Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). (14 Dec, 2021). More than 40 per cent of Australians worked from home.
Retrieved from: ​​https://www.abs.gov.au/media-centre/media-releases/more-40-cent-australians-worked-home 

A warm welcome to Sharon Matthes for joining the Busy Bee Admin team! How exciting! Sharon has an extensive background supporting management and staff as well as working with consultants, contractors and clients. She has worked in the education sector, disability, small business and the legal industry. Sharon has a background in completing personal assistant tasks such as diary management, meeting coordination, minute taking, travel arrangements, event planning and general admin tasks such as creating Word documents, record keeping and ordering products (for example). She is excellent at organising office systems, introducing automated processes, and policy and procedure manuals. She also likes editing, proof reading and researching. In general, she is a very organised person! She is 100% a professional!

​Here is an introduction from Sharon herself:

"Hi, I’m Sharon and excited to join Linda Harachi at Busy Bee Admin, relieving small businesses of admin pressures allowing owners to take a breather, whether that be to grow their business or seize a chance to reflect and spend quality time with others.
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I bring a wealth of knowledge and organisational skills within office administration in both private and public sectors. I have excellent attention to detail and give energy and enthusiasm to any tasks set. Excellent customer service experience delivered professionally and amiably allows me to effectively liaise with clients and their business partners.
Aside from the administration world, I have worked in many supportive roles and enjoy being part of a competent, caring, and compassionate support team having worked with a diversity of ages, abilities, and ethnic backgrounds.
Originally from the UK, around 15 years ago I settled in Western Australia with my husband and two daughters. I am enthusiastic about Pilates, believing this contributes to my positive mindset."

Do you find it hard to track and then follow up on emails?
 
Microsoft Outlook has this very handy function that turns an email in your inbox into a task. No more having to mark an email as unread because you need to do something with it later. If you use Outlook as your email program, I encourage you to start using the follow-up-flag function to manage your emails better and be more organised.

1. First of all open the relevant email that has a related task. For example, maybe the sender is asking you for some more information about something and you need to respond with some flyers or other documents.

2. Next, click on the down arrow beside the red flag. You’ll be able to select when you want or need to complete the task by. A note will appear under the header section of the email you have open, showing when you’ve flagged the due date for.

Who wants to be more productive? Wouldn’t it be great to get more done in less time! We can all get overwhelmed with the many different responsibilities and tasks we have. How we organise or delegate them can make a real difference to our sanity. According to Women’s Agenda (Dec, 2021), a key theme that emerged from their Women’s Health@Work Summit, “people are feeling busier but not necessarily more productive”.
 
The pandemic has left many people feeling stressed and overwhelmed while trying to cope with the new environment we are doing business in. Small changes are easier to make than big changes. Small adjustments can also make a difference in the long term. One area that small changes can be made in is using technology to keep yourself organised. Pick one new app and start using it. These are my top 3 apps and software that I’m using in 2022:

1. Microsoft Outlook
Both the Outlook for Mac, Outlook Online (in the cloud) and the Outlook smartphone app are integrated. This means that if I update in one place, it updates in the others quite quickly. No matter where I go, I can access the calendar and make updates or view my commitments. Microsoft Outlook is part of the Microsoft Office 365 suite of software. The package includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote and OneDrive and costs AUD$99/year or $10/month and includes 1T of storage. Both Outlook and email addresses with other domain names can be added to Outlook as an email program.
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2. Dropbox
Dropbox was founded in June 2007 by university students who kept forgetting their USB sticks. Dropbox provides cloud file storage. They’ve grown from a million users after just 7 months to 400 million users worldwide. Co-founder Drew Houston says that Dropbox not just “keeps files in sync but [it’s] keeping people in sync, keeping teams in sync, connecting people to their most important information at work”.
 
I have the app downloaded onto my MacBook and save all my documents, files and images into my Dropbox folder. This syncs with the folder in the cloud, and also with the Dropbox app on my smartphone. No matter where I am, I can access all my files and information.

3. LastPass
LastPass is a password manager. Do you still write down your passwords? Or are you still trying to remember them and the different versions you have? No need to do that anymore or go searching for where you stored or wrote down your password. LastPass will do that all for you and you can also store secure notes and credit card details. LastPass can be used on your desktop or laptop computer as well as an app on your smartphone. There is a browser extension for it too, which means that once it is installed and you enter or create a new password on a website, LastPass will ask you if you want to add it to their program. There have been countless times LastPass has saved me! If you’re worried about your information being secure, LastPass say they use industry best practices, regularly upgrade their systems, and encrypt data. Read this article for more info.
 
What apps or software are you using? What’s your favourite?

An email always looks more professional when it has an email signature at the bottom of the message. This can be something as simple as your full name, business name and phone number beneath it. For a more elaborate email signature, include the logo for the business you work for and their website address. To use the space to promote the business, include a tag line. Some people even include a booking link to book appointments. As a minimum, include your full name, business name and contact number.

​1. Open the Outlook program
2. Click on ‘Inbox’ in the left hand side bar
3. Click on ‘New Email’ in the top left hand corner
4. Look for ‘Message’ in the top left hand corner. Make sure that is underlined. If not, click on it. Look for ‘Signature’ on the far right. Click the down arrow and choose ‘Edit Signatures’.
5. It is possible to create multiple different email signatures. This means you need to label/name each signature. Click on ‘+’ to start your first email signature. Give it a name, then create your email signature below. If you have created it somewhere else (eg. Word), you can copy and paste it here. To modify an existing email signature, click on its label/name and then ‘edit’.

6. Make sure the new signature you just created is selected under ‘Signature name’ in the left hand box. You will see a preview of it in the right hand box. Under ‘Choose default signature’ select the appropriate email account if you have multiple emails addresses. Then select your signature name for ‘New messages’ and ‘Replies/Forwards’ if you want to use it in these circumstances.
7. Click on the save icon
8. You’re done!

When you’re a small business owner you are looking at getting the most out of the resources you already have and pay for. When your business is quite small, you may hire or outsource an assistant who will perform both administrative tasks and some simple bookkeeping such as sending out invoices and receipts. These are regular tasks that can be taught with a procedure to follow, but it doesn’t replace the qualifications and experience of a bookkeeper. Administration and bookkeeping are two distinct areas.
 
A qualified bookkeeper in Australia has completed a Certificate IV in Accounting and Bookkeeping. A bookkeeper must be registered with the Tax Practitioners Board to provide BAS services for a fee, however there is no official certification to work as a bookkeeper in Australia. Bookkeepers are specifically hired to be responsible for the recording of financial transactions which includes income, expenses, payroll and petty cash. They keep business financial records, complete quarterly BAS statements, and produce financial reports such as profit and loss. A good bookkeeper will ensure that no figures or information is overlooked. They liaise with your accountant who is responsible for analysing, interpreting and reporting financial data. You will get financial expertise with a bookkeeper, but it is understandable that when budgets are very tight with a business that is quite small, to bring a team member on board who will do the invoicing as well.
 
An experienced administrative assistant manages day-to-day tasks in the office. Their role is varied, and no two days will be the same. Tasks range from handling correspondence with customers, managing calendars, appointments and bookings, completing essential paperwork, ordering supplies to posting on social media. They may be pulled in different directions due to competing priorities, but it will not be an issue if they are skilled at prioritising the importance of different tasks.
 
In my administrative career, I’ve had a wide variety of responsibilities like planning small events, image design, liaising with printers, ordering supplies, managing the booking of resources, collating reports, CRM management, answering enquiries, posting out information and more. Whilst some tasks are similar no matter where you work, there will be tasks unique to that business or organisation. Contact me if you don’t see the tasks you need help with on my Services page.