So, you escaped your office cubicle to start your own business, and it is going fabulously. Now you are focused on what you have always wanted to do, you got numerous emails and clients at your doorstep, everything is going as planned, except there is one thing that isn’t going as it should be.
When you left your office, you weren’t able to bring your administrative assistance with you. Now that you are all by yourself, you are doing assistance work piled up with your own work. You might find yourself booking flights and spreadsheets in the middle of the night. These administrative tasks are tying up your time and keeping you occupied from doing your business work.
Or maybe you are a successful office assistant who is somehow tired of balancing the commute and office day with your family needs. You might like to have more control over your routine. Perhaps you want to live on a beach or in the mountains.
Whether you are an overwhelmed entrepreneur or an office worker longing for more control over your time, a virtual office assistant might be the solution. These virtual assistants can take over vital administrative tasks and can give an entrepreneur time to focus on doing the work he does best and bringing in new business.
So, basically, what does a virtual office assistant do? How much do they cost, and how can you use staff timer while you are hiring a remote virtual assistant? Keep reading and find out, starting with what exactly a virtual assistant does for you.
How does a virtual assistant work?
A virtual office assistant is self-explanatory, it is an independent contract worker who provides administrative, creative and technical supports. Usually, that means handling the same types of tasks as an office secretary or a manager, though doing them from a home office.
The following are some of the key tasks that are performed by virtual office assistants.
Manage spreadsheets and customer contacts.
Setting up meetings and maintaining the calendar.
Handle travel arrangements.
Reaching out to the newsletter through emails.
Organize and ship proposals and meeting materials.
Take care of client inquiries by phone or email.
Where does the Staff Timer App come in?
Now that you know what virtual assistant is and what are his responsibilities. You can find a lot of freelance virtual assistants on websites like UpWork and Fiverr. Whether you are hiring a virtual assistant or you are one yourself, staff timer can ease your work in both conditions.
With Staff Timer you can show your client your work schedule. In addition, with Stafftimer’s easy reporting, you can update your client with ongoing work and other tasks that are in pipeline. If you are working as a virtual assistant on multiple platforms, you can make projects on staff timer app, for example, you ought to choose to work 2 hours on Fiverr and 2 hours on UpWork, Staff timer’s task management can assist your way through.
On the other hand, if you are hiring a remote assistant for your office you can take advantage of numerous features of the Staff timer app. The most significant of them is cost-efficiency. Though there are plenty of other free timer apps, you can deliberately tell why they are free. With staff timer, you can know what your assistant is currently up to with only $2.99/user/month in real-time. If you want to assign any new task to your assistant just add it up to their tasks and you will know when they have started working on it and how much time they took to complete it.
You can save up to 90% cost with this app and make your virtual assistant’s cost fully utilized.
How to give Staff timer app screen capture permissions on MacOS Catalina
With macOS Catalina (10.15), Apple introduced new security and privacy features for your Mac. To ensure that Staff timer app is able tocapture screenshots of your screen, you will need to grant our app access. Please follow the steps below to do that:
Step 1
Go to your system preferences
Step 2
Click the icon labeled Security & Privacy.
Step 3
Click the Privacy tab at the top, then select Screen Recording from the left-hand column. Finally, check the box next to Staff Timer App to allow our app to capture your screen.
Step 4
Accessibility
Staff Timer App must also be checked in accessibility for an average rate to work – on your mac go to system preferences > security and privacy > privacy > accessibility and checkmark Staff Timer App.
Please restart Staff Timer App after following the above steps.
Note*
If by any chance you’re not seeing Staff Timer App in Accessibility or Screen Recording, restart your Mac and try again – that should do the trick. If it’s still not showing, please submit a radar with Apple here using the Feedback Assistant as this is a known issue with macOS 10.15.
India has a large pool of talented freelancers and thus people are always looking to find the cheapest way to send money to India from USA. You might wonder why people would want to hire a workforce from another country. The reason is simple. An increasing number of businesses are looking to hire remote employees to save money on workplace costs. And this trend is only going to grow bigger as more and more companies become aware of its positive effects.
But every rose has its thorn. There are numerous difficulties with remote employees as well. One of the major ones is choosing the best payment option. This article is going to outline some of the best ways to send money to India.
Things Are Now Easier
It’s now very easy to send money to India. There are so many options out there that it becomes difficult to choose the best one for your needs. All these different options have their own advantages and disadvantages. It’s important to do thorough research first before coming to a final decision. When sending money to India, here’s what you should look for:
Speed. How quickly do you want the money to be sent? The rates will differ depending on how fast or slow you want your transactions to be.
Exchange rate. Keep your finger on the pulse of exchange rates. Be sure to get the best possible rates of yourself.
Fees. If you send money from bank-to-bank then it shouldn’t add fees. Don’t pay more than you should and avoid using cards.
Convenience. It might appear as a luxury but you still have to take convenience into account. If there’s an app that makes things easier then take advantage of its features.
Best Way to Send Money to India from USA
There are no absolutes when talking about payment processing. Some of the best ways to send money to India include:
ACH Transfer
An Automated Clearing House (ACH) transfer might just be the cheapest way to send money to India from the US. You just need to send money from your bank using an ACH transfer. The recipient should get it within 4 working days. There are no additional fees or trips to the bank involved, saving you lots of time and money.
According to this article, “The most common uses of ACH are online bill payment, mortgage and loan repayment, and direct deposit of payroll. ACH payments are an efficient and cost-reducing alternative to paper checks and credit cards. On the Internet, ACH is primarily used for person-to-person (P2P), business-to-customer (B2C), and business-to-business (B2B) payments.”
Pros:
Brings an element of convenience because of the one-time process.
Usually free at some banks or money transfer services while only incurring small fees at others.
Cons:
Not the ideal option if you require a fast transfer.
TransferWise
TransferWise offers a cheap way to transfer money from the US to over 70 Countries, India included. Its exchange rates are some of the best you’ll find. But like many other transfer services, TransferWise isn’t the best option if speed is a priority.
According to this Telegraph article, “If your business transfers money overseas regularly, TransferWise can help save you money by giving you access to the real mid-market rate of exchange, and charging only a small, fixed fee for the transfer. You can get a TransferWise multi-currency borderless account for business, which holds balances in more than 40 currencies, to send and receive payments all over the world.”
Pros:
Relatively cheap because of the mid-market exchange rates. For example, to send $1000 to India, you’ll incur $8.94 in fees.
It has an app and website that makes this convenient.
The minimum transaction amount is £2.
Cons:
Takes about 3 working days to transfer money from NA to India
Unexpected delays in transfers
Additional documents required for some transactions
Money Orders
Money orders are paper documents, like checks, that are used for payments. They are prepaid and only available when after a buyer pays for the money order with cash or some other form of guaranteed funds.
Many banks offer this service and charge very small rates. To cash the checks, some form of ID is required. If lost, the full amount can be easily recovered.
Money orders are ideal for situations where using cash, check, or digital app isn’t viable.
Pros:
A safer option than cash
Won’t bounce like checks for insufficient funds
Cons:
You’ll have to go in-person to your bank or dealer
Mobile deposits aren’t allowed by all banks
Wire Transfer
Wire Transfer is one of the oldest transaction methods out there, existing for over 50 years. If you chose this method then you’ll have to go over to your bank or some other agency in order to complete the transaction.
When you completely provide all the necessary information about the recipient to your bank, they’ll initiate the transfer.
Most banks have a wire transfer service but you’ll still have to check with your bank to get accurate information on the whole process. Plus, services like Western Union also offer “wire transfers”.
Pros:
It offers quick service, mostly within 24 hours.
Cons:
You’ll have to pay for a fee for the quick service, usually within $10-35 USD.
Not very secure as once payments are sent, they can’t be stopped.
MoneyGram
You might have heard of MoneyGram already. It’s a pretty big player in the international money and remittance market. Every day, hundreds of thousands of customers use MoneyGram to transfer their funds.
Its popularity is due to its fast and secure transactions. However, these transactions incur a slightly higher fee than some other transfer services.
When the time comes to hand over or collect actual cash, transfer services like MoneyGram is at the forefront of people’s minds.
Pros:
Very quick service that allows recipients to get the money within 24 hours.
It has at least 347,000 local agents in over 200 countries.
It is well-known for its security and reliability.
Cons:
It has higher fees than other transfer services.
Hidden currency conversion can cost around $10.
Different countries have different required documents.
Western Union
Western Union is so popular that it is practically a household name now. This transfer service’s popularity is mainly due to its dependability, convenience, and ease-of-use.
You’ll find a Western Union branch in almost every country, even offering a local withdrawal option. But where there is light, there is darkness. Transfers through Western Union may take varying amounts of time, some transfers may even take a week.
Western Union is best used for one-off transactions, money orders, and selling online.
Pros:
The app is convenient and easy-to-use.
For pickup, over 125,000 in India alone.
Cons:
Slow transfer but can be increased with additional fees
Not viable for small transactions
PayPal
PayPal is one of the biggest names in payment processing. The reason why you’re able to transfer money without the use of a credit card or bank account is all thanks to PayPal.
With PayPal, the sender doesn’t incur any fees but the recipient may have to cover a small fee. The service is mobile-friendly, making money transfers easier.
Pros:
Its sign-up process is free and easy.
Can be integrated with several third-party solution providers
Supports multiple currencies, including the Indian Rupee.
The process is very secure thanks to online encryption.
Cons:
It is not entirely free as there is a fee for each transaction.
Not suitable for large sales as there is an increase in fees along with an increase in transactions.
Countless stories of account freezing in which customers couldn’t access their account and money after being flagged down as risky or involved in fraudulent activities.
You’ll have to pay extra charges for complete features and benefits.
Personal Checks
Personal checks might not be as popular as some of the other aforementioned options but they do represent one of the safest options. Why? Well, the check cannot be cashed by a random person because the recipient has to show his/her ID. Plus, checks that don’t reach their destinations can be easily canceled.
Checks might be old-school but they still have some use in today’s world. Some small businesses, landlords and real estate people still accept checks.
Pros:
It provides security as the checks are written and verified.
It can be easily canceled at any time.
Cons:
Foreign checks might not be accepted by some banks
Exchange rates might need to be paid by the recipient
Key Takeaways
You’ll most likely find the best and cheapest way to send money to India from our list of transfer services. But what is best for some may not be ideal for others so take your circumstances into account before making a final decision.
Do share the article with others if you personally found it helpful. Best of luck!
Managing a team has always been a very tricky job. However, there are some things that you can do to get the most out of your staff. Today we’re going to learn how to use Trello for project management. This tool can help us manage all kinds of job responsibilities and tasks, regardless of how many employees are a part of your team.
Now when we’re talking about responsibilities, we’re not talking about a daily to-do list. We’re talking about job roles or the type of things that you might find on a job description. So without any further ado, let’s get into it.
What is Trello?
In Trello’s own words:
“It’s a collaboration tool that gives you a visual overview of what is being worked on, who is working on it, and how far they’ve gotten.”
It’s essentially an online corkboard. It is used to organize “cards” into lists – these cards can be tasks, notes, projects, shared files, or anything else that can help you and your team collaborate better. The idea behind Trello is simple: effective team management needs full transparency over important tasks and flexibility to change or rearrange them if necessary.
Trello will provide you with more:
Organization
Cohesion
Accountability
Sanity
Visualization
With Trello board at your disposal, you’ll be able to create order in your work by organizing it into a list of cards. You can quickly rearrange them if the situation asks for it. This makes it a great tool for team management, both in-house and remote.
Trello will solve the problem of:
Long email threads
Unproductive meetings
Project clarification
Transparency
Absent-mindedness
If you’re using email or chat for task-based communication, Trello will prove to be a great replacement. Team members can learn all about a task just from reading a card. Plus, all discussions about a project can also take place right there. With all the information in one place, it becomes easier to:
Keep everything on track
Observe what is being done
See previous chats
Anatomy of Trello
Trello consists of three main things:
Boards: A Trello board is a big black space used to organize a project or process i.e. monthly tasks, department responsibilities, campaign launch plans
Lists: Trello lists are items that make up a project i.e. to-do list, completed tasks
Cards: Trello cards make up a list and contain further details about a specific item
How to use Trello for project management
The not-so-well-hidden secret behind Trello’s massive success is how quickly it allows its users to customize it according to their needs. However, this open secret is exactly why Trello can be a tad bit intimidating at first.
A blank Trello board can fill you with the exact same trepidation experienced when seeing a blank Word document. But where there is darkness, there is light.
We’ll teach you some of the best Trello practices out there. Soon you’ll be a Trello expert in no time, allowing you to effectively manage your in-house and remote teams.
Upload a Unique Background to Your Board
Don’t let that this simple practice deceive you into thinking that its just style with no substance.
Customizing your board is a productivity technique. How you may ask? Let us explain.
How many tabs do you open in your browser? We bet that you open a lot.
Simultaneously opening lots of tabs leads to inefficiency. These tabs are so small that you will need to open each one to remember what’s inside them. This is where custom Trello backgrounds come into play.
Even when the tabs are small, you’ll still be able to recognize the Trello boards as the app’s website icon will look like the design of a board’s custom background.
Be Clear About the Use of Your Boards
Before you make a board, be clear about its use. Don’t go crazy creating cards without creating a list first.
Also, be clear about the point of your board. Is it being used to store information or track progress?
A board consisting of information should have lists organized by topics.
But if you’re creating a board to track some process or someone’s progress, it’s better to define each list as a different stage in the cycle. As Trello reads from left to right, you should place the first stage list on the left and go from there.
Assign Big Projects Their Own Boards
Don’t cram multiple projects inside one board. That’s a recipe for disaster. It will inevitably overwhelm your team members result in bottlenecks, lack of accountability and slower projects.
To avoid cramming, create boards based on short-term projects and goals. An archive that project once it reaches its eventual conclusion. This will make it disappear from existence and you can concentrate on your next project.
Each Board’s Workflow Should Be Clear
Plan your board in advance. You should know:
Where a card should go
When a card is ready to be switched
When a card is supposed to be archived
The workflow will not be smooth if your project isn’t planned in advance. To make things difficult, each team member will probably use the board in their own way.
So how can everyone stay on the same page? Well, you can make the first list of every board an “About Board”.
Don’t Forget to Use Trello with Another Tool
Trello is a great tool but there is no app in this world that can do everything. You need to use Trello with other tools like Google Docs and Microsoft Word.
For example, if a card represents an article that is completed, attach that article so that other members can easily view it.
Key Takeaways
Trello is a very powerful tool that can help you complete and collaborate on projects. It may look a little daunting at first but once you get a handle on the different functionalities, the app will make your life easier.
If you found this article helpful, feel free to share it with people who may not know about Trello and its amazing features!
Additional Business and Data Privacy Trends Resources:
Want to learn more about Business and Productivity trends,
Stripe is an excellent credit card processor for online-only businesses. If you have experience as a developer then it’s very fast and easy to implement.
You must have heard about Stripe in recent years. Founded by brothers Patrick and John Collison in 2010, Stripe processes billions of dollars annually in online transactions. Yeah, turns out PayPal isn’t the only payment processor on the block. There are other options that are just as good or even better.
Stripe is a payment processor that supports the electronic transfer of cash from a customer’s bank (issuing bank), into a merchant’s bank (acquiring bank) as payment for goods or services bought with a credit card. Stripe stands out for its quick and easy solution for receiving payments from all over the world. It’s a great platform for freelancers and remote teams.
In this article, learn how to use Stripe to receive and send payments from all over the globe. It’s a quick and easy platform for freelancers and remote teams.
What Makes Stripe Standout Among Remote Teams?
Stripe is an excellent credit card processor for online-only businesses. If you have experience as a developer then it’s very fast and easy to implement. With Stripe’s API, it’s possible to build your own e-commerce environment. But one of the major disadvantages of Stripe is that it doesn’t support PayPal payments.
Stripe’s biggest attraction is it’s easy and free API. This is why it’s a big hit among developers. This allows small companies with development resources to build out custom experiences for their e-commerce site.
But, this can be disadvantageous for small companies that have no developers or budget to hire a freelancer coder. They have to integrate Stripe through the use of another e-commerce platform. These are certainly easier for non-technical companies to set up but they will cost extra.
Stripe asks a standard 2.9% + $0.30 fee for managing online credit card transactions. There are enterprise volume discounts for businesses that have $80,000 or more in monthly sales. Unfortunately, Stripe currently does not offer credit card processing services for offline retail stores.
Integrations
It would be negligent of us if we didn’t mention all the different applications Stripe integrates with (or has a plug-in for). We won’t mention all of them here, but you can be rest assured that they offer the full range from popular accounting, analytics, and automation tools to chat, marketing and business operations services.
Now without any further ado, let’s see how you can create a free Stripe account.
Creating Your Free Stripe Account
Go hereand register your free account on Stripe. Fill the form and click on ‘Create your Stripe account’. They’ll ask ‘How do you want to get started with Stripe?’. Click ‘Skip for now’ at the bottom of the page. Also, don’t forget to confirm your email address.
Since you’ll be receiving and paying through your Stripe account, it’s important to enter details like address and bank account number.
Go to your Stripe dashboard and click on ‘Activate your account’.
Fill in all the required fields.
Don’t worry if your activation form is different. It varies depending on the country.
Enabling Stripe Connect
Stripe Connect is used by marketplaces, platforms, and remote teams to receive money and pay third-parties. Here’s how you can enable Stripe Connect features with customer accounts.
Note: If your company is based in the US, Stripe will review your platform account before granting you access. Read this article to know how to apply for Stripe connect review.
If you’re from another country then follow these steps:
Go to the Marketplace drop-down menu
Tap ‘Connect’ from the list
Click on the ‘Get started’ button
Wait a few seconds to see the Connect dashboard
Tap ‘Settings’ and then ‘Connect settings’
Enable ‘Custom’ in ‘Account types’
Getting your API keys from Stripe
Now you’re all set to get your API keys and input them into the marketplace. To do so, follow these steps:
Go to ‘Developers’ in the left-hand menu
Click on ‘API keys’
You’ll find two keys in ‘Standard keys’, publishable key and secret key.
Stripe is a very good online-only credit card processor that has some of the fairest processing rates and very few additional costs. It’s free and simple API is excellent for businesses and remote teams whose developers can afford to build a custom online e-commerce experience. Unfortunately, businesses that don’t have any technical resources will have to pay extra in order to get a separate e-commerce solution.
Time management apps are becoming increasingly common due to rising demand. Every business enterprise or startup is concerned about maintaining productivity levels, and that is only possible through an efficient time tracking or project management system.
It gives an accurate picture and insight into employee’s productivity and manifests their peak performance levels. Time monitoring apps bring-in more cost efficiency and transparency into businesses thus generating more revenue than ever before.
Here we are detailing 10 best time management apps in 2020 that you will need to save and manage your time:
Slack – collaboration and communication
Slack is one of the most used management apps that companies prefer. It is basically a tool for communication and collaboration. Slack offers shared channels with search options. It can be integrated with numerous other project management app(s). These are some of the features that make the work convenient and staff members located around the world can connect with each other.
You can pin messages and refer to channels
Manage and track documents
Advanced search option
Shared channels to streamline work activities
It’s especially good if you are located in workspaces scattered around the country or world even. You can communicate and coordinate across businesses or units of the same business that require secure communication. Not only this, you can easily streamline your sidebar through it.
For instance, if you need to send frequent messages to some channels more than another. You can make them ascend in the sidebar to ease the process for you. Google calendar app can be integrated to keep your schedule on track.
Stafftimer App is one of the best time management apps available in this competitive market of time trackers. It assists global teams and also remote workers to track their productivity.
There are some unique features offered on this app which include the following:
Real-time monitoring
Task assignment via voice clips
Intelligence reports
Daily work image & video logs
Instant screen capture
Keystroke & mouse activity
The screenshot feature is optional for example if an employee is involved in fieldwork and employers can simply opt-out of screenshot capture feature and just track the time alone.
With audio clips process of assigning tasks is expediated in an unprecedented manner. Lengthy emails are outdated now. Even feedback is given via this method. This saves time for both an employer and an employee. On the other hand, Real-time monitoring is a live screen sharing with an employee. An employer can actually visualize, what his staff member is up to? Similarly, intelligence reports will provide insights into how much time was spent on different URLs.
Above all, daily work videos provide employees with an overview of their whole day’s progress. It has a user-friendly interface and convenient for every significant industry like legal, healthcare, accounting, designing, accounting or even freelancing. So if you want to make time tracking your habit, it’s for you.
Staff timer app provides on-demand integrations with any software of your choice.
Asana is one of the most commonly known and popular products available for project management. It helps you monitor and track your goals and projects to further your business. It helps you decide, and handle your priorities and projects in a structured way.
You can assign tasks and then watch them progress. Never miss deadlines by creating a timeline so you never miss out on anything. There are 100 integrations that help you bring every useful file and document in one place.
Activity feed
Automatic updates on emails
Track tasks and add followers
Comment on tasks
You can track the most important or urgent tasks based on customized preferences. Create projects and teams private to protect sensitive information.
Evernote is one of the best time managing solutions for note-taking especially if you are not organized and feel lost when you are unable to locate your required document. No matter what device you use, it will store and retain your most important information.
There are various methods through which you can store your information with Evernote:
You can type notes, take photos or even add voice notes
Less hassle in organizing or searching the notes
You can create notebooks that are folders precisely
It does offer an interesting feature of tracking data with the help of geolocation which means you can trace data based on the location when you entered it. Asana has an optical character recognition function that caters to images you upload with text on them. For example, a handwritten note whose image you took and added.
Remember the milk is a kind of virtual assistant for managing your time and tasks. It offers a smart list option that sets a distinction between personal and professional tasks. It helps you to:
Update task
Create subtasks
Set deadlines ranging from days, months, & years
You can share tasks and lists with others. It’s a free-to-use app unless you subscribe to its premium features. Pro users can add unlimited users, restrict access to edit, and can work in offline status as well.
Platform: Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Microsoft Edge, Mac, Windows, Linux, iOS, Android, Blackberry, Fire, Apple Watch
Todoist is one of the strongest task managers that can handle things from simple domestic task to an important and professional one. It’s one of the most suitable time management apps for both business teams or individuals like freelancers. It can handle both basic and advanced level tasks.
Some of its key features are:
SSL secured connection
Task priorities
Projects and subprojects
Active projects can be 80 with 5 members at maximum in each
It offers more than 100 integrated tools. Todo-ist is available on most of the devices with the consistent design shown on all of them. You can pin your important projects, label or filter them accordingly.
Platforms: Mac, Windows, Android, Chrome, Safari, Linux
Basecamp is one of the most popular project management applications. It doesn’t only keep to-do lists, but also keep notes, files and events’ schedules as well. This app holds central importance for task organization. It has a user-friendly interface with a one-month free subscription.
Its benefits include:
Transparent management and accountability
More efficient communication and coordination
Updated customizations and integrations
Every project depicts outdated to-do tasks and stores all the files associated with each of the tasks even if the deadline has exceeded. Basecamp is suitable for companies of all sizes and even for remote workers.
Many renowned multinationals are its clients. This task manager is supported in multiple languages and an ideal fit for globally sparsed teams.
Trello is an extremely user-friendly task management software that gives an impression of a whiteboard. It’s free of cost and you can create multiple boards with your to-do lists, along with ‘doing’ and ‘done’ task cards.
Quick overview
Drag and drop function
Easy to organize with tags and labels
There are cards within boards where one can add tasks and set the due date as needed. Collaborations are simplified with this software. With the free version, one can have an unlimited number of boards, cards, checklists, and attachments. You can remove or delete the cards from the boards and can rename them anytime. Besides you can add as many members as you like into them.
This software provides seamless integrations with google docs and dropbox.
Dropbox is one of the most widely known and popular file-sharing options. It’s considered the most prestigious document storage and sharing software. It is suitable for both businesses and individuals’ needs.
With the help of cloud storage, it makes the entire process extremely convenient for accessing, storing and retrieving files.
Simplified link sharing via email, chat or even a text
Provide offline access
Online backup and file retrieval
Manually determined bandwidths
Accessible from any device
Dropbox offers a successful and trend-setting referral program. Through which 500MB storage is obtained with every referral. There are numerous software that allows data sharing but not as efficient as dropbox even that, for free.
Proof hub brings in many features to eliminate the need of subscribing to numerous apps for task management solutions. It tries to develop a centralized location for communication, project management, and handle teams efficiently.
Workflows and boards
Mobile and tablet compatibility
Advanced search
Multiple languages
It helps you upload your documents easily from a centralized location. No more hassle to manage documents through email. It is a reporting software that presents a report on how the resources were used and give the insight to track the progress of various projects.
Remote members can use it to discuss and share ideas with each other as it also serves as a communication tool.
There is no denying that the freelance market is appealing to many professionals all over the world. According to a 2019 study on a US-based independent workforce, the freelance market generates nearly $1 trillion in income. That’s almost 5% of the US GDP.
A 2018 Entrepreneur article reports that there are over 57 million Americans working as freelance professionals as of 2017. Considering the numerous advantages freelance employment brings to the table. That number will definitely rise in the future.
However, even the most hardworking and diligent freelance workers are not immune to procrastination and distractions. Poor productivity is a constant issue for many business organizations that employ freelance workers, mostly remote teams from all over the world. Missed deadlines and late submissions from your freelance workforce can set you back and even cost your business its precious clients and projects.
The good news is that productivity issues are easy to fix. With the following productivity strategies, you can expect your freelance workforce to deliver high-quality output at a productive rate.
Use Time Trackers
Time Tracking Software and apps are not new. However, they are still highly effective tools to keep productivity up in the workplace. The same can be said for professional freelancers and remote teams.
Many companies require their independent workers to install a time tracker on their devices. Many solutions provide a customizable freelance time tracking template that managers can configure so it tracks or records specific information such as hours worked, time spent on breaks, and averages.
Workers log in before their designated work schedule or project-related tasks. They then log out after their shift or once their tasks are accomplished.
Many time trackers are built to document not just hours but record the time spent on work down to the last second or minute. This is an effective productivity strategy especially if your organization bill your workers by the hour.
Activate Random Screen Capture
You can’t monitor your freelance worker’s progress all the time. Yet you want to make sure he or she is spending working hours on actual work. That’s understandable. Your company doesn’t want to pay for unproductive hours.
One way of ensuring your freelance employees are indeed working during their supposed working hours is to capture images of their screens at random times. It helps identify who is working and who is spending their hours doing something else. Such a feature empowers your workers to devote all their billable time to work, driving productivity up.
You may settle for a free time tracking software for freelancers. However, if you want this feature, you may have to invest in premium productivity and time tracking suite.
Give Your Best Tasks and Projects to Top Performing Freelancers
You can create and cultivate a productive environment for your independent workers if you include a gamification element to your approach. Instead of just assigning tasks and projects to the next available worker, you can send your most critical and high-paying jobs to your best freelancers.
Publishing their names as well as their earnings on a leaderboard will definitely entice your freelance employees to perform better and turn in great results to rise up the ladder. Aside from boosting their performance and productivity, your freelance workers become more engaged and dynamic.
By adding an element of competition, you can empower your freelance workforce to prove their worth, which then translates to better results and improved productivity.
Limit or Block Access to Certain Sites and Social Media
There are numerous productivity apps for PC and mobile devices that can track time and capture screenshots at random moments. On top of that, you also want your productivity apps to limit or block your freelance workers’ access to specific websites and social media sites that cause distraction and fuel procrastination.
Such capability is quite useful, especially when social media sites have proven to take much from a worker’s productivity. That said, not all social media is bad for work. Some employees spend their break watching funny cat videos. Others use social media and other sites for research, communication, and collaboration purposes.
Companies should establish guidelines on social media usage by their freelance workers. Many of today’s work processes are built on online connectivity and access to the Internet. That means the complete banning of social media is not a viable option. While social media can be detrimental to a worker’s efficiency and productivity, it can also be a huge asset when utilized properly.
Automation, Collaboration, and Communication are Key
If you want to have a highly effective and productive team of freelancers, you need to put them in an environment that fosters effortless and painless automation, communication, and collaboration.
Your freelance employees don’t want to spend time typing their credentials whenever they open devices and log in to their respective accounts. Many productivity apps automate the logging in of multiple systems and different credentials.
Communication between and among your freelance employees should be instant and smooth. Instead of relying on lengthy email threads, replace them with real-time communication tools and task management platforms for faster and more effective communication, instruction, and deployment.
By centralizing tasks, information, contacts, and more, you can maximize your freelancers’ capabilities and talents, optimize processes, and deliver desired results.
Are you a manager struggling with managing a remote team? We are happy to help!
The future workplace is evolving, and the gig economy seems to be exponentially growing over the years. Work-life balance is of immense interest among employees in organizations, thus influencing retention rates. With preferences shifting towards flexible working hours, remote teams are becoming a significant part of our workforce.
Working remotely is relatively a new trend spreading across industries; It gives companies a chance to work with the best talent across the globe. However, while remote work provides ample benefits to employers and employees, there are also tons of challenges. For example, gaps in communication might frequently occur, more distractions, scheduling and managing time.
Sometimes, remote employees struggle to understand the project approach and often companies are concerned about creating a corporate culture, that too, remotely.
According to Owl Lab survey, employees who work from home at least once a month are 24% more likely to feel happy and productive at work than their desk-bound colleagues and companies that allow remote work see 25% less turnover than those who don’t.
But how can you manage remote teams?
Let’s explore these 5 ways to manage a remote team and lead them to success from afar:
Hire those you trust, trust those you hire!
Yes, sometimes it can be hard to trust someone that you have never seen or met before. But the very idea of working remotely is built on trust, you can’t make it work unless you trust the person on the other end of the line.
Remote employees can bring a lot of benefits to the companies along with quality work. So remote employers should reciprocate with trusting, and a patient attitude towards their employees. On the flip side, they get to trust you.
We know, worrying about getting something done, is only natural but micromanaging and not trusting your employees to work independently is out of the question.
As a supervisor, it is your job to understand how to best manage your remote employees without undermining their autonomy and ownership over their work. Let them be accountable, let them think and work independently.
Empower them.
What we are trying to say is; Trust the people you hire and then get ready for the fireworks!
Have ‘water-cooler’ communication chat-rooms
Again, as a supervisor, you need to be extremely good at communicating and understanding what’s happening within your remote team. Strong, effective communication is the key to success, and it is crucial for managing teams.
Coordinating and communicating the strategy with remote teams can be challenging. If not addressed properly, this communication gap can give rise to many unforeseen problems and in return, the progress may suffer. So it’s important you chat frequently.
Many companies are adopting live chat software solutions like Slack for internal communication.
So it’s better if you create a central communication ‘water-cooler’ channel for your remote employees where you can exchange ideas, greet each other, give feedback, share stories, in short, build relationships and then see how the communication flows!
Get Organized without losing it!
Getting organized is what’s important for the success of any business. Managing a number of projects on your own and working with teams across the globe can easily mess things up.
That’s why you need to have a proper structure. Set rules and organize data using a Project Management System such as Basecamp and make it available to the rest of the team to follow.
This way, you can see what others are working on, what’s in the pipeline and what’s done and delivered.
Arrange a Weekly Lunch n’ Learn session
Arrange regular meetings with your remote employees to see if all of you are still on the right page. These meetings will not only let you share feedback with your employees but also gives you a chance to say hi, to the people you don’t often get to see.
Moreover, the very idea of having a weekly lunch and learn session gives your remote employees a good chance to learn something new, share fun facts, or talk about their successes and failures.
Go time tracking (No Pun Intended)
One of the most common problems, when leading a team of remote employees is tracking time. If time is poorly managed, there is a good chance that the project may delay.
Because it’s not just about the final delivery, it’s about the quality as well and quality takes time. But the proliferation of tech gadgets and Time Tracking Software is making it easier for businesses to support remote teams.
It’s important to set clear yet achievable objects for your team and track their performance regularly. It will not only help you manage their time better but also they’ll be more productive.
Additionally, it gives them an opportunity to re-evaluate themselves, and analyze their abilities. At the same time, team leads can spot the weaker areas in their team members and suggest improvements.Tools such as Staff Timer App helps companies with trouble-free time tracking of their remote workers. We know that…
… managing remote teams requires patience, time and effort. As tiring as the whole process may sound for both employer and the employee, but once you streamline a working system, running a remote team becomes effortless and beneficial for the business, altogether.
Do you manage a remote team? Or have you ever managed a remote before? What challenges did you face? Share your tips on how to build and manage a remote team in the comments section below!
Hey Newbies! Are you working hard to successfully set up your career in the field of freelancing? Then you have come to the right place!
You have probably heard, maybe from your friends, that you should sell your ideas or your skills. Suppose you have a talent, we find 9 out of 10 people telling us ‘hey why don’t you make a living out of it’. Who doesn’t want to be a millionaire? Right!
As good as that sounds, we end up making silly mistakes just for the sake of it. Often it leads newbie freelancers to success but sometimes, straight into the pitfall. There is no denying the fact that mistakes are a part of the learning curve and it makes you enjoy your success even more! You look back and realize that you have come a long way and it feels good, undoubtedly.
As fancy as ‘freelancing’ may sound, but it is not an easy job, it’s not just about cashing your skills but polishing them as you grow! We have seen many freelancers making a career out of it, but some are not getting the desired results, even when they are working their head off!
Are you one of them? If yes. Learn about the biggest mistakes new freelancers make and how to avoid them. So, let’s get started.
Thinking that Freelancing is ‘Chill’. Uh, No?
The notion is flawed. Freelancing is not ‘chill’. We usually think about it in terms of ‘working from home’. Yes. It is basically that but it doesn’t make it any easier. You have to establish it like any new business by putting in a lot of effort, so taking it lightly means failure. Full-time job or not, you are still responsible for your work more than ever and also, delivering it on time.
Many a time, freelance was considered something you do on the side to make some extra cash. But things don’t work like that anymore. For some, it’s just extra cash but for the rest, freelancing is a career, a 24/7 job. So, it’s not ‘doing nothing’, it’s doing the work you love from anywhere you want.
Charging Random rates, because it feels right?
The dreaded money talks. No one likes it! We get it. But picking a random number because you think it feels right is a no-no. At the beginning of your career, it may be tempting to take what you can get and it may also help you land some gigs but in reality, you are undervaluing your talents.
So, rather than just setting random rates, high or low, have a proper pricing strategy and a structured approach. Now the question is, How much should you charge? Do some research, ask your peers who are already working in this field, or why don’t you just simply google it.
A piece of advice: charge ethically!
Work will not find you, you find work!
Now, this is one of the most common mistakes, we see new freelancers making often. After landing a few projects and some money in our bank accounts. We tend to take it easy and assume that work will find us since we have built a good reputation. But, no it doesn’t always work that way.
You have to establish your own online presence. It’s crucial that you take some time out and set aside a few hours to actively market yourself in order to secure some clients.
Being too greedy to say ‘NO’
We see money, we go crazy. In short, money drives people insane! But as a new freelancer, you should learn to say, NO and try not to pile up your plate with accepting more than you can handle. You want to challenge yourself, fair enough! But be realistic in your approach and maintain a manageable workload.
In order to save yourself from losing valuable clients, only take projects you think you can do, deliver high-quality work and on-time. Say No, if you can not deliver the expectations, no matter how good it may sound. It will save your potential client sometime. Do less but better and try not to be too greedy about it.
‘I got carried away and overspent’
It seems really fancy when you start a new job and get paid for the first time! You have a complete list of things you might wanna buy or do. Maybe it’s a movie you have been planning to go see for some time or want to buy a cardigan you like so much, followed by a long list. It’s easier to get carried away and exceed your usual budget. And it does make sense since you have worked hard for it!
We won’t stop you from doing that, but before you do that. Just have a retirement plan and save a small chunk every month. Freelancing comes with uncertainties. You can never be sure how much you’ll make every month or how many projects will you get. So be sure to have some savings to get you through rainy days.
The bottom line is…
There are many mistakes you will make when you’ll kick start your freelancing career and that’s normal. But you learn from your mistakes, once you do that, you will be off to a good start and more! Good luck.
