours instead.

If you are homeschooling your children as well as working, working at the times you feel most productive will help you to take control and focus when and where you can. Identify times when you find it harder to focus on work to help the kids – and clear an hour to be with them rather than feel impossibly stretched.

Achieve greater productivity

Save the times of peak productivity for when you need to be focused or creative. Use the times that you find harder to focus for more routine tasks that are easier to complete. If you enjoy working late at night, draft emails that can be sent the next day and schedule social media posts.

There may be some parts of your working day that you cannot control, such as virtual meetings, but working to the strengths of your body clock and breaking the day up into chunks will help to give you the energy you need.

Tuning into your body clock can help to set you in routine to successfully work from home allowing you to feel fulfilled with your work achievements, rather than frustrated.

Contact New Dawn PA for support

New Dawn PA has more than 10 years of experience working with businesses remotely. If you need help to implement new systems or to get the job done more efficiently, I am here to help.

New Dawn PA offers specialist experience of supporting the financial and construction sectors and can work across all aspects of industry.

To find out how New Dawn PA can support you in working more efficiently and to achieve greater productivity please get in touch.

An Ode from a Virtual PA

How to be effective with remote working communications

One of the main challenges of working remotely is communication, which makes it vital to establish effective ways to connect with colleagues and clients as soon as possible.

In many industries, and especially for finance firms and Independent Financial Advisors, keeping in contact with the outside world is vital but making sure that communications are secure is a priority.

Financial changes mean that many people are searching for safe ways to protect their money, access funds or to assess investments that they already have.

Speaking freely and confidentially is important to an Independent Financial Advisor, so making sure you have the right communications set up at home will really make a difference.

Aside of meetings with clients, it can be harder to check facts and ideas with colleagues. Not being able to run a quick question past a colleague can be frustrating but adopting new methods of working will reaffirm confidence.

If you need support in setting up effective methods of working and communicating from home a virtual PA is well placed to help.

Choosing a video conferencing platform

Staying connected will keep financial industries moving forward while people remain at home.

The first step to running a business from home smoothly is to agree on online meeting software so that you all know who is calling and on what platform.

There are a number of platforms that companies and individuals can use to keep in touch

Many good, dependable video conferencing platforms are free, although their suitability may depend on the length of time you will need to spend in online meetings and how many people will take part.

Some of the main platforms are:

To enhance usability and enable further actions such as document sharing, financial firms may prefer a paid-for package. Many of the free software platforms can be upgraded to a paid-for version and continue to lead the field.

Plan ahead and be organised

With the luxury of having colleagues close at hand to bounce questions off, you will need to start to keep a list to avoid sending repeated email or being on the phone constantly. To make more efficient use of your time it is also important to use your diary effectively.

You may not be leaving the house, but you will still need to make sure you are ready to answer video calls at arranged times. Plan in work deadlines, set times to talk to clients and schedule in necessary tasks.

Importantly, when making a video call make sure that you have all the information you need at hand – and that you have a list of questions ready to maximise the time.

Online etiquette

With time lags and the nuances of social behaviour difficult to spot on a screen make sure you observe a certain etiquette to avoid talking over one another.

Stick to the agenda
Wait for others to finish speaking
Make sure you are dressed appropriately for meetings (yes that means out of your pyjamas!)
Be aware of your workspace and consider the message that your online backdrop sends…
Use earphones to help improve the sound and to cut out background noise

Efficiency and professionalism remain just as important when working from home, especially in an industry such as finance.

Consistency and attention to detail are absolutely vital so make sure you keep to a consistent routine where possible and minimise distractions.

Stick to a standard working day so that clients and contacts can get hold of you when they would expect to – schedule in video conferences when you are least likely to be interrupted.

Make sure you remain focused when communicating online by shutting the office door and asking anyone else who is also at home to respect your need to make the call.

Switch off your mobile phone and do not be tempted to tap at bits of work mid chat. This not only sends the message that you are only half-interested but you may genuinely miss something of importance.

Set it down on paper

Talking is a great way to get ideas going and to extract information from people quickly and comprehensively but writing actions down on paper is a good way to make sure they are completed.

When discussing complex ideas, or putting in place an action plan, follow up chats with documents detailing agreements.

This is particularly important when taking details from a client and explaining what your next steps will be in regards to an investment portfolio, for example.

Use documents as a way to double up on agreements that have been made during online chats to be certain that all parties are in agreement.

Virtual online support for the financial industry

If you work in the financial industry or are a qualified Independent Financial Advisor, New Dawn PA can offer specialised support.

New Dawn can manage a wide range of admin tasks as well as help to put new systems in place and offer support in specialised software systems.

With more than 10 years’ experience of working virtually, New Dawn is well placed to help you maintain communications when working remotely.

If you need additional support in running your finance business from home please contact New Dawn PA.

Moving your business online? A virtual assistant can help

As workplaces close their doors many businesses will face a real challenge to move their operation into a virtual environment run from home and may need admin support to set up new systems.

Many small businesses will have needed to rapidly transform their way of working to adapt to workers being at home – while many more may still need to or may be in the process of doing so.

While it can be easy in these difficult times to feel overwhelmed, or like you are struggling alone to resolve problems, online support is available.

Cloud storage and high-speed broadband connections mean that many people have switched to working online in recent years and there are many professionals who are well versed in the demands and best working practices of the online workplace.

Do you need help to set up home working solutions?

Questions you may have could include:

What is the best way to keep in touch with staff?
Will my documents be safe online?
How can I keep in contact with customers?
What is the safest way to move files between members of staff?
How can multiple members of staff access the same work?
How can I receive customer calls?
How can I speed up our work process?
Is there a way to improve workflow?

Or, quite simply, your biggest question might well be ‘how am I going to cope with all this additional work and problem solving on my own?’

Find support for home working solutions through a virtual assistant

Virtual assistants exist to target and resolve such problems. Offering a wide range of software and admin skills they can support businesses in a number of ways. A virtual assistant brings the support of a highly skilled PA online.

Many virtual assistants also work on flexible terms providing help as and when it is needed.

New Dawn PA has 10 years of experience working in a virtual, online workplace and has specialist knowledge of numerous software programmes, including in the financial and construction industry.

Offering extensive knowledge of virtual systems for project management, accounting, communication, transcription and storage. New Dawn will ensure best practice standards are met when working online.

As well as offering admin support, New Dawn can:

Help to set up new virtual working systems
Deliver virtual training
Support you with general advice

Ask for help with moving your business online

These are challenging times for everyone and businesses are being asked to embrace change at a rapid pace. With the right support you can establish a successful virtual workplace.

To discuss how New Dawn PA can help with the logistics of moving your business online, please get in touch.

9 ways a virtual assistant can support an independent financial advisor

New Dawn PA | support an independent financial advisor

Working as an independent financial advisor entails processing a lot of information and keeping track of details – both tasks that could be made easier with the support of a virtual assistant.

Often working across a number of specialisms, independent financial advisors need to stay on top of policy, predictions and products.

While also working out what is the best option for the clients through the data provided it is easy to become swamped by administration tasks that are necessary to get the job done properly.

And, of course, when it comes to money accuracy is everything – after all people are planning for their future based on your suggestions.

Rather than battling to complete time-sensitive tasks at the expense of pursing new business a virtual assistant could help.

How a personal assistant can help an independent financial advisor

Conducting research – many virtual assistants will have a background in a financial industry and are trained on specific software. Research can be an open-ended task and a dedicated virtual assistant can help to meet deadlines.

Compiling reports –virtual assistants excel at organisational administrative tasks with the expertise and software know-how to quickly compile comprehensive reports for the clients of independent financial advisors.

Data entry – there is no getting away from the need for accurate and efficient data entry. From tracking financial data to building a picture of a client’s wealth, data entry provides vital information to allow an independent financial advisor to complete their job properly.

Diary management –in a client-led industry keeping appointments and meeting deadlines is integral to protecting your reputation and securing new business. A virtual assistant can help to remotely manage the diary of a busy independent financial advisor.

On-boarding clients – once again having the correct details is invaluable. As soon as a client, or potential client, is put in touch with an independent financial advisor, making a record of their contact details and financial needs is essential.

Proof-reading –getting it right the first time is an important part of maintaining client trust. Poor spellings, or even worse, inaccurate figures will dent a client’s confidence quickly. Virtual assistants can proofread documents ahead of them being released.

Help to process products – where multiple forms are needed to process a financial product a virtual assistant can help to cut down on the amount of paperwork by supporting the processing of basic products.

Checking policy documents – in a fast-moving industry that is heavily regulated staying up to date with new policies is important. A virtual assistant can help to monitor policies – and to update and check company policy when needed.

Issuing quotes/ information – when clients approach anindependent financial advisor for advice swiftly acknowledging their interest with a timely, accurate and well-presented quote or information pack offers reassurance. A virtual assistant can take care of this, helping to protect new business.

Need support from a virtual assistant?

New Dawn PA has experience of working in the financial sector and is qualified in industry-specific software. With insurances already in place and an established workplace, New Dawn PA can offer virtual admin support to independent financial advisors across Staffordshire and Cheshire on a short term, long term or ad hoc basis.

To find out how New Dawn PA can help your company please get in touch.

10 ways to boost productivity in your business

Productivity gives businesses the momentum to keep moving forward towards greater success, so protecting and nurturing this is vital.

In a small business, or even when working alone, it is essential to ensure that productivity levels remain high to protect the performance of the company but also the happiness of the team.

Here are some simple steps to take that could give productivity a boost:

Take regular breaks

Working through lunchbreaks and into the evening can be seen by some as a sign of commitment, however, analysis has shown that it can achieve quite the opposite.

Regular breaks away from your desk and screen have been found to improve productivity, allowing workers to achieve more in less time.

Regular breaks are also essential to maintaining good mental health and boosting creativity – even better if you combine it with a bit of exercise.

Improve the office environment

A jaded, unwelcoming décor matched with uncomfortable furniture is unlikely to make workers feel valued. An office environment that is calming and ordered lets workers focus and makes them feel good about coming into work. The same applies if you work from home – a cluttered desk shoved into the corner of a messy room is unlikely to inspire confidence and clarity.

Consider decluttering, investing in new furniture and repainting – choosing a colour such as blue, which is linked to improved productivity, or green, which is reputedly relaxing.

Delegate admin tasks

Recognising the need to delegate tasks that are needlessly taking up your time is key to improving productivity in your own business. If you have other office staff more suited to certain tasks, ask them to take them on. If your admin has become a burden on your time a virtual PA can take this on for you.

Training

Improving your skillset is important to moving forward as an individual as well as a business. By widening your skillset you may well find that jobs that have previously been difficult become less labour intensive. Likewise, if you have employees, make sure they are empowered to develop their career and share the responsibility of specialist tasks.

Specialise

Doing what you need to do and doing it well is at the heart of productivity. Instead of attempting to do everything and becoming bogged down by tasks that are too tricky, or outside your specialism, prioritise what you need to do – and let someone else take care of the rest. A virtual PA or a member of staff will be able to help with admin and financial support.

Group tasks together

Working through tasks that need a certain approach or require particular information to be available at the same time will help to condense your time. For example, spend one day a week on the road meeting clients, one day managing accounts and another exploring business leads. By grouping together tasks you might be able to easily identify and handover admin tasks to a virtual PA, allowing you more time to focus on another area.

Outsource

It doesn’t make sense to struggle on alone when specialist companies can quickly take care of part of your workload. Don’t be afraid to outsource; it does not have to be a permanent arrangement and may give your productivity the boost it needs. A virtual PA can offer specialist software, credit control or research support, for example, on a week-by-week basis, or as a one off.

Set clear goals

Knowing exactly what you need to achieve, and when, will help you to sharpen your mind and focus to improve productivity. Map out goals and set out timeframes on paper and keep track of your achievements to monitor how well you are using your time.

Update your equipment or software

Having the right equipment in place to do the job will certainly make it easier. Slow-running PCs and inadequate software will make tasks take twice as long. Invest in the right tools for the job where you can – or ask an outside company for support. Many virtual PAs have specialist software that they can use to support your company.

Do help with ways to boost productivity

New Dawn PA is experienced in implementing processes that aid productivity and can take over tasks such as diary management and invoicing to improve efficiency.

To discuss New Dawn PA working with your company to improve efficiency and to help with ways to boost productivity get in touch.

Resolutions to make your business run more smoothly in 2020

If you feel that the success of your business is coming at a price – the start of a new year is a good time to consider what might help you to take back more time and improve efficiency.

Burnout is a real problem for small business owners and sole traders with long hours and stress quite possibly increasing to the point that they affect productivity and creativity.

For long-term success implement the changes that allow you to maximise your time and to ensure that you take the time away from the business that you need to recharge.

Just a few changes can make all the difference, whether that is calling in outside help or implementing new systems. Take action now and keep new practices in place throughout the year to measure their effectiveness.

Get organised to make your business run more smoothly

This one sounds obvious, but the reality can be very different from the theory. During busy periods for your business it can be difficult to make sure everything is in the right place. This includes dates, meetings, deadlines and finances.

Use a diary and use it efficiently – if you plan to go back to it later this is often a recipe for forgetting dates and jobs. Diary management is essential to the efficient running of an office, helping you to avoid double booking and to ensure meetings are maintained and deadlines met.

If January is a quieter time of the year for your company use this time to sort out filing systems and clean up your desktops and emails. Knowing exactly where documents and information are when you need them later in the year will save you plenty of time.

Make the most of specialist software

Software and apps have been designed to make a staggering array of tasks easier, from file storage to social media management and email updates. If there is an aspect of your admin that is proving to be time-consuming do your research to find out if there is a software solution to help. If you don’t know where to begin, or do not have the time to put this process in place a virtual personal assistant could help.

Stick to set working hours

Setting yourself boundaries will help you to regain a sense of a work/life balance. While self-employment brings the benefits of flexibility, long and anti-social hours can take their toll on your health and cut into your family time. Decide what hours work for you and try to stick to them as often as you can.

Delegate to improve efficiencies

It is hard to take a step back when running your own business, but success will often mean that you get to the point where you need some help. Admin tasks are one area that can easily be delegated to free up your time. Consider taking on an extra member of staff or outsourcing the work to an experienced virtual personal assistant, who can work either on a regular or ad hoc basis.

Prioritise important tasks

When time is tight you often have no choice but to prioritise. Decide what tasks are the most important in terms of your time then consider the best solution to take care of the remaining work. It could be that seeking outside help will help you to focus on winning more valuable work while a virtual personal assistant helps you to take care of the day-to-day work in running your business.

If you want to focus on expanding your business or are determined to address your work/life balance on 2020 a virtual personal assistant will be able to help.

New Dawn PA has experience in a range of industries and offers comprehensive administrative support.

To discover more about the services New Dawn PA offers and how these can help make your business run more smoothly in 2020 please get in touch.

Finding the right support in finance and mortgage industries

Knowing where to look for support is the first step in making changes to the operational efficiency of your business.

In some industries it can be difficult to trust tasks to other people – but don’t let this be a barrier to finding support for your business.

Virtual PAs can offer high levels of knowledge in industry-specific applications and software, having the skills that you need to delegate work confidently.

New Dawn PA is trained in multiple mortgage and financial systems enabling us to offer support that you can rely on.

More than admin – enjoy specialised support

Much more than just admin support, New Dawn PA can provide quality support for companies in the housing industry, chartered surveyors, financial management firms and mortgage advisors.

As these industries bring high levels of admin to enable and demonstrate compliance with legislation and guidelines, keeping on top of this is essential to the effective running of a business.

If you need extra support on an ad-hoc basis to meet high demand in busy periods, need long-term, or temporary cover for a staff member, or need a reliable monthly service, New Dawn PA can help.

Training new staff up to use and understand software that is necessary in these industries can be time-consuming. If you have struggled to find and retain the right staff to do the job, outsourcing is an option.

Take advantage of an established skill set

With the skill set and equipment already in place, enlisting the support of a virtual PA will remove the stress of finding – and training- someone with the necessary qualities for the job.

With a complete commitment to standards, New Dawn PA also keeps up to date with all new legislation that is relevant to the industries worked in.

Understanding the processes and why they matter to the industry is important to getting the job done accurately and taking ownership of tasks from start to finish.

Finding the right support in finance and mortgage industries

If you work in the mortgage, finance, housing or building industry and are looking for support that you can rely on, New Dawn PA can help.

To find out more about the specialised support that New Dawn PA can offer your business get in touch.

Commit to a better work life balance with the support of a virtual PA

New Dawn PA | Commit to a better work life balance image

New Year’s resolutions can be hard to keep but with the right support in place make sure yours become a reality in 2020.

If you are determined to make more of your free time, see more of your family and enjoy relaxing at weekends instead of working, make the change that you need.

While letting go of control may seem difficult, especially in a business that you have built up yourself, trusted to the right person this can transform the efficiency of your business – and the efficiency of how you use your time.

Make a positive resolution for the New Year

As positive New Year’s resolutions are believed to be easier to keep, start the year as you mean to go on by resolving to enjoy more family time or take up new hobby.

A good virtual PA can offer a host of support services and take responsibility for completing tasks from start to finish, giving you much-needed space to think – as well as enjoy extra hours in your week.

Whether it is invoicing, issuing client contracts, or updating customer databases that swallows up most of your time a virtual PA can take over a number of tasks including:

Proofreading
Diary management
Word processing
Audio transcription
Research projects
Customer relationship management

Improve your efficiency

As well as freeing up the time you so desperately need to recharge your batteries the support of a virtual PA could also help to grow your business by freeing up your time to focus on the future.

Using your time efficiently will help you to enjoy a greater sense of control over the operation and development of your business.

Making a New Year’s resolution to use your time more efficiently will help you to work to contain your working hours without them spilling into your family time, and focus on what tasks need doing to improve your business.

Find the support you need to enjoy a better work/life balance in 2020 with the help of a trusted PA.

Commit to a better work life balance with the support of a virtual PA

New Dawn PA has extensive experience of working across a range of industries. With training across specialist applications, including environmental and financial systems, New Dawn PA offers the quality support that you have been looking for.

To find out how New Dawn PA could help your business – and support your resolution to free up your time in 2020 – get in touch.

Do you need extra support at work but cannot afford a full-time employee?

The only limit to ambition can sometimes be time – the time, that is, to get the job done.

If you are a sole trader or run a small business you will be all too aware of the constraints of the time that you have to complete a job. No matter how hard you try it is impossible to take on more work than you can physically complete in a day, week or month.

The solution is clear – call in extra help. Yet taking on a member of staff can be a huge commitment for a small business.

Not only do you have to consider the expense to yourself but also the security of the job you are offering.

Does your business need more support?

When taking on a new member of staff you will have to invest time and effort in finding and interviewing the right person and training them, as well as buying equipment, such as a computer and additional office furniture – and covering tax implications and pension payments.

If you have made the commitment to take on a new employee in the past and, having used valuable time up to train them only for it not to work out, you may well be wary of taking on new staff.

If you are not sure how sustainable your workload is to support the investment connected with a new member of staff a solution is to outsource some of your workload to a virtual PA.

How a virtual PA can be an alternative to taking on extra staff

For businesses looking for additional support a virtual PA offers a flexible solution.

With a wide range of administration skills they will be able to take care of time-consuming tasks that sap away your time, freeing up more time to get the actual job done.

As virtual PAs have their own equipment, office and personal insurance the cost in engaging extra help is also greatly diminished.

And, as a virtual PA can be engaged on an ad-hoc basis or a longer term contract you do not need to add extra stress by worrying about consistently having the workload to justify taking on a permanent member of staff.

Instead of struggling to fit in a heavy workload in an impossible time frame, free up part of your working week by outsourcing work to a virtual PA.

New Dawn PA can help with data management, credit control, word processing, diary management, book keeping, compiling reports, research and customer relationship management.

To discuss how New Dawn PA could help your business get in touch.