July 2025

At last, you’ve decided to get the help of a VA! No doubt you’re looking forward to the day when your VA steps in and – as if by magic – makes your life feel simpler and easier to handle. Knowing how to work with a virtual assistant is the step to making that magic happen.

As incredible as they are, our VAs need some help to get started. Even with the most highly trained and experienced VA (and all Timpi VAs have at least five years’ experience), spending time to onboard your VA will pay dividends.

By taking some time to complete the following steps, you’ll soon find yourself breathing a huge sigh of relief as your VA shrinks your to-do list.

How to start working with a virtual assistant

1. Tell them all about you!

A good VA will quickly become the second pair of hands you always wished for. But for that to happen, they need to know about you and your life.

No information is bad when planning how to work with a virtual assistant. At Timpi, we start by sending you a preference form that includes options to provide a surprisingly large amount of information. This includes basic contact info and details you might never have considered, such as your chiro’s phone number and airmiles account number.

With this high-level info sharing out the way, the informal ‘getting to know you’ type chats pay dividends. You might not think that the reasons behind starting your business in the first place are necessary or that your dog’s name is relevant, but this information helps your VA build a more accurate picture of you and your life. And this, in turn, makes it easier for them to help you.

2. Tell them what you hate!

Being clear with your VA about what gets your goat will make your life easier from the off. That’s because they’ll then be able to make sure you can avoid those tasks and situations. It’s for this reason that we recommend you spend some time listing the tasks you don’t enjoy or that take too long – these are normally jobs you can delegate to your new VA.

Don’t feel you have to limit your list to tasks you dislike. If you hate sitting in the middle seat on flights or your child can’t cope with noisy restaurants, tell your VA. That way, you can be sure of only ever being in the right situation.

Tip! Note the challenging situations and tasks you encounter throughout the week. You could record your thoughts on your phone or jot them down on a pad. This way, you won’t miss anything and will be able to pass those awful jobs over to your new VA.

3. Give them access to the right tools.

The sooner your VA can access your tools, accounts and software, the sooner they can start making your life easier. This could include your online grocery account, accounting software or social media accounts. Giving them a username and password is essential, as is a chat to share how you prefer to use these tools.

If you want your VA to work under a specific email address, you’ll need to set them up with this, too. If you’re not technical, don’t fear—we can talk you through the steps to do this, making life simpler from day one.

4. Show them how things work

As with any new starter, you’ll need to show your new VA how to use your unique systems and processes. Even with years of experience as a VA, it’s important that they understand the subtleties of what you do and why.

The brilliant news is that you can avoid writing lengthy instructions. We’ve found using video recordings such as Loom or Vimeo are a great way to demonstrate a step-by-step guide to specific tasks, perfect for anyone learning how to work with a virtual assistant. The great thing about video recordings is that you can fit them into your existing working life – just click record and talk through the steps as you complete the task. You can then send a link to your new VA, who can view your instructions whenever needed. Again, if you’re unsure how to do this, your new VA can guide you through the process.

5. Communicate, communicate, communicate

Little and often is always the best way to communicate with your VA. A brief call three times a week will mean your VA knows exactly what’s going on, giving them the chance to be proactive and take even more off your mind and to-do list.

Not only will regular communication help you pass more work over to your VA, but it also helps you build rapport more quickly. This means your new VA will soon become your right-hand man or woman and will be able to give you extra suggestions for ways to make life even easier.

Your Timpi VA can help with almost anything

Once you’ve got your VA set up and ready to go, feel free to pass all your admin, errands and chores their way. A common situation for clients learning how to work with a virtual assistant is that they feel worried about requesting help with mundane or silly tasks. Or they’re concerned about asking for help with something that seems unusual. Our response is always the same. Our VAs are for everyone – we genuinely get a lot of satisfaction from completing the tasks that others find boring. No matter how small a task is, if it’s taking up space in your head, it’s distracting you from everything else you have to do.

And as for unusual tasks, read this blog, and you’ll see there’s NOTHING for you to worry about.😀.

Ready to take a load off your mind? Get in touch and let us match you with your perfect virtual assistant.