One thing I like about freelancing is getting to work with different customers on different projects every day. It keeps you on your toes. You have to quickly understand the way they work and what their goals are in order to support their business. I really believe that every day is a school day.
Starting my own business is definitely helping me to master the art of learning and adapting to any situation that is thrown my way.
One thing I never thought about before starting The Office Elf was the infinity of tools that now exists to do pretty much any tasks (Administration, Productivity, Project management, CRM, Website…) and that I would have to learn them all!
I know some virtual assistants prefer to specialise in a set of tools and become Masters at it. Personally, I really enjoy discovering the tools that the company I support uses. You get to test them out, see the potential and the limits of each one. You then have the capacity to offer advice to new customers about which tools to use according to their needs and their skills.
You have to remember, as wonderful as some of these tools are, it’s not worth putting a really complicated project management platform in place if your staff won’t look at it. Always involve your staff when it comes to new tools or platform; work with them to get the most of any new process you put in place.
I came across a couple of platforms recently that I’ve never used before: Monday.com and HubSpot.
Monday.com seems like a good project management platform for SME. I really like the tags features, pinging your colleagues and having your To-Do list ready for you.
HubSpot is a great CRM platform that you can personalise easily.
Both are user-friendly and the import/export functions are simple to use.
What about you? Any tools you’ve discovered recently that changed the way you work or collaborate with your colleagues?
Feel that we could be a good professional match?
More info on The Office Elf Website