Virtual contact is all very well....

Working "in the cloud" I have found, suits me very well.  Unlike many commentaries on working virtually, I am not left wanting by the lack of an office to visit regularly.  I find that I can focus better, respond more creatively to client requests and the peace and quiet gives me time to mull over my next blog.

However, I wouldn't go without the face-to-face and telephone meetings that I enjoy with my clients.  There's no substitute for human contact, particularly when working to establish the goals of an assignment or the finer details of a project.

The human side of communication pertaining to feelings and emotions is what is so easily lost when you are communicating remotely or asynchronously. Mehrabian's commonly cited work on the transmission of mean in spoken communication underlines this well (thank you to the handy BusinessBalls website for the details):

• 7% of message pertaining to feelings and attitudes is in the words that are spoken.
• 38% of message pertaining to feelings and attitudes is paralinguistic (the way that the words are said).
• 55% of message pertaining to feelings and attitudes is in facial expression.

Recently I've been working with two new clients and we're learning about one another quickly.  With all the different modes of communication available to us, I'm glad that we still rely on good old-fashioned conversation much of the time.

Surveys, surveys, surveys...

So, the survey that I posted way back in February revealed some interesting information about outsourcing preferences.

Online research, customer surveys, preparing mailshots, document preparation and formatting all featured highly as tasks that people would outsource given the chance.

This confirms my suspicion that organisations and individual consultants all feel the need to hand a job over to someone from time-to-time without wishing to go as far as taking someone on directly or even engage a VA on a retainer.

The good news is that here at Jude Sach Virtual Assistance we're happy to take on ad hoc pieces of work however big or small they may seem to you.  It's always interesting to take on a new assignment and to know that we're helping someone out when they really need it.

The bad news is that I want more!  I would dearly like to hear from a larger cross-section of people and would welcome your views on the services we should offer - there is no obligation to leave your details but the information will be tremendously helpful in shaping our services.

Take a look at the (exceedingly short and swiftly completed) survey here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/5PJYQ3L

You're always welcome to get in touch directly by email jude@judesach.co.uk too though.

Thank you!

Been slacking on this blog lately

It's been a busy couple of weeks.  I've been working with a new client who is developing her fledgling business.  She's a great customerand it's really exciting to be in at the beginning.  I'm gaining a great insight into the rationale and philosophy of her business and this is helping me, in turn, to fine-tune my approach.

I've been producing press releases, blog entries, conducting online research and generating content for the company website in preparation for the official launch of the venture.

Varied, interesting and collaborative - just the sort of work I love.

More on this soon...