About to start on your newest freelancing gig as a virtual assistant and eager to know how to impress your boss? Whether you’re new to the biz or not, nobody expects you to be an expert on your first few days at work. But that doesn’t mean you can no longer think of ways to dazzle your boss and make a good impression.
It’s good to carry out your daily freelance tasks as directed, but there are many ways to go above and beyond and distinguish yourself from the rest. There should be no stopping you from wanting to put your best foot forward.
That said, we’ve compiled a few useful tactics from our pool of skilled freelancers that can help you impress your boss in the first two weeks:
1. Build trust through transparency
Being the new kid in town, you’re yet to build trust between yourself, your boss, and the rest of the team. It’s important that you start off as a transparent team member who communicates consistently and honestly.
The online freelance platform can easily influence visibility, especially when your boss isn’t always around to check on you. All the more reason why you should demonstrate that you are in control and reliable. So how do you do just that?
- First things first – log in and log out and ping them when doing so. That way, your boss knows you’re tracking your time efficiently while also letting them in the loop of your availability.
- If you’re taking breaks in between your shift, make sure you also ping them or send a heads up for the team to know.
- Aside from pings and log info, sending an end-of-day (EOD) report consistently is also another way to impress your boss. Doing this demonstrates that you know what’s expected of you and that you were able to deliver the intended output for the day. This is good for you as well – to track your productivity while doing freelance work online.
2. Own your job and take control
Your boss would want to see you taking control of your job – although it isn’t something they would tell you upfront during your first two weeks. It should be your goal to make them see that you are owning up to the responsibility. How to do that? Start by communicating with them once or twice a day for updates.
Let’s say you’re a content writer with consistent freelance projects, and you have deliverables every day. What you can do is send an update on what you have completed so far, what’s pending, and when you are going to complete them. You can do this at the start, end, and middle of your shift. Doing this shows that you know what you’re doing and you have a clear plan on how to accomplish your tasks. The goal is to take the need to manage you out of their hands.
One of the worst things that can happen (and can turn off your new boss, btw) is your boss sending you a message asking for an update – because you failed to do so. If you have a manager, make it a point to send an update all the time so they can advise whether a task you’re working on is a priority or not. This makes the communication easier to manage, and you’re off to a great start as far as impressing your boss is concerned.
Don’t keep yourself in the dark too – because if you do, it only shows that you’re losing control and you don’t know how to be responsible for your tasks.
- Don’t be afraid to admit that you can’t deliver on the deadline for as long as you have a valid reason like you needed to prioritise a much more urgent task. Your boss would appreciate you raising this to them because it makes them feel that you really value the deadline they’ve set.
- You may have grown accustomed to the Filipino culture of not raising concerns as long as you think you can still manage, but you should also know that being a virtual assistant means being mindful and aware when there’s already too much on your plate.
3. Go the extra mile
Don’t just focus on finishing your 8-hour shift, because more than the freelance work hours, it’s the value you add to the company that matters the most. In the first place, your boss won’t hire you if they don’t think you can add value to the team. All you need to do is prove to them that you are worth taking the risk.
Ask for support when you need it but do your 100% best first to resolve on your own and try to come back with solutions instead of questions. If you’re a freelance email designer who only knows Mailchimp and the client all of a sudden asks to format an email campaign in Campaign Monitor, you can admit you don’t know how to do it but ask the client for time to figure it out and you will.
Everything is on the web now – trust yourself and make it happen. But if you’ve done your part and you really can’t do it, then that’s the time you should ask for assistance. Ask for support as you also don’t want to waste time. And there’s absolutely no shame in that.
4. Deliver your work as if no one else will check it
Some freelancers may believe that as long as they occasionally meet expectations, it will suffice. However, individuals that regularly produce outcomes distinguish themselves in their manager’s eyes.
Even when you have a manager or editor who will check your work after submission, it’s better to work on your freelance projects with the mindset of not having anyone to check it when you’re done. That way, you can keep the quality of your work to a standard like no other. Remember, you were hired as an expert online virtual assistant to add value.
Practising this mindset can also make the process easier for you and your manager. They will already know the quality of freelance work you produce, and will take less time checking and revising your work when necessary.
5. Be consistent
This is a general tip – and it has always worked for high-performing freelancers in our team.
Being consistent in everything – as in everything, will always pay off in the end.
Be consistent in sending EOD reports.
Be consistent in logging in and out on time
Be consistent with sending updates to your manager and boss throughout the day.
When you consistently produce deliverables without making an explanation, it can have a big impact on how your manager and boss see you. Never lose the eagerness to learn, even after two weeks, two months, or two years have passed. An eagerness to learn translates to one thing – ambition. It’s not only a tip on how to impress your boss, but for them to recognise ambition and dedication.
As long as your boss sees consistency in your commitment and quality of work, you won’t have any problem thinking how to impress your boss. The only time your boss will interfere or lose their sh!t is when they feel you are losing control. Keep in mind that they hire freelancers so they can make better use of time, and not the other way around. So, demonstrate that you are the captain of your own ship and everything will sail smoothly 😊
