The Best Tasks To Delegate To A Virtual Assistant (And How To Hand Them Off)

How To Choose What To Delegate

Owners often ask, “What should I hand off?” A useful answer is: whatever costs you the most time while needing the least of your judgment. Sort your week using three filters:

1. Does it repeat?

2. Can you write the steps down?

3. Would a mistake be easy to fix?

Tasks that pass all three are safe to delegate. Use the Eisenhower Matrix for a visual version.

25 Tasks To Hand Off

Administrative

1. Sort and label email. See email management

2. Draft routine replies

3. Schedule and reschedule meetings. See calendar management

4. Book travel. See travel booking

5. Take meeting notes and send action items

6. Organize files and folders. See file sharing tools

Sales And Customer Care

1. Follow up with new leads. See appointment setting

2. Build prospect lists. See lead generation

3. Update the CRM. See CRM management

4. Answer common customer questions. See customer support

5. Process orders and returns. See order processing

6. Request reviews after a sale

Finance

1. Create and send invoices. See invoice processing

2. Follow up on late payments

3. Categorize expenses. See bookkeeping

4. Collect receipts

Marketing

1. Schedule social posts. See social media management

2. Format and publish blog posts. See content scheduling

3. Send email campaigns

4. Pull weekly reports

Operations And People

1. Research vendors and tools. See research

2. Screen resumes and schedule interviews. See recruiting support

3. Track projects and follow up on owners

4. Update SOPs and documents. See creating SOPs

5. Verify insurance or coverage. See insurance verification

Tasks To Keep

Strategy, pricing, hiring decisions, key client relationships, legal and compliance judgment, and anything that carries significant risk stay with you until trust is well established.

How To Hand Off Well

1. Pick two or three tasks.

2. Record a walkthrough. See screen recording tools.

3. Write a four-part brief.

4. Review daily for a week, then weekly.

5. Add more tasks as results prove out.

Which Role Fits

Globaltize’s roles library shows even more positions you can add as you grow.

A Real-World Example

A consultant listed everything she did in a week. It came to 41 tasks. She marked 18 as “anyone could do this with instructions.” She handed off five in the first month, starting with inbox sorting and calendar booking. By month three, all 18 were gone from her week.

The list was the hard part. The handoffs were easy once she could see them.

A Quick Checklist Before You Start

Before you hand off a task, make sure:

• You have done it yourself at least three times

• You can describe what a good result looks like

• The tools and access are ready

• You have set a deadline for the first attempt

• You know who checks the result

See how to delegate tasks step by step or browse every task guide.

Questions Owners Ask

How many tasks should I hand off at once?

Start with two or three. Add more once the first ones run smoothly.

What if a task is too messy to explain?

Record yourself doing it. A five-minute video often explains what a page of text cannot.

Related Reading

• What to delegate first

• 12 administrative tasks to outsource

• How to free up 10 hours a week

Next Steps

Choose three tasks from the list and tell us who you need. For a neutral look at productivity research, the American Psychological Association has an accessible summary on multitasking and focus.