Admin Collective - Virtual Assistant -Tash Budd

I'm genuinely curious. Drop it in the comments, and let's see if it's easier than you think to hand that one over.

One of the highlights of my year is attending the NZVA Awards, held here in Hamilton every year.

It's one of the rare chances to actually hang out with VAs from around the country who we usually only see online. And I got to spend the weekend with Jolene in person too, which is always great!.

This year I was a finalist for Community Contributor, and Jolene and Heather were both finalists for Top Performing Team Member. None of us took it home this time, but we still had the best time celebrating others!

A huge congratulations to all the winners on the night. It's always great celebrating, and seeing the work that goes on behind the scenes of many businesses being recognised.
We talk a lot about community over competition, and this is exactly that in action, a room full of people doing the same kind of work, genuinely happy for each other's wins. I love it!!

The best client relationships that we have all feel the same, and it's not about the size of their service plan.

It's trust. A client tells us what they need, and we get on with it. They trust that we've got it handled, trust that we'll ask if something's unclear, trust that we'll reach out if something's not working.
We earn that by communicating well and following through on what we say we will.
Once the trust is there, things feel alot easier, for them and for us.

Sometimes life doesn't consider your business plan.

For us, we had a couple of clients moved on in May, for various reasons. It was quiet, no new enquiries, and financially I was nervous.

But in that same period, life had other plans too. I lost my Dad, travelled to Vietnam, and welcomed a new grandbaby into the family (and we know that's a big distraction).

"Hustle, or your business won't survive" is said a lot, and I just don't believe it's true. I couldn't hustle through any of that even if I'd wanted to. I had to step back and trust that the business, and the team, could hold steady without me pushing through every single day.

Now, coming out the other side, we've had a number of enquiries and new clients coming onboard, and I'm fully ready for it.

I believe some things turn out exactly how they're meant to 🌸

Delegation isn't about doing less, it's about building something bigger than what one person can carry alone.

It's letting go of the idea that everything has to run through you to run well, and trusting the people around you to hold their part of it.

That's when a business actually starts to grow and thrive.

I learned this when I started to grow a team. Together we can support many more organisations, so they can continue to thrive and grow in their own field. So I know, that first step to delegation can be tricky, and a little nerve-wracking, but we're here every step of the way.

Inbox overhaul.... Complete!

We started with a new client recently who had an out of control inbox. Like, thousands of emails, some unread and some read but not dealt with.

On the first day, we got it down from 12,000 to 24 live items. This was done by strategic sorting, not by 'select all' and archive. (And now down to 6 live items today!)

We're still working with this client, overseeing that inbox and keeping it categorised so there's actual structure in there. So when they open it up, they can find the important stuff first, not lost in the clutter. They can get in, get out, and get on with the important work.

That's the real value of handing this over. It's not a one-off clean-up, it's ongoing support to stay streamlined and in control.
However if you're in desperate need of a one off inbox overhaul, Heather looooves that stuff!
Reach out, and we can get in there and declutter for a fresh (happy) place again.

We all have those tasks that seem simple... until someone else needs to do them. And not everyone learns from reading instructions.

So instead of writing a long list of instructions, try recording your screen while you complete the task. A quick Loom (or even a Teams or Zoom recording) lets you explain what you're doing *and why* you're doing it.

A few tips to make it useful:
• Keep it short - 5 to 10 minutes is plenty.

• Talk through your thought process, not just the clicks.

• Give the video a clear name so it's easy to find later.

• Store it somewhere your team already works, like SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, OneDrive, or Google Drive.

Your future team members, and your future self, will thank you.

How does your business document its processes? Do you prefer written instructions, video walkthroughs, or a mix of both?

Waiting for a webpage to load? Quickly check your phone....

It's amazing how quickly a "quick scroll" on your phone can turn into five minutes... and by then, you've forgotten what you were working on in the first place.

It's not always the big interruptions that affect our productivity. More often, it's the small habits that quietly break our focus throughout the day.

I've shared a few simple ways to reduce those interruptions and protect your focus in my latest blog.

https://www.admincollective.co.nz/blog/post/166629/why-being-busy-isnt-the-same-as-being-productive/

What's the biggest distraction that pulls you away from your work?

I almost wrote a post saying "this award isn't about me" because I didn't even enter it. Some kind person nominated me for the Virtual Assistant Network New Zealand Community Contributor Award.

But then I realised, it is actually about me 🫣. Not in an ego way. In a "this is who I am in this community" way.

Here's the thing about the VA world that people outside it don't always get. We are all technically competitors. Same industry, same kind of clients, similar services. And yet the VA community is built on the opposite of competition. It's built on community.

Being able to walk alongside other VAs, cheer them on, share what I know, and genuinely want them to thrive, even though we run similar businesses, is a real privilege.

So however it falls on the night, this nomination, and being a finalist, already means alot. It means I've shown up as me, for this community, and it's been felt. And that matters more than an award ever could.

Thank you to whoever nominated me 🌸

Thanks to the Virtual Assistant Network New Zealand, and to Juicy CRM for sponsoring the award.

How awesome for two of our team to be named finalists in the Top Performing Team Member category at this year's Virtual Assistant Network NZ Awards!!

We wouldn't be a collective without them. That's not just a nice line, it's a fact! Being a VA means working remotely, often unsupervised, trusted to just get on with it. No one watching over your shoulder, no one checking in every hour. These two show up, deliver, and really add value for our clients every single time. That kind of trust is everything in this industry, and I have full trust in these ladies.

I wish both Jolene and Heather all the best for on the night, and can't wait to celebrate this achievement in September.

Big thanks to Virtual Assistant Network New Zealand, and OCLAW for sponsoring the award.