How You Can Onboard and Delegate Like a Pro

7 actionable steps to success with your Virtual Assistant

Master the art of delegation and refocus on growing your busines

So you’ve hired a Virtual Assistant (VA) to help with your admin tasks, but you’re unsure of the most effective way to onboard them and delegate to them. That’s understandable.

While you’d love your VA’s introduction to your business to be seamless, you’re worried you might not be providing enough information or tools for them to do their job successfully.

To help you confidently onboard your VA, delegate work and develop your management skills, I’ve written these onboarding and training guidelines. Follow them, and your VA can hit the ground running and give their best to your business.

Here are my recommendations to help you onboard and effectively delegate tasks to your VA.

1. Invest Time in Training

Transferring responsibilities to someone new to your business may seem challenging and time intensive. It can certainly feel like that.

You want to hand over the reins to your VA quickly, because there’s so much else for you to do.

It’s important, though, to keep a long-term mindset when onboarding and training newcomers. The time and dedication you invest in your VA’s initial training, along with building and nurturing your relationship afterwards, will pay off manyfold in the long run — for example: 

• Never having to do those admin tasks again and being freed up forever to focus on other areas of your business.

  
  

• Streamlined operations. Your VA will learn about and make those tasks their own, allowing them to automatically start organising and improving processes and workflows.

The initial training is a one-time commitment—a relatively short one—that will help your business to run more efficiently and smoothly. This is going to benefit both you and your business for years to come.

2. Identify Tasks to Delegate

   You may be struggling to decide which tasks should be done by your VA. It’s confusing, when there are so many things to do. You know you need the help, but you just don’t know where to begin with delegating those tasks.

   
   

   Well, I have a simple technique to aid you with this. In my blog Finding the Right Virtual Assistant, I explain in detail how you can identify tasks to delegate to your VA.

   
   

   In essence, you should:

   
   

   1. Identify the admin tasks that are essential to your business’s operations.

      
      

   2. Decide which of these tasks aren’t the best use of your time — usually repetitive or low-priority tasks that get in the way of important, high-value activities. These could be delegated to your VA.

      
      

      For example, updating your CRM with important information about prospects and customers is repetitive and time-consuming. This task, while essential for your marketing efforts, can easily be handed over to your VA, so you can focus on more strategic activities that drive business growth.

      
      

   Even if you already know which tasks you’d like your VA to do, it’s still a worthwhile exercise that will help to refine and solidify your requirements.

3. Provide Clear Guidelines and Instructions

   If you don’t provide clear instructions, then you may not get the right results from your VA.

   I know this can be challenging, especially if delegation is new to you. You want to make it easy for your VA, but it can be tricky to explain how and why you want things done.

   So, before your VA joins your business, document your admin processes and create a mini training handbook that walks your VA, step by step, through the process of each admin task.

   Do this by:

   
   

   1. Setting aside time to do your admin — let’s say thirty minutes a day or one-to-two hours a week or month.

      
      

   2. As you complete your admin, noting down each step you take to finish the task.

      
      

   3. Documenting your processes in writing and/or recording video tutorials that demonstrate each step as it’s performed.

      
      

      TIP: For video tutorials, use screen recorders to capture your screen activity, along with audio commentary.

      
      

      Windows 11 users can use the Snipping tool (Windows logo key + Shift + R) to record a video snip.

      Other free options include Vimeo and Awesome Screenshot.  

      Tools like Scribe do the same, plus automatically documenting each step as you do it, saving you lots of time.

   
   

   Furthermore, your VA can use this handbook to create standard operating procedures (SOPs) for routine tasks. This is an invaluable addition to your business, ensuring information is never lost, enabling the option to update best practices, simplifying task handovers and adding value. This will make your business more attractive to new team members or potential buyers.

4. Create a Welcome Pack 

   As a new VA joining your business, it’s natural for them to feel a little nervous on their first day, because there’s a lot to learn and remember. It must be just as nerve-wracking for you, too, as you're placing your trust in them.

   You want their introduction to your business to go smoothly, without having to worry about missing important details. You can eliminate any concerns by providing a clear and organised welcome pack, containing all the information they need to get started and settle in easily.

   Send the welcome pack at least one week before they join. It should include:

   
   

   1. An overview of your company and your business goals.

      
      

   2. A description of their role and the tasks they’ve been assigned.

      
      

   3. A list of their weekly and/or monthly objectives and key milestones.

      
      

   4. Details of any required software. You should pay for any necessary additional licences/users and software installations.

      
      

   5. Your training handbook — or provide a link to it online.

      
      

   6. Expected response times for communication and task completion.

      
      

   7. Your preferred method of contact and best times to reach you.

      
      

   8. Login and security instructions.

      
      

      1. Outline what they can and can’t access.

         
         

      2. Don’t include passwords in the pack. Instead, use and include details of a secure password manager like LastPass which manages and grants access to your logins.

         
         

      3. Ensure their work can be done with the access you’ve provided.

5. Prepare For a Successful First Day

   Without a clear schedule and expectations for the first day, you may both feel unsure about what to expect or how to prepare for your VA’s onboarding.

   You want the onboarding process to go smoothly and make a good impression. Failing to confirm the specifics ahead of time might lead to confusion and a less productive first day.

   Avoid this by:

   
   

   1. Confirming in writing the date, time and location (e.g. video call, office) of their first day. Specify how long the onboarding will take (e.g. one to two hours), anything they should bring and any software that should be installed in advance.

      
      

   2. Blocking the time in your calendar and setting your status to "Do Not Disturb", so you can focus solely on training and supporting your VA.

      
      

   3. Bringing the training handbook with you on the day, to help guide you when explaining the tasks.

   
   

6. Delegation Basics — Begin with Low-Risk Tasks

   You may feel unsure about how much responsibility to give your VA right away.  While you want to build trust, it wouldn’t be fair to overwhelm them straight away with too many or overly complex tasks.

   Start with small, low-risk tasks and gradually increase their responsibilities as you both learn to work together effectively, and you begin to learn the art of delegation.

   
   

7. Master Delegation — Ongoing Support and Communication

   As your VA works remotely, it can be challenging to stay on top of their progress. You want to ensure they’re on track and not struggling, but without micromanaging.

   Without regular follow-ups, you risk miscommunication, misunderstandings or your VA feeling unsupported, which could impact their performance and confidence.

   I recommend:

   
   

   1. Staying connected and tracking progress through email, video calls, project management software with real-time messaging, or communication platforms such as Microsoft Teams or Google Chat.

      
      

   2. Starting with daily check-ins, then transitioning to weekly and twice-monthly updates, and eventually monthly reporting. Ask for a summary of their achievements and any challenges they’re facing.

   
   

   By following these good communication practices, your VA will feel supported and valued, as you're listening to their input, trusting their insights and addressing any problems they encounter. This can only have a positive impact on your management skills, helping you to master the art of delegation.

   
   

That finishes this 7-step guide to onboarding and delegating tasks effectively to your VA. By following these steps, you'll gain the confidence to onboard and train your VA successfully, helping them feel trusted and welcomed, while becoming productive. Most importantly, you’ll avoid the temptation to micromanage, improve your management skills and gain more time to grow your business.

Hire the Right VA Here at NKB Virtual Assistant

Life’s too short to micromanage. Save yourself the headache and work with an established and experienced Virtual Assistant.

You can master the art of delegation, enhance your management skills and refocus on growing your business by working with an experienced Virtual Assistant, who not only excels at handling your admin tasks but can also guide you in effective delegation.

Phone or email today to arrange a Consultation and find out more about how my Virtual Assistant services can help you gain more time to spend on getting results and growing your business!

Subscribe to my Productivity Power-Up emails and receive more time-saving tips, productivity strategies, and helpful insights straight to your inbox. Occasionally, I'll send extra content during the week.