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Guides & insights

How to onboard a virtual assistant (sample post)

Ben Wickham ·

Sample content — this post was seeded for review and should be replaced or edited before launch.

Bringing a virtual assistant into your business works best when the first week is planned before they start. Here's the approach we recommend to every client.

Before day one

  • Write the role down. Even three bullet points beats a job title. What does "done" look like each week?
  • Sort access early. Email, calendar, and any tools they'll use — set up accounts before the first call, not during it.
  • Pick one channel. Decide where day-to-day communication happens (email, Teams, Slack, WhatsApp) and stick to it.

The first week

  1. A short kick-off call to walk through the role and your tools.
  2. Start with one recurring task — inbox triage is the classic — and review it together after two days.
  3. Add a second task only once the first is running smoothly.

The habits that make it stick

A brief weekly check-in beats constant messages. Fifteen minutes on a Monday to set the week's priorities gives your VA the context to work independently — and gives you your time back, which is the whole point.

If you'd like help putting an onboarding plan together, our Onboarding & Tool Setup add-on covers exactly this.

Put this into practice

Tell us what you need and we’ll match you with a rigorously vetted virtual assistant.