taylormade-services

Why you need a Virtual Assistant 2025

Wed, 18 Dec 2024 15:44:11 GMT

Why you need a Virtual Assistant

Are you stressed, overworked and exhausted with too much to do? Have you thought about offloading some, if not all, your admin jobs you don't have time for or don't like doing to someone else?

If not, why not? If yes, good!

Here are some benefits of hiring a Virtual Assistant?

A Virtual Assistant will deal with your administrative tasks so you don’t have to
A Virtual Assistant will not only keep on top of all your admin but can help you with your business ideas
Virtual Assistants are experienced at admin so will do it well
Meaning they can complete the task a lot quicker than you
You don’t have the expenditure of recruiting a permanent employee
Your stress levels will decrease because you will have the admin (you don’t have time for or don’t like doing) dealt with efficiently
Leaving you more time to focus on your business
Giving you more freedom to attend to your clients and attract new business
Enabling your business to grow

18 December 2024

Making the Job Offer

louise@taylormadeservices.org.uk (Louise Taylor) — Tue, 22 Jun 2021 07:17:09 GMT

Making the Job Offer

When you have decided on the candidate who you want to offer the role to, its important to carry out the next steps and make sure that you have your “ducks in a row” before calling the candidate and giving them the good news. It is a good idea to make the initial offer by telephone as it speeds up the process and gives a more personal touch.

Things to consider when making the call (and be ready to answer):

1. What salary are you going to offer; if there is a budget, what is the maximum figure you have in mind.

2. Your ideal start date.

3. The type of contract; permanent, zero hours, casual etc.

4. The job title and description. You should have these already prepared as these are what you have based your interviews on. However, sometimes you may be offering the candidate a role that is not be the one you interviewed them for. You may have even created the role specifically for the candidate.

5. Where will the employee be based? Now we are looking at more home-based roles, will their workplace be a mix of home and office? If so, do you need to stipulate how many days per week/month they work at the office?

6. Is the role full-time or part-time? What hours will they be working? Will it be shift work?

7. Who will be their line manager/who will they report to?

8. What is their annual leave entitlement? Are there any stipulations? For example, will they be unable to take annual leave during certain busy peak periods of the year? Does some of their annual leave have to be used over the Christmas period due to the company's shut down?

9. Will they be entitled to any bonuses or benefits, for example healthcare, company car etc?

10. Are there any career prospects that may help you “sell” the job offer?

11. Ensure, during your telephone call, that you explain the job offer is conditional (on references, proof of right to work in the UK etc).

12. Give a deadline as to when you would like to hear back from the candidate with an acceptance or rejection. You don’t want to leave this too long as there may be a second or third option candidate to offer the job to.

13. And finally state that if they have any questions in the meantime to not hesitate to get back to you.

Other points to note:

• Make a detailed note of your conversation.

• When the candidate has accepted the role, ensure you are using the most up to date copy of your company’s job offer letter and contract and specify any conditions in the job offer.

• Conditions could include proof of right to work in the UK, security checks (for example a DBS), or positive employment and personal references. With regard to references, you need to request these as soon as possible.

• And notify the unsuccessful candidates as soon as possible.

I do hope these tips help. See my other blogs for advice on interviews, inductions and probationary periods.

Any questions or advice required, please give me a call on 07969 433590 or email me at louise@taylormadeservices.org.uk

22 June 2021

Preparing an Interview Questionnaire

louise@taylormadeservices.org.uk (Louise Taylor) — Thu, 25 Feb 2021 10:17:18 GMT

Preparing an Interview Questionnaire

This is my third blog on the very important subject of interviewing and will focus on best practices for creating a standard interview questionnaire. Creating an interview questionnaire has several advantages;:

The questionnaire reminds you what questions you need to ask.
Will ensure that you ask each candidate the same questions.
Enables you to write down the responses next to each question.
Once the interview has finished, you have the time to compare each candidate’s responses to the job description and score each response,
Each candidate will then have a “total” score which will help with making the final decision.

I have provided an example of an interview questionnaire below. Also, as mentioned previously try and set times for each question and response. This will help you keep to schedule and to a similar format for each candidate.

The interview

As mentioned in my previous blogs, start the interview by trying to relax the candidate; asking about their journey and if they found your offices OK are good examples. This can then lead into a conversation about travel, traffic, mode of transport etc.

Before asking any interview questions, give an outline of the role, size of company, who they would report to, working hours etc. (see previous blogs)

Name: Date:

Role:

Essential questions Rate 1 – 10

Why are you applying for this role / Why do you want this job?

[Go through their qualifications] Do you think your qualifications are relevant / necessary for this role? If so, why/If not, why not?

Do you think you would require any training? If so, on what?

[Go through their previous employment history] I see you worked as a ……………….., what did you like/dislike about that role?

[If any gaps, make sure you ask about these] What were you doing between ……. and …….. dates?

Current role

Can you go through in detail about your current role? What are your responsibilities? What does an average day look like to you?

Do you have any experience of …………………………………? [These questions should reflect the job description so ask as many of these questions as you can plus] Can you give me an example of when you …………………………..? What happened? Did the situation resolve itself satisfactory?

What are your strengths / weaknesses?

Where do you see yourself in 5 years time?

Would you describe yourself as ambitious and if so why?

Can you give an example of trying to work to a deadline? What happened?

Can you give me an example of a difficult situation with a client?

Can you give me an example of something you did that exceeded expectations / you are proud of?

How do you prioritise and organise your workload?

Do you have any questions for me/us?

Final questions

What salary are you looking for if we were to offer you this job?

If you are successful, when can you start?

Do you have any pre-booked annual leave?

How to close an interview is outlined in my previous blogs so please check those out if you have not already.

I hope all of this is of use. If you require assistance with designing job descriptions, recruitment and selection procedures, please do not hesitate to get in touch.

25 February 2021

Interview Questions

louise@taylormadeservices.org.uk (Louise Taylor) — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 17:32:30 GMT

Interview Questions

Welcome to my second blog on the topic of interviews. This month I am going to focus on providing some useful tips on interview questions.

As I mentioned in my previous blog, I always found that both parties get far more out of the interview if the interview is like a conversation and flows naturally. Therefore, after explaining the format of the interview to the candidate, your priority is to make the interviewee feel as comfortable as possible.

Don’t

Ask any unlawfully discriminatory personal questions, for example, about their age, whether or not they have any children, about their relationship status or about any recent illnesses etc.

Ask the same questions to each candidate, it could be considered discriminatory if you don’t.

When asking questions, always try and ask open questions which will require the interviewee to respond in detail. Start your questions with, for example, “do you” “when” “where” “why” “can you give me examples of” etc.

Here are some good examples of questions you should cover:

“Why do you want this job?”

“What do you want from this job / your future career?”

“What do you like most about your current role?”

“Are there any tasks that you don’t like doing in your current job (or in any job you have had)?”

“What are you most proud of in your career up to date?”

In relation to questions focusing on skills and competencies, you need to ask the interviewee to provide examples of what they did, how they did it, if they came across any problems, whether or not they resolved those problems and if the problems were resolved, how. Answers to these questions can be marked against the criteria set in the job description, as discussed in my previous blog.

Ask for specific examples of experiences they have had or tasks they have undertaken. By doing this, it will become quite apparent from their response if they have the criterial knowledge and experience. If you are unsure about their answer, dig deeper and ask more pointed questions.

Questions to close with:

“Do you have any questions for us?”

“What salary would you like/expect if you are successful?”

“If successful what is your notice period?”

“Do you have any pre-booked annual leave?”

Zoom Interviews

Now we are in the age of Zoom interviews, all the above applies but make sure you consider and implement the following:

Request that the candidate is in a quiet room, away from outside noise and check that this is the case before starting the interview.

Let them know the format of the interview, that you have their application in front of you and will be taking notes. The priority though is to make the interviewee feel as relaxed as possible so always try to make as much eye contact as possible (I appreciate this is harder to do than at a face-to-face interview, but it certainly is not impossible!)

When asking your questions break them down into shorter and easier to understand questions. You may also need to slow down your speaking speed to ensure the candidate understands you clearly. You don't want to fluster the candidate.

Leave plenty of time between questions for the candidate to respond.

If you do not understand or fully understand their response, go back and ask for more information until you do.

Close the interview as outlined above.

Any questions, or if you would like some assistance with any part of your recruitment process, please do not hesitate to get in touch by email at louise@taylormadeservices.org.uk or telephone 07969 433590.

Interviews - Top Tips

louise@taylormadeservices.org.uk (Louise Taylor) — Sun, 22 Nov 2020 15:48:03 GMT

Interviews – Top Tips

As there is so much as an employer to the interview process I am breaking down my blogs regarding interviewing into four. My first blog today will make recommendations on interview preparation. Future blogs will cover interview questioning techniques, creating a standardised interview questionnaire and, finally, making the job offer.

Preparing for the interview

Interviews are such an extremely important part of recruitment; it is not just about you interviewing the candidate but also about the candidate interviewing you. If the candidate has reached the interview point in your recruitment process you must be considering hiring them. Therefore, it is vital that you give the right impression of yourself, the role and the business. If after the interview the candidate does not feel it’s the right job for them, at least if you have got the interview process spot on, they will always have a positive memory of the interview and your organisation. I have always tried to make my interviewees feel relaxed and at ease and have received some very good feedback because of this.

CVs

Firstly, you will have to filter through the CVs to finalise the list of interviewees. Review your job description against each CV and rate the CVs compared to the job description. If the job description requires marketing experience, is it obvious from the CV that the candidate has the appropriate experience? If they have marketing experience, is it the right type of marketing experience?

Basically you must go through each candidate’s CVs methodically, comparing their experience and skills to those required for the role, and rate each candidate (making the process fair). This should result in a shortlist of suitable candidates for interview.

Location of interview

There are various factors to consider:

• Have all the papers ready for each candidate’s interview. There is nothing worse than the interviewer not having all of the relevant paperwork in front of them and/or not even knowing who they are interviewing!

• How many people are going to be in the room

• How many people are on the interview panel

• What is the best layout for your room

• Are you asking the candidate to present anything? If so, do you have the correct equipment? Do you need any IT equipment (for example for a PowerPoint presentation)?

• Ensure your receptionist is aware of the interviewees attending, the names of all the candidates and times of arrival. Your receptionist can make the initial warm welcome and settle them in.

• Make sure everyone in the office is aware that you are interviewing so there are no interruptions or noise outside the interview room

• Make the interviewee feel comfortable. The candidate will be nervous enough so make the room, and yourselves, welcoming.

Prepare a timetable

Interviews can quite easily run over time so allocate approximate times to go through your interview questionnaire. This will help you keep to the schedule and to a similar interview format for each candidate.

The Interview itself

Introduce yourself and any co-interviewers and outline how the interview will be structured. Go through the background of the company, what services and or products it supplies and what the plans are for the future of the business. Then describe the role and how it fits into the organisational structure and any additional information, such as hours of working, holidays and benefits etc.

At this point you can start your interview questions. Because you have already prepared and aligned the CV with the job description, you will have some really vital questions to ask. These questions may relate to their education (role dependent) but will always relate to their work history, experience and skills. Also, always ask the candidate to provide specific examples of past experiences which will support the skills and experience outlined on their CV. Again, you can use a marking system, which will help post-interviews.

Have someone with you to take notes of the interview enabling you to focus on the candidate and their responses and to ask any follow up questions; I believe that if an interview is more of a conversation then you get far more out of the interview and candidate than just firing questions at the interviewee.

At the end of the interview, ask if they have any questions. If they don’t then hopefully the interview has served its purpose and you have covered all of the relevant information. Of course it may be that the interviewee is too nervous to ask any questions so let them know that if they have any questions after they have left, they can email or call you.

Before they leave, always inform them of what stage of the interview process you are at; whether you will be in touch to request a second interview or inform them that a final decision has been made etc. Also, let them know the timescales; you may not be planning to fill the position for two months, so make sure they understand this.

Next month's blog will be on questioning techniques but, in the meantime, if you have any questions please do give me a call on 07969 433590 or email louise@taylormadeservices.org.uk

22 November 2020

Probationary Periods

louise@taylormadeservices.org.uk (Louise Taylor) — Tue, 13 Oct 2020 13:43:31 GMT

Probationary Periods - Best Practices

In my last blog I outlined my ideal induction process for a new employee. This month I shall list some useful tips to ensure that their probation period is smooth sailing. These are by no way compulsory, but it is good to have systems in place to ensure your new recruit learns the job effectively and that they feel comfortable in their new role as quickly as possible.

1. Firstly, is your probationary review period set to the appropriate length of time? Usually probationary periods last 3 months but some roles may need longer.

2. Ensure you check in regularly with your new employee and set dates from day 1 for formal reviews and stick to those appointments. I believe a formal review each month is necessary for the first 3 to 6 months (role dependent).

3. Before the review meetings, consult with their line manager to obtain feedback.

4. At the reviews, use an appropriate form with headings that remind you to discuss, for example, parts of the role that have been covered, what is left to cover, any training required and any objectives. Also, ensure you ask for feedback from the employee.

5. At the next review, check the training has been carried out and objectives met. Refer back to your notes from previous reviews to ensure you have covered everything off.

6. Define more objectives. Even after 3 months your new employee will not know it all. If your review period is 3 months, set another review appointment in 6 months’ time to go through those objectives.

7. Use this review appointment to go through the job description with the employee in order to check its accuracy (always useful for any future hire). Has the employee been trained on all of the tasks in the job description? Has the employee carried out and has good knowledge of each task in the job description? Are there any grey areas? Has something been missed off the job description?

8. Keep a clear and concise note of each review and ensure both parties sign off on it.

9. If there is an issue, don’t brush it under the carpet hoping it will go away / get better. Give constructive feedback and again monitor this over the next few months. Have they listened and taken on board your feedback? If not, why not? Do they need more guidance and support?

10. Listen to the feedback from your new employee; you will learn something!

11. Don’t be afraid to extend the probationary period if you are not sure. It is better the employee is aware that, for whatever reason, they are not meeting the standards required.

12. If at the end of the probation period, the new employee is not working out, this may not necessarily be their fault; the role just may not be suitable for them. If this is the case, then a review of your job description and person specification will need to be carried out. If your job and person spec look fine then you may need to revisit your probationary training program.

I do hope the above helps but if you want any further advice or assistance, please do call me on 07969 433590 or email louise@taylormadeservices.org.uk

13 October 2020

Creating an effective induction program

Wed, 26 Aug 2020 08:18:25 GMT

Creating an effective induction program

I soon learnt when I became a manager that I had to create an induction program/checklist for new recruits. You can never remember everything you need to go through and this ensured that I covered all the points / arranged any training that was necessary. You realise as soon as you start putting it down on paper that there is so much to go through and that it is such a vital procedure.

More importantly, creating an induction program shows the new employee that you have prepared for their start and have thought about their needs as they take a new step in their career. Also, by sharing the program with the new employee, they will be reassured to see what is going to be covered.

So what do you include in your induction program?

• You need to ensure that you have all of their paperwork; full name, address, emergency contact numbers, bank account, NI number and P45 etc.

• Do they need a set of keys to the office / key card?

• Run through any health and safety procedures; who are the first aiders/fire wardens, where is the accident book, what to do in case of a fire etc.

• Draw up an organisation chart for them to keep, discuss who is who on the organisation chart and their roles and responsibilities. Discuss the ethos and culture of the business, types of clients and your ideal client.

• Explain and introduce them to other departments; how the business works as a whole and how other departments can help them and vice-versa.

• Take the induction step by step prioritising the most vital tasks / knowledge and remember no-one remembers everything from their first day so don’t fill that first day/week up too much. Spread your induction over several days/weeks (depending on how much they have to learn). Break the induction up with work tasks; this will reinforce their learning.

• Include information on company culture, for example personal use of internet, mobile phone policy, where they can have their lunch and when (these are questions that any new employee will want to know but some may feel they can't ask).

• Go through with them the relevant parts of your office procedures manual and office policies, for example probationary periods, holiday requests, discipline procedures, performance reviews etc. Ensure they understand the contents and answer any questions.

• Ensure they have everything they need on their desk – in fact firstly make sure they have a desk! I turned up to a permanent job many moons ago for a large organisation and I had no desk, no PC and no username – imagine how welcome that made me feel!

• So ensure they have a desk and the necessary office equipment i.e. stapler, holepunch etc. Make sure they have a working PC, printer and scanner. Do they have access to all of the software they need? There is nothing worse than wanting to train a new employee on a dedicated piece of software and you find that they are not set up on it and therefore have to wait several hours to get it sorted.

• Have a social event, if appropriate. This is such a good way of quickly making introductions and in a more relaxed environment than the workplace.

• Spend (productive) time with your new recruit; investing time at the start will save you so much time in the long run.

• If you cannot spend time with your new employee, ensure someone else can. Create a “buddy” system but check that the “buddy” is actually doing what you have asked them to do!

• Ensure they receive training on all the appropriate systems and software. If you are not carrying out the training, ensure it gets done when it is meant to get done. Follow up with the new recruit and see how the training went.

• Obviously depending on the size of the organisation, you may be able to have weekly reviews with the new employee. However, for larger organisations that’s not possible so ensure that review dates (say at 1 month, 3 months, 6 months etc) are in the diary.

I believe by creating an induction program covering all of the points above will ensure your new employee will feel more valued, which in turn will increase their loyalty to your business. Also, by creating a detailed induction program, it will speed up the process of your new employee settling in and becoming more effective in their role.

I hope the above has been useful. If you need help with creating or updating an induction program, please get in touch at louise@taylormadeservices.org.uk or give me a call on 07969 433590

26 August 2020

Microsoft Word - Useful Shortcut Keys

louise@taylormadeservices.org.uk (Louise Taylor) — Sat, 25 Jul 2020 12:00:45 GMT

Microsoft Word - Useful shortcut keys

For this blog I thought I would share some useful shortcut key combinations that are available in Word. Most of these are also available in Excel, PowerPoint and even Outlook.

Having gained typing qualifications (many years ago!) I tend to use these rather than using my mouse. See how you get on and let me know.

Shortcut Key Function

Control + A = Selects all text in your document

Control + B = Turns bold on and off

Control + C = Copies any selected text

Control + D = Opens up the Font function

Control + E = Centers text between your margins

Control + F = Opens up Find function (useful if you want to find a word in a document)

Control + G = Opens up Go to (as in "Go To" a page number)

Control + H = Opens up the Find and replace option

Control + I = Turns italic on and off

Control + J = Justifies text between your margins

Control + K = Insert Hyperlink

Control + L = Left justifies text

Control + M = Increases indent

Control + Shift + M = Decreases indent

Control + N = Creates a new document

Control + O = Opens a document

Control + P = Print

Control + R = Justifies text to the right margin

Control + S = Saves the document

Control + U = Turns underline on and off

Control + V = Pastes cut or copied text

Control + W = Closes document

Control + X = Cuts selected text

Control + Y = Repeats last command(s)

Control + Z = To undo last command(s)

Control + 1 = Single line spacing

Control + 5 = 1.5 line spacing

Control + 2 = Double line spacing

Control + [ Shrinks font size

Control + ] Increases font size

Any questions or comments, please email louise@taylormadeservices.org.uk

25 July 2020

Organising your Office (Part Two)

louise@taylormadeservices.org.uk (Louise Taylor) — Mon, 13 Jul 2020 10:57:47 GMT

Organising your Office (Part Two)

Emails (continued)

Following on from my last blog on emails, a few other thoughts have come to mind about emails, which I outline below.

Ever lost an email and don’t know where you moved it to?

If you are trying to find an email, did you know that you can sort your emails into a different order (rather than date)? For example, you can put emails in name order of emails received or sent.

Or you can also search emails by name, topic etc by putting the search term in the Search box.

Also, have you checked your Junk or Spam folders recently?

Calendars

Do you use a physical or IT version?

I have a good friend who insists on using a Filofax but that is because she (1) prefers the paper version and (2) doesn’t carry her work phone around with her all the time.

If your email and calendar sync to your work phone, and you always carry your work phone around with you (as I do) then this may be your preferred method. You can then add appointments to either your phone or PC calendar meaning you always have an up to date version of your calendar with you.

Other things to remember when entering diary appointments;

• Is anyone else going to have access or need access to your diary? If so, then you are going to have to make your appointments clear. For example, entering name “John” at 2pm on Wednesday is not going to help your colleagues or employees know where you are and with whom!

• Again, if other people have access to your emails, will they realise your appointment is outside the office and will they account for the travel time to and from your meeting? So, if your meeting is at 3pm and is 20 miles away, will they realise you will be leaving the office at 2:30pm? If not, enter your travel time to and from your meeting in your diary – saves someone booking a meeting with you at 2:30!

• Could you use your, or another, calendar as a central point in which all members of staff enter their meetings/appointments? I have found this particularly useful in the past, especially in smaller offices. Also, I do think that a company appears more professional if the receptionist knows what is going on, who is coming through the door and who they are visiting.

• In Outlook, did you know that you can mark your appointments as “private”? This prevents those with access to your calendar seeing any information about your appointment.

• Do you have any recurring appointments, and these can be weekly, monthly or broken down to such times and dates like the “last Friday of each month”? If so, use the Repeat option when setting up your appointment.

• Enter your appointment as soon as you make it, otherwise there is a very good chance you will forget.

• Is your appointment with someone? If so, use the Invite attendees function. When you enter the appointment, invite the person, or ask them to invite you, so it enters the appointment straightaway both in your diary and theirs.

• If you are unsure of the other attendees’ availability, use the Scheduling Assistant which will let you look at their diaries and see when they have time free for your meeting.

• Do you want a reminder set for your appointment? If so, this again can be set when creating your appointment or you can actually get Outlook to email you the reminder.

• Are there any documents or information relevant to your meeting? If so these can be added to the appointment when you are setting it up.

Louise’s Top Tip: Some of you may find this extreme but as I say I do like to be organised – I colour code my appointments (for example, I colour code clients' work) so when I look at my calendar I can immediately see what I have on and when.

Finally, have you thought about outsourcing the organisation of your emails / diary or being trained on Outlook?

Outsourcing it to someone (with my experience and skills) will help relieve the burden from you and ensure it is done in the most efficient way possible.

I hope the above has been useful. Any questions or comments, please email: louise@taylormadeservices.org.uk

13 July 2020

Organising your office

louise@taylormadeservices.org.uk (Louise Taylor) — Mon, 29 Jun 2020 07:27:11 GMT

Organising your office

Organising an office and its procedures is something that I have done many many times over the years so I thought I would share some of my top tips. I have also outlined some questions which you need to think about answering when you are either setting up your office or carrying out a much needed review.

Paperwork / filing

Do you need to print off / have physical files for all of your documents?

If you do need physical files, what sort of files are going to be best?

So think about what sort of paperwork your files are going to hold;

Are you going to be able to hole punch all of the documents on your file? If so, you will need files with either a spring coil or file clip to enable you to file your hole punched documents. Hole punching documents saves them from getting separated from the file and you can keep documents in date order, having the most recent on the top.

Or if you are not going to be able to hole punch all of your documents, for example if they are original documents, then you will need to order files with a wallet.

Or you can purchase files with both clip file and wallet to cover all bases!

Have you thought about having a colour coding system for your files (this will make it considerably easier when trying to locate files)? You could have different colour files for different clients (only to be used if you have a few clients as the choice of colours is limited) or different types of work?

Another thing to think about; when filing your documents in the wallets would it help if different documents were split by using plastic wallets? If so, would it help to have different colours of plastic wallets to differentiate the different types of documents?

Keeping your files - are your files going to be filed in a cabinet and, if so, what size is the cabinet and will you be needing suspension files?

Or are your files going to end up being quite large, so much so you are going to need lever arch folders? If so, do you have enough space to store the folders and how large do your folders need to be?

If you do think that you need to use lever arch folders but have documents that can’t be hole punched (as outlined above), there is a wealth of choice of hole punched plastic wallets, included expandable for your larger documents.

What does your regulator say about storing physical documents on your files? Are there certain documents that are required?

How long does your regulator say you have to keep files (remember accounting documents need to be kept for 6 years)?

Louise’s Top Tip: Always keep a record of the different files you are holding, especially if you are numbering them (Excel is good for this) and where they are kept.

Also, keep a record of what files you have archived, where they are kept and when they can be destroyed. This will firstly make finding files so much easier and secondly free up space when the time comes for you to destroy the files.

Computer files

Can some paperwork just be kept on your PC/email, for example do you need emails printed off and put on file?

Do the folders on your PC need to mirror your physical files, for example if you want to break down your physical file into correspondence, documents, accounts etc, should your PC files be the same (to make it easier to locate a document)?

Are you creating a new folder per client, and then folders for each matter/job in that client folder?

Or creating a folder for each matter / job?

Do you need to break down the above folders even further, for example you may want “correspondence”, “documents” and “accounts” folders?

Emails

It is very easy for your email inbox and sent items to get swamped. This can be stressful as you may not be able see the wood from the trees and work out what has been dealt with and what has not.

Therefore, I would suggest creating an email filing system as soon as possible. There is nothing worse than having to back-file hundreds of emails!

So do you need to create folders per client? If so, do you have other folders within that for each matter/job you are working on for that client?

Or do you need a folder for each matter / job?

And d o you need other folders that relate to admin, your accountant, IT or regulating bodies?

Do you need to save your emails / attachments to a client / matter / job folder?

Is it necessary to keep all emails? When there is a chain of emails, I just keep the last email as that contains all the previous exchanges.

Louise’s Top Tip: Any emails that need actioning or on which I am waiting to hear from someone, I leave in my inbox. When the email has been dealt with, I drag it into the relevant folder.

I also flag up any emails that need my urgent attention.

When creating these procedures, are you writing them down? You may know how they work now but what happens if you forget, get too busy, go on holiday or employ someone / outsource? As you are creating your procedures, keep a record. Not only will this help to act as a reminder to you but will also be useful if you ask someone to help.

Finally, have you thought about outsourcing these tasks?

Creating filing systems is not something that may come easy to you, as you have skills elsewhere. Outsourcing it to someone (with my experience and skills) will help relieve the burden from you and ensure it is done in the most efficient way possible.

Any questions or comments, please get in touch at louise@taylormadeservices.org.uk or 07969 433590

29 June 2020

Microsoft PowerPoint - Top Tips (Part Four)

louise@taylormadeservices.org.uk (Louise Taylor) — Thu, 11 Jun 2020 06:49:52 GMT

Microsoft PowerPoint - Top Tips (Part Four)

Microsoft PowerPoint - Top Tips (Part Three)

Thu, 04 Jun 2020 13:44:29 GMT

Microsoft PowerPoint - Tip Tips (Part Three)

Microsoft PowerPoint - Top Tips (Part Two)

louise@taylormadeservices.org.uk (Louise Taylor) — Thu, 28 May 2020 11:22:02 GMT

Microsoft PowerPoint (Part Two)

Microsoft PowerPoint - Top Tips

louise@taylormadeservices.org.uk (Louise Taylor) — Thu, 21 May 2020 08:46:26 GMT

Microsoft PowerPoint - Top Tips

Microsoft PowerPoint for Beginners

louise@taylormadeservices.org.uk (Louise Taylor) — Thu, 14 May 2020 08:24:56 GMT

Microsoft Word - Top Tips (Part 4)

louise@taylormadeservices.org.uk (Louise Taylor) — Thu, 07 May 2020 10:24:16 GMT

Microsoft Word - Top Tips (Part 4)

I thought this week I would focus on the topic of headers and footers. I appreciate it’s not the most exciting topic but setting up headers and footers in your Word document makes life SO much easier and gives your document a more professional feel.

Headers and footers

Want to insert a header or a footer?

Click on Insert and Header or Footer. There are various Built-In options from the pull down menu (if you scroll down the list, you will see them all). You can choose one of those or just click on Blank which gives you a blank header/footer for you to add what text or images you want.

So when editing your header/footer, you will see various options appear on the Ribbon. For example, you can insert the following;

Page numbering - once you go into this menu, you can set the format and positioning of your page number. This option allows you to add text, images and page numbers in your header/footer. Note if you want just page numbering in your document, it is easier to select Insert and Page Number

Date and time – inserts date and/or time in the format of your choice

Picture – allows you to insert a picture, for example your company logo

Or just flip to your Footer where the above options will be available

You will also notice that you have options to have your header/footer Different on First Page (useful if you do not want a header/footer on your first page) or Different on Odd and Even Pages

Click on Close Header and Footer to exit back to your document.

If you want to edit your header, you can either click into the header/footer space and amend OR click on Insert, Header/Footer and Edit Header/Footer

To remove your header/footer, you can either click into the header/footer space and click on Header or Footer then Remove Header or Footer

OR click on Insert, Header/Footer and Remove Header/Footer

I hope these tips have been of use. Any questions, please email louise@taylormadeservices.org.uk

7 May 2020

Microsoft Word - Top Tips (Part 3)

louise@taylormadeservices.org.uk (Louise Taylor) — Thu, 30 Apr 2020 13:12:35 GMT

Microsoft Word - Top Tips (Part 3)

Do you need to change the formatting part way through a document?

For example, do you want to change your page orientation, headers, footers, page numbering style, margins or set up columns?

Then you need to insert a section break.

Inserting a section break will allow you to modify the document’s formatting from the position of the section break. Also, if you want to change the formatting again in the document, you can insert as many section breaks in a document as is needed.

Click on Page Layout then Breaks and select which option you want under the heading “Section Breaks”, which are:

Next Page – will insert a page break and commence any formatting changes from the new page

Continuous - any modifications you make from this point on, such as changing margins, page orientation or adding columns, will take effect

Even / Odd Page – any formatting changes you make will affect either the even or odd pages of your document

Note: If you click on ¶ (Show All) button on your Home “Ribbon” (yes that is what it is called) bar, this will show any section breaks that are in your document. This is useful if you did not create the document and want to have a look at any hidden spaces or characters.

I hope the above is helpful.

Any comments, or topics you would like covered, please email: louise@taylormadeservices.org.uk

30 April 2020

Microsoft Word - Top Tips (Part 2)

louise@taylormadeservices.org.uk (Louise Taylor) — Thu, 23 Apr 2020 11:20:18 GMT

Microsoft Word - Top Tips (Part 2)

I do hope that you found last week's tips on Microsoft Word useful. This week I am focussing on the tracked change feature, which a lot of people do struggle with, so hope my tips below help.

Tracked Change documents

• Open up the document you wish to amend with the tracked changes, click on Review , Track Changes and Track Changes . So now when you amend your document, your inserted text will be a different colour and underlined and your deleted text will be struck through.

• If you want to change the appearance of your tracked changes, click on Track Changes and then Change Tracking Options and amend the Markup options.

• To turn the tracked changes off, just click on the Track Changes button.

• If you are opening a document that has tracked changes in it, you can do several things;

Accept all tracked changes - click on Accept and then Accept All Changes in Document OR
Go to each tracked change and choose whether to accept or not – click on Next, this will go to the first tracked change, then click on Accept and Accept and Move to Next OR
If you don’t want to accept the tracked change - click on Reject and Reject and Move to Next AND
You can move between tracked changes without accepting or rejecting - click on Previous or Next

Need to work out how two documents differ?

• Easy! Click on Review , Compare and Compare , select both the documents (by clicking on the folder icons which will take you to your document folder) and click OK . Word will now show you four screens, which you can click into, (1) is a summary of the revisions that differentiate the two documents (2) is the document with the differences as tracked changes (3) is the first document and (4) is the second document.

If you want to save the tracked change version, just click in to it and select File and Save

Any questions about the above or any feature of Word, please email louise@taylormadeservices.org.uk

23 April 2020

Microsoft Word - Top Tips

Wed, 15 Apr 2020 09:42:49 GMT

Microsoft Word - Top Tips

Following on from my previous top tips on Microsoft Excel, I thought I would have a break from Excel and provide some practical tips on Microsoft Word. I do hope you find these useful. I am a prolific user of Word and find these extremely helpful as they speed up the formatting of documents.

Automatic paragraph numbering

Microsoft Word users often have issues with this but once you get the hang it is very easy. If you want simple single level numbering, for example 1. 2. etc, just type the “1.” and press the Tab key. This will number and indent your paragraph. If you don’t want your paragraph indented, press Ctrl, Shift and M all at the same time which will move your paragraph number back to the left hand margin. (By the way, pressing Ctrl and M indents your paragraph, whilst Ctrl, Shift and M removes the indent). Type your paragraph and then press Enter and your next paragraph will be numbered.

If you want space between each paragraph, right click on your paragraph, left click on Paragraph and change your Spacing After to 10pt or 12pt.

Multilevel paragraph numbering – if you want your next paragraph to be indented further with, for example an “a.”, press Enter after the preceding paragraph and then press Tab . Word will automatically number this paragraph “a.” Remember you can press Ctrl, Shift and M to decrease the indent on this paragraph if Word has indented it too much. When you want the paragraphs to revert back a level, press Shift and Tab .

If you want to change the format of the numbers, select the paragraphs and right click, hover your mouse over Numbering and various options will appear, then left click on the style you want.

Format Painter

You will notice this button on your toolbar at the top of your screen and probably often wondered what it is for. Format Painter is an extremely quick and easy way to copy the formatting from one part of the document to another part or the remainder of your document. Click on the text (you can just click on a word) from which you want the formatting copied, a paint brush will appear, then select the text you want the formatting copied to and … job done!

Format Painter is also extremely helpful with paragraph numbering. For example, if you want to copy the formatting style of numbered paragraphs to another part of a document, click on the numbered paragraph (or select the paragraphs if multilevel) then select the paragraph(s) you want the formatting copied to and again ... job done!

Next week I will have some more Microsoft Word tips for you but in the meantime if you have anything specific you need to know, just drop me an email at louise@taylormadeservices.org.uk

15 April 2020

Microsoft Excel - Top Tips (Part 2)

Wed, 08 Apr 2020 10:58:15 GMT

Microsoft Excel - Top Tips (Part 2)

I do hope that you found my previous tips of some use and I list some further practical tips below.

Any questions, please drop me an email on louise@taylormadeservices.org.uk

• If you are working on a spreadsheet that you did not create, sometimes you will find that not all of the spreadsheet will print out. This is really annoying! Whoever has created the spreadsheet has probably set a print area. To clear this click on Page Layout , Print Area and Clear Print Area .

• On the flipside if you want to print just an area of your spreadsheet, select the cells, click on Page Layout , Print Area and Set Print Area. Then go to print.

• If your spreadsheet is printing on too many pages, there is a way you can shrink your spreadsheet without amending font size or column widths. Click on File and Print , Page Setup , click on the Page tab and set your Fit to to how many pages wide and tall you would like your spreadsheet printed on.

• Want your headings to repeat on the top or side of each printed page? Click on Page Layout , Print Titles , click on the blue box to the right of either Rows to repeat at top or Columns to repeat at left , select your row or column, click on the blue box again (you will see the cell references have been inserted) and click on OK.

• Want footers or headers on your spreadsheet? Click on Insert and Header & Foote r. The great thing about this is that you can insert as your header or footer the file path , filename , sheet name , page number (also page numb er of number of pages i.e. 1 of 10).

Microsoft Excel - Top Tips

louise@taylormadeservices.org.uk (Louise Taylor) — Wed, 01 Apr 2020 13:35:50 GMT

Microsoft Excel - Top Tips

I love Microsoft Excel and use it a lot in my work so I thought for this blog I would provide some useful shortcuts and tips on Microsoft Excel.

Do you get annoyed when you scroll down or across your spreadsheet and the headings disappear?

This can be resolved by going to the cell underneath your headings (if your headings are running horizontally*) or to the right of your headings (if they are running vertically**) or both***. Click on View and Freeze Pane s then select * Freeze Top Row or ** Freeze First Colum or *** Freeze Panes .

Want an easy way to automatically fill cells?

Click on a cell then move your mouse to the bottom right of it so a “+” appears;

Drag vertically or horizontally. Excel will automatically copy the contents of that cell over (this also works when you have formulas in the cell – it will copy the formula to the selected cells).

Note, if you do this with dates, Excel will automatically fill each cell with the next date.

If your cell contains a number, follow the instructions above to get the “+”, hold down Ctrl and drag vertically or horizontally. Excel will increase each of your selected cells by 1.

If you want Excel to repeat a pattern, for example, the numbers 1 and 12, select the two cells that contain 1 and 12, go to the bottom right hand corner of the cell to get the “+” and then drag.

If you want Excel to increase cells as per the pattern, again select the cells that contain the pattern, get the “+” as outlined above, hold down Ctrl and drag.

Why not have a go and see how you get on?

I have some further Microsoft Excel top tips which I shall publish very soon. In the meantime, if you have any questions, please drop them on email to louise@taylormadeservices.org.uk

1 April 2020

Legal Secretary - Top Tips

Tue, 10 Mar 2020 15:10:56 GMT

If you are going to start working for a law firm and have never worked in one previously, here are some of my top tips and useful bits of knowledge to overcome the oddities and peculiarities that you will come across when working at a law firm.

The DX postal system

The DX postal system is specifically used by law firms and government organisations, such as the Insolvency Service and the Court Service. The DX usually works out cheaper than using Royal Mail as it is a one off yearly flat fee meaning that large bundles can be sent to other law firms or courts without incurring Royal Mail fees. Someone from the law firm will collect the DX from the local DX office and drop off the firm’s post at the end of the day. It is quicker than Royal Mail too, usually arriving the next day (although this is not guaranteed).

References on correspondence

Ensure you always put both parties’ matter references on correspondence (that is why law firms always have “Your Ref” and “Our Ref” on their letterheads). When working in a large law firm, post can go astray if it is not referenced correctly.

Letters

When writing to the other side, correspondence tends to be more formal using “Dear Sirs", “We” and “Yours faithfully”. When writing to a client, correspondence tends to be less formal using “Dear Mr Smith/John”, “I” and “Yours sincerely”.

Long documents

Always paginate long correspondence or documents - proves very useful if the pages become detached.

I hope the above is of assistance. I have some other legal secretary top tips so will publish these soon!

10 March 2020

Ensuring your Virtual Assistant works for you (part 2)

Mon, 24 Feb 2020 11:25:13 GMT

Ensuring your Virtual Assistant works for you

Relationship

Make sure you get on with your VA. If you do, your working relationship will be considerably more productive. After all, you need to make sure that you are singing from the same song sheet.

Ensure clear timeframes for work and updates are set

If you want your VA to complete a task by a certain time or date, let them know. When I finish a task, I always let my client know immediately, that way they know that the job is done and they can take if off the “to do list”.

Set up procedures or processes together

You know your business but a reputable VA will know the most effective way to carry out your admin processes. Ask their opinion. They may have some good ideas that could save you time and money. Once you have agreed these procedures and responsibilities, ask your VA to document them so you both have to them to hand.

If you need reliable, professional and experienced administrative assistance with your business, please get in touch 07969 433590

24 February 2020

Ensuring your Virtual Assistant works for you

louise@taylormadeservices.org.uk (Louise Taylor) — Wed, 05 Feb 2020 16:06:22 GMT

Ensuring your Virtual Assistant works for you

In the past year I have come across several business owners who have told me that they have tried a VA but it hasn’t worked out. When this happens I ask them why the experience was unsuccessful. This has resulted in my key recommendations below;

Initial instructions
If you are worried about the capabilities of your new VA “test the water”. Give your VA simple tasks to carry out initially and see how well they do. Once you are confident about the VA’s abilities then you will feel more comfortable about giving them additional responsibility.

Communication
Communication is incredibly important in any business and communication between you and your VA is as important as communication with a colleague, supplier or client. Not only do you need a VA that communicates clearly but you need to be able to communicate clearly too ensuring your VA understands where you are coming from (and where you want to go).

Time
Make sure that you spend the time explaining your business to your VA. To carry out an efficient role in the business, it is really helpful if your VA understands and appreciates your business model and aims.

I hope the above is of assistance. I will be making some more recommendations in my next blog

5 February 2020

Why you need a Virtual Assistant

Fri, 06 Dec 2019 09:33:12 GMT

Why you need a Virtual Assistant

Are you running your own business and finding that you don’t have enough time to do everything?

Yes! I am thinking of hiring a virtual assistant but how will that benefit me and my business?

A Virtual Assistant will deal with your administrative tasks so you don’t have to
A Virtual Assistant will not only keep on top of all your admin but can help you with your business ideas
Virtual Assistants are experienced at admin so will do it well
Meaning they can complete the task a lot quicker than you
You don’t have the expenditure of recruiting a permanent employee
Your stress levels will decrease because you will have the admin (you don’t have time for or don’t like doing) dealt with efficiently
Leaving you more time to focus on your business
Giving you more freedom to attend to your clients and attract new business
Enabling your business to grow

Five more tips on employee training and development

Wed, 20 Nov 2019 16:51:50 GMT

Five more tips on employee training and development

Here I continue from where I left off in my last blog.

6. Consider what skill the employee is actually going to be learning or developing. Some topics lend themselves better to different teaching methods than others. As stated previously if the training needs to be hands on, coaching, mentoring or work shadowing may be more effective methods. No one style fits all and it may be that blended learning is the most appropriate.

7. Before any training is arranged, knowledge of what the employee does in their day to day role and what they want or need to learn is vital. Employees want to be involved, and even take control of their training and development, so sit down with them and discuss how best to fulfil their training needs.

8. Once you have the above information, investigate the range of available courses. Is the chosen course the most appropriate to fulfil the employee(s) needs? Ineffective or the incorrectly chosen training is a waste of money.

9. Cross-train employees. This is extremely useful because it means that there is more than one employee that has a specific knowledge. It also creates a more collaborative and supportive team.

10. Measure the training. Obtain feedback from your employee about the training, ask them to implement what they have learnt into their job role and report to you on that implementation. This will enable both the employer and employee to assess the effectiveness, suitability and value of the training.

Finally, and most importantly, effective training needs to be constant. It is important that managers realise the benefit (to both the organisation and employees) of continuously offering effective training and professional development courses.

In these two blogs I have only briefly touched on the extensive topics of training and development so

will no doubt return in the future. Any feedback is of course most welcome.

Five tips on employee training and development

louise@taylormadeservices.org.uk (Louise Taylor) — Sun, 27 Oct 2019 15:30:12 GMT

Five tips on employee training and development

I had a change of plan for this blog, I have decided to cover employee training and development and leave the topic of leadership for another time. I do hope you find what I have said below useful and interesting. There will be a further 5 tips on the same topic by the middle of next month .

1. I do believe that an employee’s training and development actually begins at their interview. It is a great opportunity during the interview process not only to describe and discuss the role but also explain the organisation’s vision and culture. An interview is as much about the employer promoting itself as the employee. Inductions, being the next step of organisational training to a new recruit, are also an extremely important method of training because the induction provides the employee with their first impressions from the outset.

2. Firstly, check whether or not the employee requested the training. The training may have been suggested by another employee and may not be the training the employee actually wants or needs. If the employee does not want the training, and you want them to have the training, enable them to see the benefit. There is little point in sending them on a course if they don’t want to be there!

3. That said, the majority of employees don’t want to stagnate but want to grow and learn (even if they don’t realise it sometimes!) so effective employee training does improve productivity. Improvement occurs because the employee feels more valued and engaged. Also by offering training and development programmes it demonstrates to the employee that the organisation is thinking about their future.

4. Not every person learns the same way – employees will find different methods of training more effective than others. There are a wide range of different teaching methods, to name but a few, e-learning, coaching, mentoring, structured group classes and work shadowing. Virtual reality training is also being implemented in some organisations.

5. Give thought as to whether the training should be on-site. This allows the trainer and employee(s) to review examples of their work and act out real life scenarios. However, training on-site may be a disadvantage due to possible interruptions. Consider whether the employee would prefer a flexible online course, which can be taken as and when, rather than a structured classroom format. Having worked as a trainer myself, I have used many different teaching tools and styles because I found that some were more effective on some people than others.

Five more tips on training and development to come soon...

Five more tips on staff management

louise@taylormadeservices.org.uk (Louise Taylor) — Mon, 23 Sep 2019 15:23:59 GMT

Five more tips on staff management

I do hope that you found my previous blog on the above subject useful. Here are some further tips that I have learnt over the years. All of these, I have found, help promote an open, hardworking and dependable workforce and a positive organisational culture.

Be as open as you can

1. If you have ever managed or been in the position of responsibility, you will appreciate how difficult this can be sometimes. There will always be certain issues and subjects that you have to keep confidential and cannot share. However, not all of them will be that critical so always share what you can when you can. Employees appreciate a culture of honesty and openness.

You don’t have to be liked by everyone

2. This is a tricky one because as human beings we want other human beings to like us. However, this is never going to be possible so accept it and move on. As long as you are doing a good job in your role and looking after your employees, even if they don’t realise it, then that is all you can do.

Not all employees want autonomy

3. There is much written in leadership and management literature about how you should give your employees autonomy i.e. let them decide what they do and when. However, not all employees want to work autonomously. For example, some employees want to be guided step by step and some feel daunted when asked to undertake tasks by themselves. This may mean giving up some of your time, or another employee’s, to assist but so be it. Because of the assistance you have provided, the employee will proceed with enthusiasm feeling both supported and valued.

I have an idea!

4. If an employee comes to you with an idea, sit them down and listen carefully. If the idea is unappealing, don’t say so immediately. Say you will think about it and after giving it some thought, if the idea is great, tell them. Also let them own it - there is nothing worse than a boss taking the glory for one of your ideas! If the idea is unworkable, sit down with the employee and explain why. This will help them understand how the organisation works and develop their abilities.

Never take it personally

5. This ties in with number 2 and is a tough one to learn, especially if you like and want to help people as much as I do. If an employee expresses a dislike for something that you have done, which is part of your job and you have done as instructed (and are unable to explain why due to confidential reasons) then don't take it personal. Keep in your mind that as long as you are working effectively for the organisation and its future, and you have done the utmost possible in damage limitation on behalf of any employees, then that is as good as it can get!

If you have any comments on the above, please email them to me on louise@taylormadeservices.org.uk

If you like what I have said and want to book me for an assignment call me on 07969 433590

Next month I will be slightly changing topic and discussing leadership.

Five tips on staff management

Tue, 06 Aug 2019 12:34:29 GMT

Five tips on staff management

I, like everyone who has managed staff, have experienced both joy and pain whilst managing. I have also been an employee and therefore my tips below come from my experiences on both sides.

I certainly do not claim to have been the perfect manager as I do not believe that such a thing exists (because like any role is a learning process). However, as a manager I do believe that you have a huge responsibility to be the best that you can as such a lot rests on your performance.

Finally, I do have a fair few more tips to share and these will follow over the next few months. However, in the meantime I do hope the points below assist.

Know your staff

1. Know your staff (who you line manage) and I don’t mean just their names and their job roles. For example (and this list is by no means exhaustive) find out whether or not they have dependents and if so who are those dependents, also find out when their birthday/wedding anniversary is and maybe some of their personal interests. This may seem a lot to remember so if you can’t remember it all, keep notes or calendar reminders. Wishing your employee a happy birthday (or even buying a card) or asking them how their children are will make such a difference to your relationship.

Pay attention

2. When an employee wants to talk to you about something work related, give them your utmost attention. Whilst they are talking, do not check your monitor, paperwork or mobile or let anyone interrupt. Just put everything down, look them in the eye and listen.

But what if I am busy ?

3. Following on from the above, if you do not have the time to speak to the employee at that moment, politely say that you are in the middle of something but will get back to them when you have finished or when you have your next free moment. Then ensure, as soon as you have that next free moment, you go back to them (preferably before they come back to chase you) and ask them what they wanted. By doing this, it shows firstly that you have remembered that they wanted to speak to you and secondly that that is important.

Promises promises

4. If you say you are going to do something that will impact on your employees, explain why it is going to be done and always follow it through. If you change your mind and decide it is not the best course of action, then let them know and the reasons behind that decision. Your staff will appreciate your honesty, understand why the decision was made and feel valued that you are being upfront by keeping them up to date.

Stressful moments

5. If a client or employer has narked you, try not to show your stress or hurt. It is amazing how quickly this will feed into the office, your co-workers and employees – they will start to feel stressed too. The more stressed people are in the office, the worse the impact on the office environment (therefore decreasing productivity) – keep a lid on it!

Well I hope the above is of use to you.

If you have any comments on the above, please email them to me on louise@taylormadeservices.org.uk or contact me on 07969 433590 .

Next month I will be providing some more tips on staff management.

5 tips on carrying out a successful temporary assignment

Wed, 03 Jul 2019 14:22:20 GMT

Five tips for carrying out successful temporary assignments

Working as a “temp” can be a lot of fun - you experience a variety of tasks, roles and clients and generally other staff members are pleased to see you turn up to help them out. However, there are the downsides - the uncertainty of the client, the work and the assignment length!

I have not only worked as a temporary secretary but have also held positions where I have employed temporary secretaries. Therefore I share below five tips for being a successful “temp” which I personally like to abide by when I am carrying out assignments for my clients. They are of course all common sense but it’s good to have these reminders now and then.

Its only day one and I already have a deluge of work – how do I prioritise?

1. As soon as you commence work with a new client, find out who the most senior person is you are going to be working for and how to prioritise your workload. Priority may not always be given to the most senior person - it may come down to urgency (and digital dictation is good for this because those who dictate can mark each dictation as to level of urgency). However, it is always best from day one to ascertain how the client likes their work prioritised.

Mobile phone policy

2. Do not keep your mobile on your desk (even if other members of staff do – remember you are not a member of staff - you are being paid by the hour to work). The caveat to this is obviously if your children’s school/family member etc may be calling. If this is the case explain the situation to the client so they understand and are aware of the reason you have your mobile visible.

It’s frustrating not knowing

3. When you are being given instructions on where things are, how things work and who the other staff members are listen proactively, ask questions and don’t be afraid to make notes (you will not be able to remember everything). If you ever come across a situation where you are unsure of something, always ask – it is better to ask than make a mistake (especially if it is one that could be costly to the client).

There is not enough work for me to do

4. Do not drag your heels with the work. If you turn up to an assignment and you are meant to be there for the whole day but notice that you don’t have enough work for the whole day, don’t slow yourself down in order to spread the work out to ensure you are there for the full day. I appreciate this means that you won’t get paid for the whole day but from my experience the client will value you more because you have done the work in a prompt and timely manner and because of this will always want you back.

Confidentiality is key

5. Never discuss or moan about previous assignments. I have worked with, and hired, temps who will chat away (including mentioning names and places) about previous assignments. You will certainly not get asked back if the client believes you are indiscrete.

Well I hope the above helps anyone who is undertaking temporary assignments in whatever role. If you have any comments on the above, please email them to me on louise@taylormadeservices.org.uk

If you like what I have said and want to book me for an assignment call me on 07969 433590 .

Next month I will be listing some tips on staff management.