Want to know why these companies have started relying on a team from some other part of the world? Here are their reasons.

1. By hiring remotely, you will get access to the best talent worldwide

Opening up the workforce to the world means that the company is not limited to hiring workers from where the company is based. This means access to a more diverse talent pool from all over the world.

Usually, in big companies that are located in big cities, it is also a competition to attract employees who are usually crowding in a certain geographic region. Companies now race one another to give the best perks so that job hunters will be swayed to choose them.

With remote hiring, the company is not limited to settle for employees in just a certain place. For example, a company can tap the services of a renowned web designer based in South America, a top-rated virtual assistant from Asia, and many more.

Working with people from across the globe is also an incentive for remote employees because it is a chance to expand their network.

2. Remote teams have increased levels of productivity and efficiency

According to a study published in the Harvard Business Review, remote employees are more productive due to lower levels of stress. This can attributed to the flexibility of working remotely. In fact, they complete nearly an extra day’s worth of work every week compared to their in-office colleagues.

This finding is supported by a study by PGI, a leading provider of software services. In their report, they found that 82% of telecommuters have lower stress levels. Moreover, 80% of workers surveyed in the study also reported higher morale when working from home.

By working offsite, employees can work in their own pace, doing work in their most creative hours. Aside from this, they are not exposed to the stress of commute and time is not wasted on travel. During inclement weather, there is also no need to cancel work since the workers can simply finish their deliverables from the comfort of their own home.  

Additionally, according to a report by ConnectSolutions, there are fewer distractions for a disciplined remote worker, which can lead to higher efficiency. Some 30% of those surveyed said that telecommuting allowed them to accomplish more in less time.

3. Hiring remote teams decrease costs for both employers and employees… and the ENVIRONMENT

Managing a business is not easy — but a tech-based business means that most of the work is done online. This also means that you can fully operate your business without renting an office space and paying for utilities. Therefore, there is already a decrease in operating costs.

This is proven true by a Forbes report that examined big companies. One of them is Aetna that have 14,500 remote staff out of 35,000 employees. In the report, Aetna has stated that they have shed 2.7 million square feet of office space, saving $78 million. Another company, American Express, reported annual savings of $10 million to $15 million because they have remote working options.

On the other hand, remote teams also get to save money by not commuting. According to a survey report by Citi, workers in the US spend an average of 200 hours per year commuting to and from work. This totals to around $2,600 in costs, which include $10 daily from transportation cost. This does not even cover the cost of meals bought during work hours. When totaled, those little expenses add to a lot, burdening the employees even more. Working from home means that the employees save up on transportation cost or gasoline or petrol fare, as well as save up on takeout. 

More importantly, by saving on transportation, this also reduces the carbon footprint of the organization since workers do not travel, therefore not using gas or petrol.

4. Remote teams are reported to be more engaged with their co-workers

One of the biggest misconceptions of working remotely is that you cannot interact effectively with your colleagues. This is debunked by a study published in the Harvard Business Review that state that technological tools help workers stay connected. In fact, 87% of remote workers were reported to have said that they feel more connected through the use of video conferencing.

This is supported by a study by ConnectSolutions where they found that 80 percent of remote workers reported feeling more connected to their coworkers, particularly when their remote work practices were supported by unified communications.

Meetings are also not wasted because remote teams are more time conscious. Since meetings are held over video conferencing, time is set and limited, therefore only important matters are discussed. Because of this, it is less likely for meetings to be scheduled for topics that could have been discussed over email.

5. It is the future of work and the preference of young, dynamic talent

In 2015, 23% of US employees reported doing some of their work remotely, up from 19% in 2003, the Bureau of Labor Statistics data shows. This is not surprising since a global survey by PGI also shows that 79% of knowledge workers work from home. An additional 60% of workers in the survey said that if they could, they would leave their current job for a full-time remote position at the same pay rate.

This trend can be seen in many young professionals who have leveraged the use of technology to work remotely and live a nomadic lifestyle. A survey by AfterCollege, a career network for college students and recent graduates, also found that 68% of job seekers are millennials who prefer working remotely for their employers.

A forecast of employment trends by the World Economic Forum also called flexible work and having virtual teams as “one of the biggest drivers of transformation” in the workplace.

Are you now convinced that you should hire a remote team to improve the quality of your business? You can start by networking in trusted platforms such as Connected Women, where you can find quality remote workers. Your next star employee can just be a click away!

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Connected Women AI provides companies fully trained teams of women working remotely, who can annotate, label and review data sets. Click here to find out more.

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(Manila, March 21) – Twenty-five Palaweñas are now a step closer to remote employment opportunities, now that they have acquired important skills on Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning. This was made possible through Connected Women’s  Elevate AIDA (Artificial Intelligence Data Annotation). 

The Elevate AIDA program’s participants go through 15 days of training where they are introduced to artificial intelligence and basic remote working skills. They are taught how to work with AI programs, specifically data annotation, so that they can apply for remote jobs utilizing this skill. 

The training of these 25 women was organized by Roots of Health (ROH) / Ugat ng Kalusugan), a grassroots organization working directly with women in marginalized communities in Palawan. ROH was able to secure grant funding through The Women’s Rights, Action and Advocacy Project (WRAAP), an initiative of the Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP). When they heard of Connected Women’s ELEVATE program, a blended-learning course that teaches future-proof skills such as data annotation, they knew they had to take action. 

Amina Evangelista Swanepoel, ROH’s Executive Director, said that they were inspired by CW’s founder, Gina Romero’s stellar reputation in opening doors to multiple opportunities for women. 

“With our shared vision for empowering women, we also wanted to do the same for Palaweñas. So we jumped on this opportunity to give them a legitimate, honest, and productive way to earn money at home and build better lives for themselves and their families, especially after the economic crisis brought by the pandemic, and recently, by Typhoon Odette,” Swanepoel said.

Innovative training, engaged participants       

The training was concluded on the 18th of March and these Palawanas, under the guidance of ROH and CW, became part of the 16th batch of graduates of the Elevate AIDA program. 

One of the participants, Zaynah Suizo, a 36 year-old single mom, said that this opportunity is a huge help for her, given her circumstances. “I’m learning a lot of skills so far, such as using Google Docs, Google Sheets, Google Drive. I’m also getting a better understanding of artificial intelligence and data labeling,” she said.

Another participant, Rufizah Hayre, a 24-year old graduating student, praised the program’s comprehensive and clear instructions, despite the limited amount of time. “Because I’m pretty young, I thought I already knew all about Google Drive and using email, but thanks to this training, I discovered that there’s a lot more to learn, lots of other functions that can make our work easier. The amount of tasks and activities are also reasonable, especially for busy people like me,” Hayre said.

These sentiments were echoed by another participant, Geralden Gabay, a mom of 2 kids who participated in the program to earn extra income. She noted that they were given a copy of the training sessions to rewatch after the sessions. “The facilitators are very accommodating, especially when they entertain questions and clarifications during the sessions. I love the opportunity to earn extra income after coming home from my day job,” Gabay said. 

Swanepoel said that she is grateful for the opportunity and the training that CW gave their community in Palawan as it aligns with ROH’s vision of self-reliant women and young people. 

“I have known of Connected Women for a long time and had been hoping for the chance to work together. I’m so delighted that their innovative and empowering program has now reached some of the women of Palawan.” 

Other groups and businesses are welcome to partner with Connected Women to replicate the success of Elevate AIDA in different parts of the country. 

Gina Romero, Connected Women’s CEO and Co-founder said, “The work that Amina and her team do at ROH supporting young women with reproductive health and education is so important. Working together means we are able to provide women with essential non-judgemental healthcare support and access to opportunities in the future of work. We are extremely grateful to PBSP and WRAAP for their support in making this collaboration happen.”

=================

About Roots of Health:

ROH was established in 2009 by Dr. Susan Evangelista and her daughter, Amina Evangelista Swanepoel. Susan was teaching at Palawan State University (PSU) in Puerto Princesa and was concerned about unplanned pregnancies and the lack of reproductive health knowledge among her students. This inspired them to create a group that teaches and treats women in matters concerning reproductive health.

About Connected Women:

Connected Women is the leading community in the Philippines for women’s empowerment in the digital economy. Creating opportunities for women through entrepreneurship, freelancing and remote work. Our mission is to empower women with skills and opportunities that drive the growth of the digital economy. Connected Women is proud to be recognised for creating meaningful progress towards achieving the sustainable development goals: Finalist – MIT Inclusive Innovation Challenge (ASIA), Finalist – RSA Future Work Awards (UK), Champion for e-Employment – WSIS (Geneva), Finalist – COVID-19 Action, UN Women, WEPs Awards (Philippines).

For more information, contact
Email address: partnerships@connectedwomen.com

The post Connected Women and Roots of Health Train 25 Filipino Women in Artificial Intelligence appeared first on Connected Women - Entrepreneurs, Freelancers and Professionals..

AboitizPower, through its coal business unit Therma Visayas, Inc. (TVI), will sponsor a series of Connected Women workshops on future-proofing the skills of women in disadvantaged communities.

(MANILA, date) — Staying true to their mission of creating sustainable communities and in celebration of Women’s Month, AboitizPower has partnered with Connected Women to train 60 women from Toledo City in Cebu on artificial intelligence data annotation and other important computer skills to get them ready for the future of work. 

This initiative is part of the Elevate AIDA (Artificial Intelligence Data Annotation) program that Connected Women runs, which was launched in June 2020 at the height of the pandemic. Elevate AIDA was created in partnership with UN Women and WeEmpowerAsia and aims to provide women in rural areas in the Philippines with remote work skills, basic professional and computer skills, and AI data labeling skills so they can become active contributors in the digital economy and artificial intelligence industry.

TVI, together with the Aboitiz Foundation, entered into a memorandum of agreement with Connected Women in a signing ceremony in Barangay Bato in Toledo City on March 23, 2022 to train unemployed women, particularly mothers, from its partner communities in barangays Bato, Cabitoonan, and Awihao in Toledo. At the end of their training program, these women will be able to do basic data annotation tasks such as image identification and categorization.

“Community development is at the core of how we do business at TVI. Sustainable growth is only possible when our communities grow with us. Through projects such as this, not only do we create long-term partnerships and relationships with our neighbors, we also help build a better future for them,” said AboitizPower Coal Business Unit Vice President for Corporate Services Ginger Tanchi. 

Tanchi shared that many women in TVI’s host communities, those who are living in rural areas, are often overburdened with household economic struggles, which have been further exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“Through our partnership with Connected Women, we would be able to provide the women in our host communities what they need most—an opportunity to learn new skills and provide additional income for their household, without having to leave their homes and families,” Tanchi said. 

More than providing these women an opportunity to support their families, the Elevate AIDA program of Connected Women would also empower them with the skills that drive the growth of the digital economy.

“This closely aligns with one of the important core values of the Aboitiz Group—Innovation. We embrace the role of digital transformation and data analytics in thriving in the ever changing world today. The training and work opportunities provided to these women would further drive our commitment to instill the value of Innovation not just within the company, but also our host communities,” she added.

The pilot course as proof of potential 

AboitizPower decided to sponsor an Elevate AIDA program in Cebu after seeing the success of the pilot program. During the first iteration of this course, graduates were given on-the-job training and they were also placed in client projects wherein they can work 100% online from anywhere in the country, even remote areas or places affected by conflict. After undergoing training, these women can potentially earn up to P10,000 a month once employed. 

It was important that the pilot program provided the necessary proof of concept that technology skills training can be efficiently delivered remotely on a national scale, enabling Connected Women to present a viable, scalable solution to potential partners and collaborators.

Ruth Yu- Owen, Connected Women’s Co-Founder said, “The success of the pilot program, launched in partnership with UN Women’s WeEmpowerAsia, was critical to proving the viability of the program.”

“Partnering with big companies like AboitizPower who are committed to creating sustainable livelihood opportunities for Filipinos is essential to ensuring that women are not left behind in the future of work,” she added.

Since Elevate AIDA’s launch, around 500 ladies have been trained and participated in the course. After finalizing the deal with Connected Women, the 60 Cebuanas sponsored by AboitizPower, through TVI, will be part of the twentieth batch of graduates who will follow in the footsteps of other empowered Pinays who have found employment in the field of artificial intelligence. 

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About AboitizPower’s Therma Visayas Inc.:

Therma Visayas, Inc. (TVI) is one of the two coal-fired power plants in the country that houses a Coal Dome facility, second only to its sister plant Therma South, Inc. (TSI).

TVI operates the 340 MW Toledo power plant in Brgy. Bato, Toledo City, Cebu. It uses state-of-the-art Circulating Fluidized Bed (CFB) and the Best Available Control Technology (BACT) to minimize coal dust emissions that can harm the atmosphere.

True to its word of achieving a better tomorrow through cleaner and more efficient power production, TVI is making strides in the Visayas as a leading electricity generator.

About Connected Women:

Connected Women is the leading community in the Philippines for women’s empowerment in the digital economy. Creating opportunities for women through entrepreneurship, freelancing and remote work. Our mission is to empower women with skills and opportunities that drive the growth of the digital economy. Connected Women is proud to be recognised for creating meaningful progress towards achieving the sustainable development goals: Finalist – MIT Inclusive Innovation Challenge (ASIA), Finalist – RSA Future Work Awards (UK), Champion for e-Employment – WSIS (Geneva), Finalist – COVID-19 Action, UN Women, WEPs Awards (Philippines).

For more information, contact:
Email address: partnerships@connectedwomen.com

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Connected Women prepares Filipino women for the future of work by training them to be data labelers, virtual assistants, and more.

With the Philippines bracing itself for the impact of artificial intelligence (AI), one social impact tech startup is making sure that Filipino women are prepared for the inevitable changes.

Philippines-based startup Connected Women creates opportunities for both skilled and underskilled women by training them to be data annotators, which are considered to be essential in any program that uses AI.

The training is part of the #WomenRiseAboveCovid program in partnership with the joint EU-UN Women program WeEmpowerAsia. This initiative is one of two tracks with the other focused on helping women business owners during and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic.

Founder Gina Romero said that the reputation of Filipinos for being hard working will help us stand out in this fast-growth market.

“As long as we keep advocating for the training, the tools, the knowledge, and the awareness about these types of opportunities, I think this industry will surely grow,” Romero said.

Connected Women plans to train 200 women by the end of the year and 1,000 more by next year.

Data labeling as a promising new outsourcing market

With more and more companies around the world using AI for their operations, the reality is that these machines still need to “learn”. This is where data labeling comes in. The process uses human intervention to train AI applications by labeling data such as images, text, or voice. The data is then labeled by the AI and verified by a human so that it can further improve its accuracy.

This industry is expected to be valued at more than USD 1 billion at the end of 2023 and USD 1.6 billion by the end of 2025. Countries like India, Romania, and the Philippines have started to jump on the bandwagon, employing thousands to work for companies such as Google, Microsoft, Walmart, General Motors, and more.

Connected Women started as a platform where entrepreneurs from all over the world can look for high-quality Filipina talent. Foreseeing this new demand from tech giants who need the services of data labelers, they have expanded their programs to include training women to become adept data annotators.

The Connected Women community consists of over 70,000 members with the majority coming from Philippine megacities like Manila, Cebu, and Davao. Connected Women are trying to reach smaller communities too, with the help of private sector partners and local government units.

During this pandemic, however, there is one uniting factor among these women – most of them were affected by the lockdown and sought other means of income during these trying times.

Seventy members were selected to be part of the initial pilot training for “Elevate AIDA (Artificial Intelligence Data Annotation)” where they were trained in basic data labeling skills such as image identification, classification, and categorization. These are women who previously did not have any knowledge of AI or data labeling.

UN Women’s Ma. Rosalyn Mesina, WeEmpowerAsia Philippines Country Program Manager, said that she is very happy to support this project and provide more opportunities for Filipino women to access decent and fair jobs.

She is hopeful that the pilot training supported by UNW WeEmpowerAsia will encourage other partners and private sector groups to consider investing in such programs which can open pathways for more women towards financial and income security, enabling them to contribute to the socio-economic wellbeing of their families and communities.

With the strengthening of the country’s internet infrastructure presenting a growing opportunity for those in far-flung communities who benefit from online work the most, Connected Women also partnered with the likes of the Department of Information and Communications Technology, Globe Telecom and Facebook, to provide access to the necessary training, tools and connectivity to make their initiative a success.

According to Yoly Crisanto, Globe Sustainability Officer and SVP for Corporate Communications, developing skills in digital technology becomes more important and those who can learn this will reap the benefits, especially because of the new normal.

“Globe is at the forefront of enabling digitalization as such we believe this initiative will help empower women by providing them with the necessary tools that can aid their training even while they are at home,” Crisanto said.

Flexible work as the future in the “new normal” landscape

One of the participants of the pilot test was Ida, a single mother and a working student. Because of the lockdown, Ida not only needs to provide for her two young children but also take care of them and do her daily chores around the house.

Her greatest challenge was looking for work that would allow her to stay home with her children.

“It gives opportunities to single mothers like me who have a hard time looking for work,” she said.

Janette, a former OFW who got displaced because of COVID-19, is another participant who said that she will recommend this work to her friends and family.

She was working in Qatar but had to come back to the Philippines because of the pandemic. Because of opportunities such as data labeling, which can be done online, women like Janette have a choice not to leave the country.

Another trainee is an 18-year-old juvenile stroke survivor, Rica. She was 16 when she had an Ischemic stroke which she felt limited her career options.

During the lockdown, she decided that she needed a job that she could do at home and will allow her enough flexibility as she continues with her physical therapy.

“I learned and discovered a lot of jobs I can do even while working from home. I also did not feel discriminated against,” Rica said.

As an online job, data labeling falls into the broad category of “flexible work” that enables people to work the hours they would like, from anywhere in the world. This also gives corporations access to a global talent pool. Workers, on the other hand, can avoid the hassle of travel by working from home and have more flexibility to take care of household responsibilities.

Experts are saying that flexible work is the future of most industries in the “new normal” which has been accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Businesses have been forced to implement a work-from-home policy, illuminating the effectiveness of this work arrangement.

Romero said that more and more women are seeing this type of work as an alternative to their corporate jobs. In fact, the whole country seems to be considering this “new normal” as a viable career option. The Philippines is currently ranked as the 6th fastest-growing freelance market, with a 35% growth from 2019.

“Our members want to learn about the different types of remote work and what skills they can bring online,” Romero said.

As an advocate of technology and the opportunities that platforms like Connected Women create, Romero believes that technology can be empowering for women at all levels.

“Technology is a game-changer for women and providing access to remote and flexible work means having a choice between staying in the workforce or being forced to drop out.”

***

Connected Women is a social impact tech startup, which offers technology skills development and remote work opportunities to women.

We provide affordable talent for businesses globally while creating an impact for Filipino women and their families.

We had been recognized in MIT’s Inclusive Innovation Challenge as an Asia Finalist (Bangkok, 2018), RSA Future Work Awards as a Finalist (UK, 2018) and WSIS (endorsed by the United Nations General Assembly) as a Champion for e-employment (Geneva, 2019). Our innovation is recognized to create meaningful progress towards achieving sustainable development goals, SDG 5: Gender Equality, and SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth.

To partner with Connected Women on our initiatives, contact us at:
partnerships@connectedwomen.com

To find out more about the next program, please sign up here.

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The #WomenRiseAboveCovid series empowers women-led MSMEs transition to digital.

Connected Women can now reach and educate more Women, thanks to an exciting new partnership with European Union-UN Women program, WeEmpowerAsia.

This partnership will champion business enhancement, transformation with digital platform skills for women entrepreneurs. The goal is for women to be economically empowered during and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic. A series of talks and panel discussions will include:

• Offline to Online Business Transition
• Learn and maximize digital platforms for MSMEs
• Open up networking and business opportunities
• Teaching and refining IT skills for women
• Tapping online work opportunities

Connected Women Founder Gina Romero expressed her excitement about the partnership which will enable them to reach out to more women in the Philippines, especially those running their own MSMEs.

“We know that there are many women entrepreneurs who need to transition their brick and mortar businesses online and become digital marketing savvy” Romero said.

Romero also said that this is applicable for startups and women who feel that they are not in a stable place at work and wish to build their own businesses.

The first two events will be held on July 8th and 15th and they will be part of the Connected Women global meetup. The following sessions will feature smaller groups to discuss industry-specific challenges, such as tourism.

Succeeding events will be held in August, September, and November. To keep updated with these workshops and talks, follow the Connected Women Facebook page for more information.

Connected Women’s response to the community

The series of workshops is Connected Women’s answer to its community’s clamor to become more prepared for the “new normal”.

Thousands of members of the Connected Women community were affected by the lockdown, especially those in severely impacted industries.

Romero explained that the online job market has the capacity to employ these women, which is why a lot of Connected Women’s programs focus on digital upskilling and digital marketing, namely:

• Artificial Intelligence Data Labelling – This market is expected to hit USD 1.6 billion by 2025. They include jobs that need humans to do tagging, classification, moderation, and processing of images for AI.
• Executive Virtual Assistant – Customer service, data entry, and internet research which can be done remotely are often needed by big businesses. The Philippines is the 6th fastest-growing freelance market, just behind the US, Australia, UK, Canada.
• Remote Officers, Specialists, Agents – This involves transitioning office-based teams to remote teams. And there is evidence supporting that this could be a new trend.

Tech giant Facebook already has a ten-year plan in place to move its workforce to work remotely. Twitter and Google are also embracing this new trend, especially in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. It is expected that more companies will be following suit.

Romero explained that there is also a need for companies to understand the importance of providing remote and flexible work to retain their women talents in the workforce. By doing this, they can also open up their talent pool to people who may not physically attend work in the workplace.

The drive for inclusive, sustainable growth

Connected Women’s partnership with the joint European Union-UN Women program WeEmpowerAsia is a step towards inclusive and sustainable growth in various communities, companies, and enterprises with women as its drivers.

UN Women’s Ma. Rosalyn Mesina, WeEmpowerAsia Philippines Country Program Manager, said that she is very happy to support Connected Women and provide more opportunities for women to participate in more structured discussions when it comes to transitioning women-led and women-owned enterprises from offline businesses to online businesses.

Mesina emphasized the importance of networking and maximizing digital platforms for women owners of small businesses.

“I am really amazed hearing and reading all the comments and [I would like to] congratulate Connected Women on all these efforts that you are able to provide a safe space to discuss a lot of topics from professional activities down to the issues of motherhood and how do we do self-care on our own,” she said.

“I am already seeing a lot of very very successful women in the space who can be mentors and who can really inspire others to do the same,” Mesina continued.

As a group, UN Women is an entity dedicated to gender equality and women’s empowerment. It has four strategic priorities and one of which is for women to have income security, decent work, and economic autonomy.

WE Empower Asia is a key initiative that translates and articulates UN Women’s Commitment under the Women’s Economic Empowerment focus. With support from the European Union, it runs in seven Asian countries, including the Philippines.

For more information about this partnership and the series of workshops, visit https://asiapacific.unwomen.org/en

Join Us For #ConnectedWomen #WomenRiseAboveCovid – July 8

REGISTER HERE

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In this Independence Day celebration of the Philippines, here is a story of a woman who proudly represented the country in one of the most challenging hikes in the world. Bianca Lawas made news rounds in April 2019 when she reached the Mt. Everest Base Camp and wore a Filipiniana gown to celebrate this feat.

Aside from conquering physical mountains, what many people don’t know about Bianca was how she was able to overcome challenges so she could chase after her dreams. This is a story about Bianca’s journey – a testament of Filipino resilience and tenacity.

An uphill climb  

She got into mountain climbing in 2010 when her college friend invited her to go to Mt. Pulag in Northern Luzon. Back then, she didn’t know anything about mountaineering or hiking. Since they organized the trip themselves, they didn’t even have the proper footwear or backpacks.

“It also did not help that there was a typhoon when we reached Camp 2 of Mt. Pulag. The weather forecast was inaccurate so we were so cold that time and some of our things were wet,” Bianca said.

To make things worse, one of her teammates had a terrible seizure due to hypothermia. Fortunately, there were nurses in their group and they were able to take care of the situation.

Despite a rocky start, Bianca soon fell in love with mountain climbing. In fact, since 2010, she has climbed so many mountains both in and outside the Philippines that she has lost count.

“There was even a year or more than a year wherein my friends and I climb every other week. My favorites are of course Mt. Everest Base Camp, Mt. Kinabalu and Mt. Halcon,” she said.

Among these, however, the most challenging climb was also the one that catapulted her to fame — Mt. Everest Base Camp Trek. Bianca explained that it was a 11-day hike that included two days just to acclimatize to the altitude.

“Everyone needs to be acclimatized well so we won’t get altitude sickness or worse, HACE (High Altitude Cerebral Edema) or HAPE (High Altitude Pulmonary Edema). There were a number of climbers who were sent back to Kathmandu via chopper because they were showing severe symptoms of high altitude sickness like vomiting several times and excessive coughing,” she explained.

Their team, composed of different nationalities, faced physical challenges that even some of the athletes in their group weren’t able to overcome.  

“We had headaches every night ranging from mild to really uncomfortable that we had to take medicines because of the very cold temperature (the rooms don’t have a heater) and the altitude that we need to adjust from,” Bianca said.

“As we went higher, we also had hard time breathing, even at rest. Several times when I was sleeping, I had to wake up and to sit down just to be able to properly breathe or breathe fully,” she added.

A Filipina’s resilience

To prepare for these climbs, Bianca trains by running on a treadmill at maximum inclination for at least 30 minutes to 1.5 hours at least three times a week. She also had some strengthening sessions with her personal trainer in the gym.

What’s interesting is that Bianca has faced the challenges in her life with the same dedication and motivation as she does for her climbs.

“I would say one mountain in my life that I have conquered is the attainment of my dream lifestyle. My dream lifestyle is to be able do whatever, wherever and whenever I want without worrying how to pay my bills and how to finance the things that I need and want including my travels and adventures,” she said.

Bianca used to have a day job that was just enough to fulfil her needs but not her wants. With a new summit to climb, little by little, she worked towards her goal. She attended classes on personal finance including the Registered Financial Planners (RFP) course. She also removed all debts and eliminated or prevented possible liabilities. Now, she is a successful licensed real estate broker. It is a job that allows her the flexibility she needs to pursue her hobbies.

“It is only with my travel and adventures that I spend more now. I also taught myself how to earn well and used my strength in selling, negotiating and closing deals for my career. I also talked with successful people even if I don’t know them personally,” Bianca shared.

She also read self-help books and articles, watched online videos, listened to podcast, attended seminars and workshops, etc. that helped her achieve her dream lifestyle.

“It’s not a one shot deal and I have to continuously improve myself and follow through my goals, and just do my best to bounce back whenever I falter. I’m not saying I’m already super successful and I have achieved all the things that I want,” Bianca said.

Bianca’s determination is just a testimony of the resilience and discipline of Filipinos which she has also witnessed time and time again during her climbs.

“When it comes to hiking, generally citizens from Western countries, especially the ones we met in Everest Base Camp Trek, had really long strides probably because of their long legs so they are able to hike faster,” she said.

Despite this, she has noted that Filipinos get along really well with other nationalities and can keep up with taller climbers.

“We are always flexible and able to adapt well with other nationalities and their different personalities,” she said.

For Bianca, climbing the Everest Base Camp is not the end of her journey. There are still more mountains to climb and more dreams to achieve.

“There’s still a lot of work to be done. I just know I’m already in my dream lifestyle  and I have that confidence in me that I can achieve almost anything that I’m passionate about and I set my mind to.”

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Meet Bianca and other inspiring women around the world.

Join us at Connected Women.

It’s free.

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For its work and impact on the lives of women, Connected Women was chosen by the prestigious Asian Venture Philanthropy Network (AVPN) to be part of its deal sharing platform for its venture fundraising. 

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 Here are some of the most common questions technopreneurs may have about running a remote team – and the answers and tips to help them manage their employees better.

How do you find the right people for your team?

What kind of skills do you look for in an employee? If you are hiring for an onsite team, that can be answered easily however, for a remote worker, there are certain considerations.

Aaron Vicks, Chief Strategy Officer for Cicayda, a legal tech firm that combines cloud-based eDiscovery software with legal expertise, has a recommendation. Vicks suggests that the most important quality to look for is being a self-starter.

This means that employees have to excel at self-management and communication. Remote working is also a solitary task. Entrepreneurs looking for remote members of their team should hire people who don’t mind the lack of daily, in-person socialization from the workplace.

Of course, to determine these qualities, you must create an in-depth pre-hire process or tasks around their possible role. You may also want to give them personality quizzes to answer. 

What kind of tools do you need to manage your team?

Large corporations may have customized software management tools, but startups and small businesses can also use free or inexpensive management tools, such as a kanban board.

A kanban board is a generic term for online boards that allow you to create task cards, assign them to different employees and set deadlines. Employees can make the stage of the task as they go along so that everyone can track the project’s progress. Examples include Trello, Slack, Monday, Basecamp, and more.

However, by using the free version of these tools, you may not have access to full functionality. Leila Bulling Towne of The Bulling Towne Group, LLC recommends that it would be better to invest in such tools and then develop clear processes within the organization when and how to use such tools.

Another handy tool is a time-tracking tool where you can set clear objectives, check on your employees’ performance, and increase productivity. This is especially helpful to businesses that pay remote teams by the hour. This makes payroll calculation more accurate. It eliminates the chances of underpaying or overpaying someone for their time.

By having a timesheet software, remote teams will be more mindful about how much time they spend on tasks, which can improve their concentration and fend off distractions.

How do you keep employees engaged?

Communication with remote teams should not just mean a thread of emails and texts over messaging apps. The key is engagement and making them feel like they are part of an onsite team.

Priyanka Prakash, lending and credit expert at Fundera, suggests having daily, check-in video calls. For her, video is key because it makes both parties take the call more seriously and come fully prepared.

“During the call, we discussed the previous day’s work, the current day’s agenda, and any questions or things the individual was blocked on. The video component and the fact that this meeting occurred daily made my reports feel like they were fully part of the onsite team,” she said.

Wayne Anderson from the Leadership Science Institute LLC also suggests giving your remote team to as much access to you as possible. This is because remote employees don’t see their managers in the halls, eat with you at lunch, stop by your office, etc. This could also mean scheduled one-on-one sessions with members of your remote team.

“The remote people don’t have that access and can feel distant. Respond to them as quickly as possible. Make your local people set appointments,” he said.

If possible, organize team bondings or outings when you get a chance to visit your team. If this cannot be done anytime soon, you can engage them some other way. For example, post fun questions on your chat channel to stimulate casual conversation. During video chats, you can also schedule a few minutes for an icebreaker games such as two truths and one lie.

Ryne Higgins, senior manager of ecommerce at Peacock Alley, recommends setting up a “Just for Fun” messaging channel in your organization’s enterprise social network.

Higgins said that by creating a team-wide messaging channel or email thread specifically designated for non-work related banter, it can create closeness among remote employees.

“This could include jokes, memes, new songs or videos, or any other topics that brings some fun to the workplace,” Higgins said

How do you keep track of progress?

Some entrepreneurs may feel comfortable setting up their remote team to work in a co-working space so that they could accurately log working hours. Usually, these co-working spaces are set up in another city or country with lower rent.

However, for individual remote employees who work from their own home, the real estate costs and office expenses are eliminated completely but there is no way to know how your worker spends his or her day.

Is this a big deal? For online business consultant Ilean Harris, the first step is to set clear expectations.

“Everyone has a different idea of what doing something “quickly” or “well” means. Whether showing examples of what you expect to be done, calendar sharing, etc., make sure you have clear expectations from those you work with online,” she said.

Consultant Donald Hatter believes the same thing. For Hatter, business owners should stay focused on goals and not on activities.

“Don’t worry as much about what is being done. Instead, concentrate on what is being accomplished. If we are meeting our goals, then great. If not, we need to look into the situation further. It is all about accomplishment, not activity,” he said.

For managers who want to be more hands-on with their team, Deborah Goldstein of DRIVEN Professionals suggests to arrange an appropriate number of weekly formal “report-ins.”

“Second, set guidelines about daily needs. Some people work better with a shopping list of questions and thoughts while others like a trickle,” Goldstein said.

According to her, an understanding of what is urgent will further mitigate inefficiency, allowing ultimate productivity. With these tips on managing your remote team, you can enhance productivity and also foster company culture.

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Connected Women AI provides companies fully trained teams of women working remotely, who can annotate, label and review data sets. Click here to find out more.

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Unicorns are not just magical creatures. In the startup industry, companies valued at $1 billion or more have been called “unicorns” — a term coined by venture capitalist Aileen Lee in 2013, to demonstrate the statistical rarity of billion-dollar ventures.

It goes without saying that it is difficult to unlock this kind of achievement. According to Peter S. Cohan & Associates, a management consulting and venture capital firm, the chances of achieving unicorn status is about 1 in 5 million.

In addition, the typical venture capitalist meets with 1,000 new companies a year and only funds two of them. For every 10,000 startups that get funding, only one becomes a unicorn, according to the US-based firm.

In 2017, out of the 84 unicorns in the US, only two have women CEOs and out of all startups, only 2.4% have female CEOs. This is reflective of the situation in more established multinational firms where only 4.6% of Fortune 500 companies are led by women.

In the continuing study of CrunchBase and TechCrunch on female startup founders, they have discovered that from 2009 to 2012, the percent of venture-funded companies with women founders increased by nearly 8%. However, the percentage of women-founded, venture-backed companies has also stagnated at around 17% from 2012 to 2017.

This makes women-led unicorn startups a rarity but not a complete impossibility. Startups are usually associated with small offices, remote teams, virtual assistants, and a lot of hard work. Women are already having a difficult time breaking glass ceilings in traditional companies but putting in the hours for a startup? It takes double the time and effort. Despite these factors, several ambitious women have overcome the odds to make a difference in the business technology industry. Here are some of them.

Melanie Perkins

Startup: Canva

Valuation: $2.5 billion

At a young age of 19, Melanie Perkins dropped out of college to start her own business in her mother’s living room. Little did she know, it was the birth of Canva, an online platform that makes it easy for everyone including non creatives to craft professional looking digital design works. Fast forward to today, Melanie Perkins’ startup is valued at an amazing USD 2.5B, boasting over 10 million active users across 179 countries.

‘When we got our first $100 cheque, it was the most exciting moment ever, knowing people were prepared to pay for what we had built,’ – Melanie Perkins

Amy Pressman

Startup: Medallia

Valuation: $1.2 billion

Amy Pressman has always loved selling. After an impressive education at Harvard and Stanford, Pressman worked for Goldman Sachs.

Despite her privileged upbringing, Pressman also volunteered for the Peace Corps in Honduras. This experience opened her eyes to the positive impact that businesses can have on the community. This also inspired her to establish a startup that helps companies capture customer feedback.

In 2001, she co-founded Medallia, a software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform that helps businesses understand their customers in real time and delivers insights and action across their organization. With Medallia, Pressman hoped that it can empower organizations and their employees by incorporating customer insights into daily decisions.

Sarah Leary

Startup: Nextdoor

Valuation: $1.1 billion

Having grown up in a small town in Massachusetts, Sarah Leary was used to a community where everyone lends a helping hand to the neighbors.

This inspired her to create Nextdoor, a private social network where neighbors can connect. With Nextdoor, one can post jobs or look for local jobs, such as babysitting. The platform can also be used to announce meetings and organize neighborhood watches.

Leary co-founded the company with Nirav Tolia, David Wiesen and Prakash Janakiraman in 2010 and ever since, it has spread to 160,000 neighborhoods across the US, UK, and the Netherlands.

Liu Nan

Startup: Mia

Valuation: $1 billion

When Liu Nan became a mother, she found it difficult to find products and services to trust. She began researching products online and sharing her findings afterwards to fellow Chinese mothers. She eventually became an opinion leader and her advocacy to promote safe and trusted products for babies led her to create a shopping platform, Mia.

Mia was founded in 2014 and because of Nan’s influence, it soon became the go-to e-commerce site and app of mothers who are looking for quality baby goods. It has since expanded to sell other kinds of household products that Nan herself approves.

Kathryn Petralia

Startup: Kabbage

Valuation: $1 billion

Kathryn Petralia worked in the technology payments and e-commerce industry for more than 20 years before she co-founded Kabbage with Marc Gorlin and Rob Frohwein in 2009.

Kabbage is an online financial company that provides funding to small businesses via an automated lending platform. It has since provided more than $600 million to their members.

Melissa Yang

Startup: Tujia

Valuation $1 billion

A graduate of Tsinghua University with a degree in automation, Melissa Yang studied computer science in the US. In 2006, she founded Escapia, a startup that provided vacation rental. It was bought by HomeAway, the rival of AirBnB, for $10 million in 2010.

Yang worked for sometime in Microsoft before starting another venture, Tujia, which is China’s AirBnB. The firm has now over 430,000 rental listings in China and it is about to expand overseas.

With her experience in successful business ventures, Yang is now looking for promising startups that she can back, together with investment firm, IDG Capital.

Julia Hartz

Startup: Eventbrite

Valuation: $1 billion

Julia Hartz was just a regular employee of MTV in the early 2000s. Her work in the company made her rethink the process of getting tickets for events. In 2006, together with her husband, they founded Eventbrite, a platform that processes electronic tickets.

At first, she focused on the marketing and management of the startup before taking over as CEO in 2016.

Eventbrite currently has more than 500 employees. In 2017, it processed around 200 million tickets in 180 countries.

Miranda Qu

Startup: XiaoHongShu (Little Red Book)

Valuation: $1 billion

A shopping fanatic, Miranda Qu founded Little Red Book, a Chinese shopping app and online community that allows users to give tips on shopping overseas.

The app has many features and it also allows users to purchase foreign goods and luxury items.

Michelle Zatlyn

Startup: Cloudflare

Company valuation: $1 billion

Cloudflare may be a household name among tech companies now but back in 2009, it was a startup that has just been established by Canadian entrepreneur Michelle Zatlyn.

Zatlyn migrated to the US to study Chemistry and after that, an MBA at the Harvard Business School. After which, she worked for technology companies such as Google, Toshiba, and other startups.

The web performance and internet security company now provides their service to a lot of big companies both in the US and abroad.

Of course, these women founders have succeeded with the help of their team and fellow women who have cheered them on in every step of the way. This is one of the advocacies of Connected Women, which connects female technopreneurs with quality remote staff.

The support of virtual assistants and remote teams proves to be a strategic step towards growth and success. This is exemplified by these women startup founders who beat the odds and made tech magic by transforming their ideas and hard work into unicorns.

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“Academics is not the only way forward. Experience is key.” – Elim Chew

This is the first advice Elim Chew gave a keen audience during the Connected Women “Entrepreneur Mindset: Risk and Reinvention” event in Singapore.

Chew is one of Singapore’s prominent entrepreneurs but her journey to success wasn’t a straight line. In fact, it took a lot of risks and reinventions for Chew to become the influential figure she is today.

From fashion to food

Chew started her foray into entrepreneurship with the retail chain 77th Street. Chew, who studied in the United Kingdom, was in her early twenties when she got the idea for the business.

“I saw all these funky weird stuff from London but I saw all these fashion things that were not available in Singapore so I started importing them in Singapore,” she said.

Chew said that she was also working as a hairstylist that time and she was wearing the bracelets and jackets she got from the UK while cutting the hair of her customers. Many of them would ask her about her stylish accessories and clothes and she recognized that there is a potential market for these items in Singapore.

She immediately faxed her sister to send more of these fashionable items. Together, they started selling them for a profit.

Chew and her team was able to grow 77th Street. At its peak, they had 16 stores in and they even had a 77th Street Plaza in a shopping mall in Beijing.

The road to success wasn’t smooth, however. This time, they were disrupted by the rising price of rental, the lack of manpower, and e-commerce.

This did not stop the enterprising Chew to start another venture.

“As we were retiring [from 77th Street] we decided, okay we move from fashion to food! That’s when we wanted to invest in businesses,” she said.

It was then that they were introduced to a Korean chef who taught them the business of running a Korean barbecue restaurant.

“It’s quite scary because we knew nothing about food,” Chew confessed

Their consultants that time discouraged them due to their lack of experience and an undesirable location. Chew said that they still did their best and even prayed before they opened for the first day.

Come opening day and I’m Kim Korean BBQ had surprisingly long lines. The success of the first store gave birth to I’m Kim Junior, Goro Goro Steamboat and Korean Buffet, and Captain Kim Korean BBQ and Hotpot, which is halal-certified.

The key to the success of these chains is to listen to your customers, Chew shared. Since a lot of people were asking for halal food, they made sure to get a certification even if it took six months to process it.

Another technique is to make yourself different from the competitors, which was their strategy with the Goro Goro Steamboat. With these, their food chains continue to grow.

“The best part is my team of 77th Street the fashion business, the management team, is actually running the food business so we run the business how we run the fashion business,” she happily shared.

From food to FastFast

As an entrepreneur, Chew realized that she had to run a lot of errands and had no time at all to accomplish them. This was when she met several enterprising young people who offered to run her errands for her. This idea eventually became Fast Fast Delivery, her next business venture.

“You can go to website and it run errands for you. So you’re sitting here now you forgot your headphones somewhere, you can go to the website and get someone to bring it here for you and you pay in cash,” she explained.

“I usually try to get students single moms, single dads, people strapped for cash and need daily income,” Chew added.

She explained that 90% of the money is given to the driver and the remaining 10% goes into training the drivers or errand runners on how to use the platform.

“Crowdsourcing I think is the only way forward,” she remarked about this platform.

This idea also worked out for a group of young people she met, who was crowdsourcing for an advertising business. This particular group of young people raised a million dollars for their business, Carblicity, a crowdsourcing platform that connects advertisers with private car owners for the purpose of Outdoor Advertising using stickers on cars.

This in turn allows advertisers to tap on the resources of the any person in Singapore with a car for their advertising purposes, while drivers can now enjoy the rewards once reserved for public transport vehicles.

“With Carblicity, you can have one car a month just doing your advertising,” she said.

From FastFast to fish and filming

Despite her busy schedule, Chew still finds the time to do her hobbies. One of these is fishing with 16 of her friends.

Every three months, they would get together and fish. Their biggest catch, she said, was 645 fish in just a few hours.

Chew and her friends would then donate their catch and other meat products to a soup kitchen that cooks 6,000 meals a day for low-income people in Singapore. Chew shared that the usual donations are vegetables and tofu but she noticed that the soup kitchen did not have any meat.

“So every 3 months, my friends and I get together to donate chicken, fish, and all that but the most important thing is we love fishing right? But there’s this group that cleans the fish and cooks the fish,” she shared, explaining that this activity creates another stream of revenue for this group of people.

“So for people who want to do something, you can start anything, right?” she said.

After many years of taking the lead in starting businesses, Chew also said that it’s about time that she pave the way for a new generation of serial entrepreneurs.

This is why she has ventured into digital filmmaking and created her own YouTube channel, ElimChewTV, where she features young changemakers. An example is a Vietnamese who started a music school because he believed that every child has the right to music.

Chew said that she dedicated the first 50 years of her life to serial entrepreneurship, which is chronicled in her book, The Elim Chew Story: Driven by Purpose, Destined for Change. And her story doesn’t stop there.

“For the next 30 years of my life, I’m hoping to give to 1 million changemakers and impact 1 billion lives.”

If you think you’re a changemaker and a serial entrepreneur like Elim Chew, the first step is to find the courage and dedication to commit to your dreams. Once you have it, why not join a community like Connected Women who will support you in different aspects such as finding a remote team? Find inspiration and build your network today.

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Join the Connected Women community, it’s free!

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“10 years ago, I fell in love with TED talks,” Vivian Lim said in front of a captivated audience during #ConnectedWomen’s “Entrepreneur Mindset: Risk and Reinvention” event in Singapore.

Lim and her friends were inspired by these talks and wondered if they can have a similar version in Asia. And that’s exactly what they set out to do. As a student taking up a degree in Engineering, Lim had no experience setting up talks or events. However, her passion to spread ideas and build communities was greater than any apprehension she had back then.

Together with her friends, the first series of TEDxNTU talks were held in their school, the Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. Lim was personally involved with curating these events. Since then, she has been curating for TEDxSingapore and TEDxSingaporeWomen, bringing TEDx Talks to the local communities.

Driven by the community, serving the community

Lim’s vision for TEDxSingapore is that it is “100% a community-driven, serving the local community.”

“So what essentially happens is we create this blank space, open up this blank canvas and then invite the local community to come in and paint and draw and create together something they can call it a common vision,” Lim said.

When people ask Lim about the product or services you sell or deliver, she admitted that she found it difficult to explain that they see ideas as their assets.

“It’s not something that’s very tangible, it’s totally intangible, we are the crazy people who feel that ideas can change the world,” she added.

Lim and her group firmly believes that ideas can impact and do good. From a business perspective it’s volunteer-driven and they don’t even have an office.

“When people ask what are you doing this for? Our standard answer is we are doing it for passion, for people, for purpose,” Lim said.

“So for passion it’s really coming together people who don’t have an idea what they want to do they just know they are passionate about this cause there’s this common belief that hey this works and this is good for the community,” she further explained.

Lim said that they ensure that content is delivered and that the conversations that happen can positively bring about impact in the community.

While the work may sound idealistic and glamorous, Lim said that it is not. Their work is focused on listening to voices on the ground, understanding what the community is talking about, finding out interesting things that’s happening and really seeing how the community wants to drive the conversation. The content is also delivered online so that people can continue to spread the ideas and messages in the digital space.

Stories of women, inspiring other women

Similar to the TEDx Talks, Lim’s next endeavour was also driven by the community – Women In Asia.  In a nutshell, Women In Asia is a “collaborative community that brings together catalysts, thinkers and thought leaders to bridge cultural and gender differences.” This initiative wants to showcase and increase appreciation for Asian narratives and build an open and inclusive community.

“The community decided what it wanted to share more about Asian perspectives. So our community wanted to find out, is there something we can do for Asia? What about Asia?” she said.

Lim said that the problems faced in Asia have similarities as well as differences with women from other cultures. For example, the refugee crisis may be a big issue in Europe and Africa but what many may forget is that Asia is also experiencing a similar situation. She gave the example of groups in Asia who helped the Rohingya refugees.

“We want to showcase cases like that,” she explained.

Another topic that the group wants to highlight is the growing community of social entrepreneurs in Asia.

“How can we build the next wave, not just looking at Alibaba, Tencent, but what about others? How, as a community, can we build and encourage the next generation?” she asked.

For this, they have partnered with the National Library of Singapore to tell raw and authentic stories from the ground – 14 stories of women who are leading with purpose.

One of the stories is that of serial entrepreneur Elim Chew and her mother, Madam Ooi Kooi Tin. Another story is that of former domestic helper Nilu Jayaweera from Sri Lanka who worked in a Singaporean household for 15 years. With enough savings, Nilu started a tea brand that employs women from her village and is now a successful entrepreneur.

“She didn’t want her sisters and friends to go through the same thing of leaving their home country and go to a foreign land,” Lim explained.

Another story showcased was that of a teenage girl, Tan Wei Tian who practices a dying art form of Teochew opera. Lim explained that the girl felt a sense of responsibility to continue this tradition.

“These are just some of the stories, not just to serve as an inspiration,” Lim said, adding that she wanted these stories to trigger people to do something.

In some cases, they are successful in sparking inspiration. One example she gave is a lady in Singapore who started an initiative recycling used bras, send them to women and girls in Asia and Africa who most need them.

“’Hey I also want to do something’ — That’s what we wanted to create with Women in Asia,” Lim said.

Never too late for “elderpreneurs”

Lim’s and her group’s influence extend beyond talks and events. One of her latest endeavours is helping out a senior couple who established 1°C, a brand of cold brew coffee.

She collaborated with the so-called “elderpreneurs” who started this business in their sixties.

“They started this business at age 63. Richard, one of the cofounders, was a senior manager in HP and one day he got retrenched so he decided to grab his wife and say hey let’s do this,” Lim said.

One of the challenges that this couple encountered is that cold brew is often perceived as a young, hipster drink, according to Lim. In fact, when they participated at a farmer’s market, the organizers were confused if they owned the brand since they looked out of place, alongside the young entrepreneurs who are also selling their goods.

“So we created a new series with them,” Lim said.

The question posed to them was how can they reinvent the familiar taste with a Western twist? What the team did was work with local traditional to create a unique blend of Arabica and Robusta beans. The cold brew coffee with an east meets west flavour had a soft launch and is now being distributed in museums and various cafes.

With her different endeavours that gives back to communities around Asia, Lim is actually just getting started.

“Ten years on and I am still building communities,” she said. And for her, doing this type of work is simply magical.

“We see the magic when people from different backgrounds come together and have conversations. This is the magic that keeps us going.”

Our next #ConnectedWomen #Meetup in Singapore happens this Wednesday November 6th! Visit connectedwomen.co/meetup to signup!

Not from Singapore? We have meetups happening globally, signup here to attend a meetup near you!

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Facebook, the Philippines’ favorite social media platform, prescribes a digital literacy movement called “Digital Tayo.”

In line with the We Think Digital global program launched in March 2019, Digital Tayo is a localized version of this program that aims to teach Filipinos about how to stay safe and secure online, how to handle things like hate speech and avoid disinformation. The goal of Digital Tayo is to train 1 million Filipinos by 2020.

According to Simon Milner Facebook’s Vice President of Public Policy for APAC, their goal is not just to train and enhance the digital skills of Filipinos. Facebook also wants to learn how they can make themselves better and build communities.

“This is a representation of how important communities are for Filipinos how important it is for you and your country all the citizens to connect and share what’s happening,” Milner said.

“We know we can learn from the country where people are so engaged on the platform and ensure the services we provide are giving enriching experiences,” he added.

Modules and partners

To deliver the program to the correct target audience, Facebook has partnered with several government agencies and socio-civic organizations.

One of their partners is the Department of Education to reach students and youth leaders. They have also partnered with the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration for overseas Filipino workers. They have also tapped the Department of Information and Communications Technology and other civil society partners to engage the local communities.

The program is divided into four modules, namely:

1. What Is the Internet: How the internet and social media works and how one can be a good digital citizen.
2. Your Digital Footprint: How to be safe and secure online. How to manage your digital footprint.
3. Be a Critical Thinker: How to discern different types of information. How to develop critical thinking and empathy for online communication.
4. You as a Digital Citizen: Knowing the differences between interacting online versus offline. Knowing your online rights and responsibilities. Knowing netiquette, copyright and plagiarism, etc.

More information about #DigitalTayo can be found on Facebook’s We Think Digital Philippines website.

According to Clair Deevy, Facebook’s Director of Community Affairs for the Asia Pacific region, being empathic online is a very valuable skill.

“There is a greater need to consider how we are plugging into a global community and connecting with people, not just information,” Deevy said.

Connected Women Supports Digital Literacy  

With Connected Women’s role in creating a network of women who support one another by opening doors of opportunities, Connected Women supports Facebook’s path to digital literacy.

In 2018, Connected Women launched a specially-designed free digital marketing eCourse for women who want to pursue an online career in digital marketing. The first eCourse is a custom learning path on the Facebook Blueprint platform. The course content content has been curated by Connected Women and is designed to help online freelancers learn digital marketing skills for Facebook and Instagram.

Digital or online jobs have been growing the past decade, with more and more companies and entrepreneurs relying on virtual teams. As such, it is important for Filipinos to enhance their digital literacy and skills to be competitive in this market.

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Share. Connect. Work. Learn. Join our growing community of entrepreneurs, freelancers and professionals, it’s free!

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Spark Fest 2019 connected entrepreneurs and creative workers from different fields. The one-day, interactive conference also encouraged its attendees to network, find their passion, and build communities.

In the afternoon panel called “Building Strong Communities around Your Work presented by Acceler8,” three powerful women leaders shared their insights on how one can attract a market and make communities sustainable.

Taking part in the panel was Gina Romero, CEO and Co-Founder of Connected Women, a tech startup matching women entrepreneurs globally with Filipina women looking for remote work. At the same time, it is also a global community of #ConnectedWomen entrepreneurs, freelancers & professionals with a strong social media activity and regular meetups.

Another member of the panel was Antonette Mendoza, Content & Communications Manager of European Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines (ECCP) who helped build the youth committee after recognizing the sustainability problem of the ECCP.

The third panelist was Alea Ladaga, Managing Director of Techtonic Summit, who previously worked with QBO and other startups. Ladaga became passionate about the startup community after realizing how open it was to learning, failing, and teaching one another to grow.   

Moderating the panel was Bianca Cruz, General Manager of Acceler8 by UnionSPACE, a hybrid instant office and coworking space designed for innovation and collaboration.

Attracting a target market

The first step in building a successful community is to find groups of people who are interested in your group or cause.

Romero addressed the question of whether you should target a small but niche community or a larger one. “When you restrict your community to a niche, you have to go out of your way to look for that person, retain them, and keep them engaged,” Romero said.

“If you go wide, you have to work harder at understanding more and different types of members in your community who will hopefully become your ideal customer eventually,” she added.

Ladaga shared her experience with QBO Innovation Hub. Their weekly QBO “Qlitan” started with just 10 attendees but it eventually grew. These meetups then became a chance for everyone to meet new people and catch up with old friends.

Ladaga also said that they initially banked on Facebook groups and the “pull” of influential people in their group. “After you stage the event, what happens next? How will you encourage them to be more involved?” she asked.

For Mendoza, the answer is making your value proposition very clear. She explained that it is similar to buying a product – when you encourage people to attend your event and join your groups, they should know what additional value it can provide them.

For their 200-strong network of young professionals, they do not only align their activities to fit the habits of their members, but they also strive to know their challenges. For some of these members, they cite one such challenge is networking with their older, more established peers.

“So we created an environment a safe space to start doing that. Eventually, we started a networking night that includes the chamber,” Mendoza said. She explained that they also have advocacy-related activities, such as adopting a community in Pulag, hosting climbs to bring up donations, and so on.

For their members, however, Mendoza cited that they can be very discerning. According to her, those invited to the youth committee of the ECCP should be employed or entrepreneurs themselves. To be formally invited, they have to show evidence, such as certificates of employment or business registration. “We want people who are really serious, who put in the time and effort,” Mendoza said.  

Romero said that for Connected Women, most of their events were also community-led. After establishing online communities, the women in local areas started clamouring for meetups and events, she said.

Connected Women’s approach was to empower their members to organize these events themselves, which resulted in 147 events (#ConnectedWomen meetups) all over the Philippines, even in remote places such as Marawi. This was replicated by members from three cities in Pakistan, and hosts in UK, Taiwan, Malaysia and Singapore.

Sustainability of communities and events

Often, Romero is asked why they are spending so much time and resources on their events and activities. Her reminder for community leaders is to know their purpose. Is it to make money? To solve a problem? For example, the goal of their events is not to make money, but to attract the right kind of people in the community. Romero said that while they are a “product-centric community,” the communities are not there to sell a product.

Mendoza said that the youth committee of the ECCP is also not structured to be a money-making group. “The way our committee is structured is we are given seed money. It’s a very small amount for our first event which we have to pay back. And then they couldn’t give us money for anything else, anymore. We were on our own and that’s how we got really creative, by tapping partners such as Acceler8 and also other friends within the industry who would help us get our community together, friends of friends, bootstrapping. It forces us to get really creative,” she explained.

For Ladaga, it is important for them to first explain the nature of a startup. “How we structure events, it was more about awareness. Making the public more aware of startups – with how they work and how startups can help them and how startups need help from them,” she said. They have a basic program, a crash course on how to build a startup and innovate. They also have ‘Qlitan’ which highlight stories of entrepreneurs. It was a place where people can be real about their journeys.

The startup community in the Philippines is currently small, Ladaga explained. For them to get support – financially or otherwise – they need to bring the matter to the public stage.

Where do you start? And how to move up?

One of the biggest questions of the night was about how introverts or shy people can join communities.

Ladaga said that one should start with figuring out what they are most passionate about, before researching events or communities they can join. “If you don’t find it, start it. ‘Cause why not? Maybe you’re the one meant to build that community,” she said.

For Mendoza who came from a desk job, she explained that in her case, she was actively looking for a community where she can be engaged. Her advice: “Just go ahead and do it.”

“Join committees, join groups, find individuals, connect, have conversations. Work with as many different types of people so you can figure out your style – what do I like? What do I want?” Mendoza shared.

Mendoza elaborated, saying that it’s all about building your network, building your capabilities at the same time and giving back to the community that nurtured you. “If you find your people, stick to them and do amazing things,” she said.

These women also made a point that a lot of community builders, based on their experience, were actually women.

Ladaga said that women balance out the males in technology which is a male-dominated field. Women bring the heart into it, she said.

Mendoza shared that for the ECCP, there are only two women on the board but the youth committee has a completely different structure. “It’s mostly women. I honestly think that’s the future,” she said.  

For Romero, she noted that Filipino women are willing to step up and lead.  “We have it here,” she said when asked by one of the audience if it was more difficult to build her community in the Philippines compared to other countries.

Her advice to aspiring women leaders is to  build confidence, start believing in themselves and join groups and communities. “We just have to step up, and don’t hold ourselves back.”

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Our next global #ConnectedWomen #Meetup happens on April 10, 2019, signup here to attend a meetup near you!

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The post This All Women Panel At #SparkFest2019 Just Shared Their Community Growth Secrets appeared first on Connected Women - Entrepreneurs, Freelancers and Professionals..

Working with people from other countries is now possible thanks to the internet. It is redefining the way we work and how we do business.

Nowadays, you can hire a virtual assistant from the Philippines even if you are based in North America or Europe. Virtual assistants aim to make your day-to-day administrative or operational tasks easier so you can focus on running your business.

What are virtual assistants and remote workers?

Virtual assistants and remote teams are employees based in a different city or country. For most companies who hire a virtual staff, they are considered as full-time employees and they are crucial to the daily operations of the business.

If you run your business online or if a lot of your business processes are reliant on tasks that could be accomplished online, then hiring a virtual assistant may be suited for you. Startups and SMEs hire virtual assistants to reduce operational cost since they do not need to maintain office space and pay utilities.

There are a lot more benefits to hiring a virtual staff, but first, what kind of tasks can they do?

What are the types of job a virtual assistant can do?

There are many kinds of virtual assistant jobs. Their main goal is to do the repetitive or operational tasks so that business managers can focus on the strategy or growing their business.

Here are the most common types of virtual assistant jobs:

• Administrative Virtual Assistant – Does office management like managing emails, calls, scheduling meetings, managing contracts, making travel arrangements, organizes events details, and more.
• Digital Marketing Virtual Assistant – Manages social media pages such as Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn; Creates content and advertisement for these platforms and in search engines; Writes articles and other forms of content for blogs and websites.
• Online Shop Virtual Assistant – Handles email and chat sales support or answers inquiries from customers; Manages data entry and edits product images and categories; Handles shipment and return of products.
• Bookkeeping Virtual Assistant – Manages inventory and budgeting; Handles year-end bookkeeping, payroll processing, payment of credit cards, and more.
• Real Estate Virtual Assistant – Gets leads or clients for real estate properties; Answer prospect buyers’ inquiries, sets up meetings; Encodes data, files necessary paperwork, creates reports.
• Data Management Virtual Assistant – Prepares, compiles, and sorts data entry; Reviews data for accuracy, generates reports, enters data into CRM system.

What are the benefits of hiring virtual assistants?

Did you know that having virtual assistants is a win-win situation? It has many benefits to business owners, as well as members of the remote staff.

Benefits to business owners:

• Hire the best talent from any part of the world – Don’t be limited to hiring people from your country or city. You can now access talents from all over the world!
• Manage a business 24/7 – If you own an e-commerce store or a business that needs ‘round-the-clock assistance such as answering inquiries, then hiring remote administrative assistants from different time zones will be beneficial to you. They can also work in shifts best suited to their time zone.
• Access to a younger, more dynamic workforce – More and more young people are embracing the digital nomad lifestyle or remote working. According to a report by the World Economic Forum, virtual teams are transforming the workplace and the younger generation prefers this setup.
• Remote workers are more productive – According to a Harvard Business Review article, virtual assistants and remote employees are more productive because their stress levels are lower.
  Since they don’t have to stress about commuting to work, their morale also increases. In effect, they complete nearly an extra day’s worth of work every week compared to their office-mates who worked onsite.
• No overhead costs – Having a full virtual team located remotely decreases your operational costs. This means you don’t have to pay for a physical office, utility bills, even internet connection.

Benefits to virtual assistants:

• Virtual assistants can work at their own pace – Since different people have different energy levels throughout the day, people who work from home can work at their own pace and be more productive overall.
• Workers are not exposed to bad weather – They start work fresh and energized because they do not have to travel outside and be exposed to bad weather. This also keeps them healthy and safe.
• Working from home reduces costs for your virtual team – They don’t have to commute or drive to the office and the result is they don’t lose precious hours in the traffic. At the same time, they also don’t have to spend for lunch, so they get to save their money.
• Remote workers spend more time at home and with their families – One of the best benefits of working from home.

Do you think you need the help of a virtual assistant to run your business? Here at Connected Women, we use a meaningful matching algorithm that helps you find the right virtual assistant based on skills, experience, passion and working style.

Ready to hire your virtual assistant? Sign up here for a 30-day free trial and upgrade. 

The post What Is A Virtual Assistant? appeared first on Connected Women - Entrepreneurs, Freelancers and Professionals..