As the year progresses, thoughts turn to the time when people like to take summer holidays. For many businesses, holiday season can be a time when there’s a struggle to ensure work is covered, while staff are absent.
With many people planning their holidays in advance, many larger companies like to ensure that not too many people are away at the same time. It may be possible to arrange workload around holiday dates, but not every business has a quieter summer period. And sometimes, simply asking a student to come in and help out, is not the best option.
For smaller businesses, the stress of holiday cover is more serious. If there are only two, three or four people in the business, those not on holiday may struggle to cover the additional workload of others. And, as a result, customer service can suffer. Two weeks of absence can be a long time, if there is simply too much for the remaining members of staff to keep up with.
What’s the alternative? You could easily plan to cover holiday absence by asking for help from a virtual assistant. Hire a VA to help out, and they can cover all manner of administrative support, to keep the business running as efficiently as when nobody is on holiday.
A little planning will ensure that your remote virtual assistant is connected by email and phone to your office. Simply diverting telephones and email accounts ensures that the calls and emails to a staff member who is on holiday, will be responded to. Imagine using a professional VA to answer the calls of someone while they are on holiday: the virtual assistant can deal with urgent matters, advise callers when the staff member will return, and take notes relating to non-urgent items.
Using a virtual assistant is great value, because you only need to pay for their time, when you need it. Virtual assistants do not need to be accommodated in your premises, and have all the IT and other tools needed, to do the tasks you require. They are experienced at advising on such items as how to transfer calls, or forward emails.
So, it’s time to start planning now for your holidays. Don’t come back to a voicemail full of messages, and an email inbox that’s overloaded with urgent messages. This year, hire a virtual assistant, who can deal with your workload while you are away, enjoying a refreshing summer holiday break. Then, when you return, your blood pressure won’t return to its previous level, and you can continue to enjoy the summer, once you have returned to work.
Call now to find out more about hiring a VA to help you keep cool in the summer.