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BY
Rayyan Khan
Oct 13, 2025
Introduction
Bringing on a virtual assistant (VA) can transform how you work as a founder. It’s one of the fastest ways to buy back time, reduce decision fatigue, and unlock leverage - but only if the onboarding process is intentional.
The first week with your VA sets the tone for everything that follows. Done well, it builds trust, speed, and autonomy. Done poorly, it creates confusion, dropped balls, and frustration on both sides.
This guide walks you through how to onboard your VA the right way - clearly, quickly, and with confidence.
1. Prepare Before Day One
Give them something worth stepping into
Most founders wait until their VA is “live” before deciding what they’ll work on. That’s backwards.
Instead, set your VA up with:
A Notion or ClickUp dashboard that includes:
Task list (ongoing + backlog)
Links to key docs and tools
Overview of priorities or goals
A short welcome Loom video
Explain what you’re building, how you think, and what success looks like
💡 Tip: Even a 3-minute Loom walking through your workspace builds confidence and clarity fast.
2. Grant Smart Access (Not All Access)
Give them tools - not a firehose
You want your VA to feel equipped, not overwhelmed. Start with essential tools and expand as trust grows.
Tool | Why it matters |
|---|---|
Notion | Task tracking, SOPs, shared dashboards |
Slack | Daily async comms, updates |
Google Calendar | Managing availability and scheduling |
Calendly | A live cal link they can schedule meetings on your behalf. |
Zapier | Automate recurring workflows |
LastPass | Secure login sharing |
Drive / Dropbox | Shared files and working docs |
3. Set Expectations Clearly
Don’t assume anything is obvious
Write down (or record) your “working agreement” - even if you’re early-stage and informal.
Here’s what to cover:
Working hours and timezone overlap
Response time expectations
Where tasks live (Notion? Slack threads? Email?)
How they mark work as “done”
What to do when they’re stuck
Your feedback rhythm (daily summary? weekly Loom?)
🎯 Example: “If you’re blocked for more than 15 minutes, ping me in Slack with what’s stuck + what you tried. I’ll jump in or reassign.”
4. Start Small, But Real
The worst way to start is with “nothing urgent”
A common mistake: assigning either busywork or too much responsibility. Instead, assign 1–2 small tasks per day that build real context.
Good first tasks:
Reorganize your calendar
Send a daily snippet with summaries of zoom calls.
Build a Notion tracker for UGC, outreach, or content
Archive all spam emails from today
Transcribe and structure meeting notes
These early tasks help your VA learn your voice, priorities, and flow — while immediately making your life easier.
5. Build Systems Together
SOPs don’t need to come from you
Instead of documenting everything up front, ask your VA to document tasks as they do them.
✍️ Example: You record a Loom of how you do something. Your VA turns it into a step-by-step SOP in Notion.You review it, and they own it moving forward.
This builds a system while delivering value - and trains your VA to think like an operator, not just a task-taker.
🧾 First-Week VA Onboarding Checklist
Day | Task |
|---|---|
Before Day 1 | Create dashboard, set access, record intro Loom |
Day 1–3 | Share working agreement, give 1–2 real tasks/day |
Day 4–5 | Ask VA to document their first SOP |
End of Week 1 | Review progress together, set recurring review cadence |
TL;DR
Prep before Day 1: dashboard, calendar, tool access
Set clear expectations: hours, tools, task handoff
Give real tasks with real context
Ask your VA to co-create SOPs
Start with trust, then scale responsibility
The first week isn’t about scale — it’s about clarity, rhythm, and trust. That’s what turns a VA into a partner.
