We all have them, the jobs that have been left until it gets quiet, the jobs that you meant to get started on a bit earlier but somehow September suddenly became December and where did the time go? And, of course, there’s the jobs that are a bit more seasonal in nature. If you’re facing the end of the year with nothing but stress, here are a few ideas on how a Virtual Assistant could help you with all some of those end of year jobs.
Planning
While planning is something that seems like more of a new year thing, if you leave it until January to start planning, you’ll be halfway through February before you really get to put anything into practice. To get a head start on the year and be ready to put your plans into practise at the start of the year, get your Virtual Assistant to help with:
- Documenting your goals for next year in a format you find inspiring (to-do lists, spreadsheets, Pinterest boards, a vision board)
- Brainstorming processes, milestones etc
- Researching data, best practice, guidelines
- Diarising KPIs and milestones so you don’t forget them
- Being an accountability partner throughout the year to help keep you on track
Sending cards and gifts
At this time of year most businesses send out cards and/or gifts to their clients and suppliers. It can be a very time consuming process if it’s done properly, a very messy process if it’s not. If you want to make sure you get it right, without spending a week on the process get your Virtual Assistant to:
- Purchase cards for the business
- Create a mail merge for address labels
- Purchase gifts online
- Organise couriers to deliver gifts
- Update your CRM with who was sent what so you know for next year
Tidy up projects
How many projects did you start during the year and not finish because something came up? Now is the perfect time to look at them and decide which ones need to be shelved and which ones are worth finishing. Then get your Virtual Assistant to help get them wrapped up over the quiet period. Some of the ways they can help include:
- Research processes and resources for a new way of doing things
- Research client demand for new products and services
- Implement website and social media changes such as a new logo or branding
- Get reports from your CRM of customers missing important information and follow-up with sales reps, or clients to make sure all customer records are complete
- Create a spreadsheet to track time, money, stock, client queries or anything else you need to get a handle on
Backup admin team
Lastly, your Virtual Assistant can help back up your existing admin team. Some of the ways a Virtual Assistant could back up your admin team include:
- Cover for staff who are on leave
- Allow everyone on-site to attend a Christmas party
- Provide a little extra admin support during a busy time
- Help finalise end of year files and accounts
- Work with admin and customer service staff to create procedure and training manuals and update website FAQ’s and internal knowledge bases.
That’s just a few of the ways a Virtual Assistant could help you handle all those end of year jobs. What would you most like someone to take off your hands at this time of year? Besides the whole stressful parts of Christmas that is!
If you’d like some more ideas, check out my other How A VA Can Help posts
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