How to onboard your first virtual assistant: a 30-day plan

Before day one

• Pick the first five tasks. Start with work that repeats every week and has a clear “done”. Our tasks to delegate first guide has ideas.
• Create individual logins. Give your VA their own email address and their own account in each system. Never share your own password.
• Use a password manager for any shared credentials, and turn on two-factor authentication.
• Give only the access the role needs. You can add more later.
• Agree the hours and the channel. Your VA works your business hours. Decide where quick questions go, such as Slack, Teams or WhatsApp.

Week 1: show, record, repeat

• Meet for 15 minutes at the start of each day.
• Do each task once while your VA watches, and record your screen as you go.
• Ask your VA to turn each recording into a short written checklist. This becomes your process manual.
• Let your VA do each task while you watch, then on their own.

Weeks 2 and 3: hand over ownership

• Move from daily check-ins to two or three a week.
• Give feedback on the work, not the person, and update the checklist each time something changes.
• Add the next three to five tasks once the first ones run smoothly.
• Ask your VA what they would improve. Good VAs spot repetitive steps you stopped noticing.

Week 4: review

• Check each task against the standard you set: accuracy, speed and communication.
• Agree the next month’s priorities and any training your VA needs.
• Settle into a weekly 30-minute meeting.

Common mistakes

• Handing over everything at once. Start small, then build.
• Explaining tasks only verbally. Recordings and checklists save hours later.
• Sharing one login. It is a security risk and makes it hard to see who did what.
• Waiting until something goes wrong to give feedback. Short, regular check-ins work better.

How Desk & VA helps

With an office-based VA, a supervisor is on site every working day and our IT team looks after the hardware and network, so you can focus on the work itself. When your VA leaves, we work through an exit checklist with you to remove their access. See how it works.

Your day-one checklist

• A welcome message from you, and a 30-minute video call to meet properly.
• Their own email address and logins, with two-factor authentication set up.
• Access to your password manager for shared credentials.
• A one-page overview of your business: what you sell, who your customers are, and your tone.
• The first five tasks, each with a recording and a checklist.
• Who to ask when you’re unavailable.

Templates worth preparing

• Email replies for the questions customers ask most.
• A daily update: done today, planned tomorrow, questions for you.
• A process checklist template, so every new task is written up the same way.
• A contacts list of suppliers, team members and key clients.

Working across time zones

Your VA works your business hours, so most clients share a normal working day. The Philippines is two hours behind Australian eastern standard time and three hours behind during daylight saving. For US-based clients, our Talay office is open 24/7.

How to measure progress

Pick two or three simple measures for each task, and review them weekly at first. For example:

• Inbox: emails answered within your target time.
• Customer support: response time and customer feedback.
• Bookkeeping: days since the last reconciliation.
• Scheduling: meetings booked without back-and-forth with you.

With an office-based VA, a supervisor on site can help with day-to-day issues, and the first six months are a probation period, reviewed with you.

More answers

Still have questions? Our virtual assistant FAQs answer the ones we hear most, and our free guides cover salaries, recruitment and the 192 tasks you can delegate.

Frequently asked questions

How long before a virtual assistant is fully productive?

It depends on the tasks. With recorded processes and clear expectations, a VA can usually take over simple, repeating tasks within the first few weeks, then build from there.

Should my VA use my email account?

No. Give your VA their own email address and logins. It is safer and makes it clear who did what.