What a virtual assistant can hand off

The jobs that eat a VA's day

If you work for yourself as an admin or a virtual assistant, you probably already know the pattern. You were hired for the work you're good at: managing inboxes, scheduling, organizing records, keeping things moving. Then the rest arrives.

A one-page flyer needs designing. A form on a website has stopped working. A proposal needs to be formatted so it looks like it came from one person. Someone asks for a short research summary, or for a tool to be set up properly.

None of it is hard to understand. It just isn't where your skills are strongest, and each job can take far longer than it should when you're doing it for the first time. Meanwhile your own work waits.

This is a plain guide to which of those jobs are worth passing on, which to keep, and how to hand them over clearly. It's written for self-employed admins and virtual assistants, but the same thinking works for any admin role.

What to pass on and what to keep

A useful test is to ask two questions about each job: Is this a skill I'd rather not spend time building? and Does it have a clear finish line? If both answers are yes, it's a good candidate to hand off.

Often worth passing on

• Design jobs. Social graphics, presentation slides, flyers, simple ad sizes and branded layouts.
• Website edits. Updating a page, adding a blog post, fixing a broken link or form, adjusting a layout.
• Documents. Formatting a proposal, tidying a shared drive, turning notes into a template.
• Research and written pieces. A competitor summary, a product description set, a blog draft.
• Tool setup. An email signature, a calendar tool connection, a short how-to walkthrough.

Often worth keeping

• Work that depends on your judgement, your relationships or your knowledge of the people you support
• Anything where you need to be the one in the conversation
• Quick tasks that would take longer to explain than to do

Be careful with that last point. Handing off isn't about avoiding work. It's about moving the jobs where explaining takes less time than doing, and where someone else's skills fit the job.

Writing a request someone else can act on

The hand-off is where most of the time is saved or lost. A clear request gives whoever picks it up what they need to start.

Include five things:

1. What it's for. One sentence on the goal and where it will be used.
2. What must be right. Names, prices, dates, spellings and any wording that has to appear exactly as written.
3. The files. Attach the source documents, logos and photos, and say what each one is for.
4. An example. A link or a file that shows the style you want.
5. The date. When you need it, and why.

For example:

What I need: A one-page checklist for new-starter paperwork, formatted to match the attached template.
What it's for: It will be printed and handed out on a person's first day.
Must be right: The list of forms in the attached document, in the same order.
Files: new-starter-list.docx, template.docx.
Needed by: Wednesday morning.

You'll find a longer template, with a filled-in example, in our guide to writing a clear request.

How a digital team fits alongside your own work

Clique is a monthly subscription for ongoing digital work. It's not a replacement for the admin work you do. It's somewhere to send the jobs above so they get done while you carry on with yours.

Here is how it works:

• You send each job as a request in the Clique app, using a structured request form with the details and files.
• A dedicated account manager coordinates each request and keeps it moving, so you have one point of contact.
• You can follow each task's status in the app and message about it there. If you want changes to completed work, you can ask. A revision counts as part of the same task.
• You own the final work.

The services cover website support, graphic design, content and research, documents and file management, tech support and training, and admin and business tools. The full list, with typical requests, is on the services page.

On cost, every plan includes unlimited requests, the full service catalog and an account manager. The plans differ by task slots, which is how many requests can be worked on at the same time: Lite has 3 task slots at CA$30 per month, Standard has 6 at CA$55 per month and Plus has 12 at CA$100 per month, all in Canadian dollars. The pricing page explains task slots and billing.

If you're unsure whether a job is the kind of thing Clique handles, ask before you send it. You can email [email protected] or message your account manager in the app.

Hand off the everyday work, and get back to what you do best. Start your 7-day free trial in the Clique app.