A woman in technology whom I admire
24.March, 2009
This post is in celebration of Ada Lovelace Day which has been organised to showcase women in technology.
Well the lady whom I most admire actually passed in 2003. Her name is Dr. Anita Borg and she was a Ph.D. in Computer Science. When she received her doctorate in 1981 she was one of the few women computer scientists.
As a leading and exeptional woman scientist she strove her entire working life to encourage women into the Science and Technology Sector. She did this by setting up her own instiute to further this cause. The Institute for Women in Technology (now called The Anita Borg Institute since her passing). The aims of this institute are to:
- increase the impact of women on all aspects of technology, and
- increase the positive impact of technology on the world’s women.
She also got involved in US policy making when she was appointed to the Presidential Commission on the Advancement of Women and Minorities in Science, Engineering, and Technology by Bill Clinton in 1999.
Anita has left an amazing legacy for the women who follow in her footsteps. The institute and Anita’s work is so well thought of that industry has continued to sponsor it’s efforts to bring changes and help women overcome the barriers that they face when attempting to enter and climb the ladder in the world of science and technology.
Executive Gifts - A Food Hamper to Remember
19.May, 2009
As a virtual p.a. clients often ask me to source executive gifts for their clients. It can be a fairly hard task given that you don’t necessarily know your client or your client’s client very well. This is where I find a food Hamper can come across as a very thoughtful gift if you tailor it to your clients likes and dislikes as well as their clients likes and dislikes.
What you need to do is to compare your client’s personal profile, their business profile and their client’s profile so that you can generate a list of options for your client’s approval. Two important things to bear in mind before you start and whilst your task is in progress:
- Your cultural gift ideas may differ to those of your clients or the client’s client. You have to do your research really carefully because it is your client’s reputation that is at stake.
- If your client’s client works for a large corporation you need to check out their guidelines for corporate gifts. You should also check out any local, state or national laws covering such gifts.
Keeping the above information in mind here are some tactics that you can employ to match the food hamper to the client’s client:
- Complete your standard client questionnaire form for the client’s client by carrying out some research; question your client, search on the internet, through local Chambers of Commerce and through the local business pages. If you are able, to you could even call the p.a. for the client’s client and make some tactful enquiries. This should help you identify some of their interests.
- Determine what sort of impression your client is trying to achieve i.e. casual, professional, chummy.
Once you have a completed profile you can start to make some educated guesses about the type of food hamper to send. As in all business transactions quality and a personal and professional touch is key. The gifts that you source must be of high quality and they must be appropriate to the person that is going to receive it e.g. do not send alcohol to someone that doesn’t drink, do not assume that because they are in business they play golf, make sure that the food hamper is Halal or Kosher where necessary.
Once you have a shortlist of food hampers, send the options for your suggested gifts to your client for final approval. At this point you should discuss the presentation and delivery method ensuring that these options are as personal as possible and culturally appropriate.
This should get you through this thorny topic and ease some of the anxiety that can form whilst trying to complete this type of task.
eWeek Year in Review 2008
16.December, 2008
eWeek this week gave their roundup of 2008.
One interesting article of many was Eric Lundquist’s call for businesses to review their outsourcing strategy in these times of economic strife. He suggests that outsourcing is still the way to go but that businesses should be looking onshore for their partners rather than onshore. for the full article click here
Managing your Time
10.December, 2008
One of the most important ways to manage the time that you have available is to delegate tasks. A great book to set you on this road is First Things First.
Delegation can be done within your company but if you are a small to medium size business you will probably benefit more from outsourcing the tasks that you wish to delegate. See my previous post on the costs and time benefits of outsourcing tasks to Virtual Assistants, Virtual p.a. or Girl Fridays.
Tasks can be outsourced to Virtual Assistants, Virtual p.a. or Girl Fridays with relative ease. It isn’t like training up a new member of staff, they are consummate professionals with a wealth of experience. It is likely that they are fully conversant with any task you need carrying out. You can find assistance for all sectors from legal, medical, construction right the way through to the creative arts. Subscribe to my feed for future articles which will include the questions you need to ask when hiring a Virtual Assistant, Virtual p.a. or Girl Friday.
If you are a small to medium size business by delegating all or some of your administrative tasks you will find yourself with more time to concentrate on sales or product creation. Following the entire process through you will also find yourself in a better position to enable work-life balance.
As we look forward to 2009 and review our goals and objectives there is no better time to start thinking outside the box about how we run our businesses. We need to find a competitive advantage in these hard times. If you only make one New Year’s resolution about your working life why not make it to find away to change the way you do things for the better!
Why use a Girl Friday, Virtual p.a. or a Virtual Assistant?
10.December, 2008
Lots of people ask me why on earth someone would want to utilize a virtual assistant. The reasons are many and varied but in the end the biggest 2 factors are time savings and cost. The following is extracted from some research that was carried out in the USA which paints a very clear picture and is food for thought in our present economic climate.
|
Cost Comparison (£) |
Full-time employee |
Virtual Assistant |
|
Hourly rate of pay |
12.00 |
£25.00 |
|
Fringe benefits @ 35% |
5.00 |
None |
|
Overhead rate @ 50% |
7.00 |
None |
|
Total effective rate of pay |
24.00 |
25.00 |
|
**Hours per year |
2,080 |
480 |
|
TOTAL Annual labour cost |
52,000 |
12,000 |
Difference = £40,000 per year
By hiring a Virtual Assistant, you SAVE £40,000 per year!
Although the Virtual Assistant’s hourly rate is more than the employee’s rate in the first place, you save the cost of benefits and overhead that would have to be applied to the new employee’s wage. And, because Virtual Assistants are usually more experienced, more efficient, and better connected than the employee, you’ll need to devote far less time to the project to get the same results: an average of 480 hours a year versus 2,080 for the new employee.
Don’t forget you are also making savings on training costs, equipment costs and software costs.
**Remember, with a Virtual Assistant, you only pay for the time on task by the minute! No more paying for socializing, hour-long lunches, or frequent trips to the restroom.
Your employee’s 8-hour day can be crunched into 3-4 hours with a Virtual Assistant.
Simply put, you should contract with a Virtual Assistant because it’s more cost-effective and Virtual Assistants go above and beyond the normal assistant’s duties to impact your own productivity. As small business owners themselves, Virtual Assistants understand the importance of effective time management. And since your bottom line directly affects the Virtual Assistant’s bottom line, s/he has a vested interest in helping your business succeed.
No task is too big or small for a Virtual Assistant to handle. Even if you only have one hour of work a month for a Virtual Assistant to do, a VA can (and will) do it.
*Source: Virtual Assistant Networking Association (VANA) Cost Comparison - The Largest Global Network Online for Successful and Aspiring Virtual Assistants.