Celebrating Australian Office Professionals Day

May 4^th is Office Professionals Day in Australia.

Sometimes they  feel chained to the desk, other days they relish the challenges that face them. Some people label them with the unfair tag of office robots. The fact is office professionals often work in frantic conditions and still produce brilliant outcomes.

As a small thank you for everything they do I thought it was worth taking a moment to ask:

How Can Your Job Be Made Easier?

The question went out on social sound waves and what follows is a selection of the responses.

Let’s start with the comprehensive reply Paula Wynyard of Wynyard Business Solutions generously provided:

Thanks for the opportunity, a couple of the things you are able do to make your job easier are setting up systems and outsourcing.

By setting up systems, this allows you to follow the procedure you have put in place to get each task done, this will save you time and ensure nothing is forgotten.  After the completion of each task you know what you need to do next.  A Virtual Assistant can help you set up these systems, and using an outside party to assist with this, can be beneficial as you can an outsider’s opinion.

By outsourcing (or delegating) the jobs that aren’t your specialty, this can save you time and money.  Things that could be outsourced include administration (typing, spreadsheets, presentations, manuals etc), accounting, marketing etc.

For example, you have a manual or proposal to complete, a Virtual Assistant can proofread, edit and format to ensure you have a professional looking document to present.  As a VA specialises in this type of work the time taken by them to do this would be significantly less than if they had done it themselves, giving them more time to prepare for other parts of the presentation while this is being completed.

VAs believe that the absolute best job will not only help their own reputation but will also help to build the client’s business, with the hope of generating themselves more work.

Anne Clark of First Step Virtual Assistant also recommended outsourcing. 

Other responses tended to include both task oriented and client focused suggestions.

Gregory Powell, owner of Public Transport Guides suggested:

1. Pay for the books they have sold, and don’t have me ringing every two weeks chasing money.

2. A marketing plan, and if funds arent an issue, a marketing expert on board to help.

3. Learn to walk before you can run, a mistake I have seen many small businesses make.

Noam Judah of Top Rankings talked about getting the most from your investment.

 ‎1. Have a compelling ‘unique selling point’ in any product or service being offered.

2. Measure and track the return on investment of all marketing efforts both online and offline.

3. Boost productivity by shutting down outlook and only revisiting three times a day. (n/a to all professions of course)

Advisor on security services, Scott Humphrey suggested a wealth of ideas:

1. Hire a bookkeeper.

2. Find a mentor /coach.

3. Back up data on a regular basis.

4. Think about a business continuity plan.

5. Have income protection. Check on relevant insurances.

6. Try to come up with action plans every week.

7. Budget.

Of course there is no point asking how to make a job easier if you aren’t going to implement the suggestions given.

So what could you do from the lists above? Do you have other ideas?

Tell me how you are going to make your office worker’s life easier.

Pic Sources: 1. BLUEJAYWAY2011 2. Travis Isaacs 3.  _rockinfree