Choose one task you no longer want to chase
You do not need to hand over all your business administration at once. Start with something where the result is easy to see: meetings booked, documents ready for your accountant or a comparison of offers with a recommendation.
For three days, note what interrupts your work. Record approximate time, frequency and whether each task needs your personal decision. You are looking for patterns rather than measuring every minute.
Choose a clearly defined scope for the first task. Where a topic requires specialist knowledge or a significant business decision, separate gathering information from making the decision. Your assistant can take over the preparation.
Describe what should be ready
Include four things: the result, deadline, constraints and approval point. These are usually more useful than a list of every action.
“Find three gift options for a client, up to PLN 400, no alcohol, delivered by Friday. Send me a comparison tomorrow. I’ll choose and approve the purchase.”
This illustrative request lets your assistant choose how to search, check availability and organise the options. You define what a useful outcome looks like and make the purchase decision.
If you do not yet know your criteria, say so. Helping you define them can be part of the support. Your first brief does not have to be perfect.
Agree the context once
At the start, discuss how you work, key tools, availability and preferences. For enquiries, this includes your offer, prices and communication style. For calendar support, agree availability, preparation buffers and booking rules.
Keep these decisions in a short shared document. This avoids searching through several conversations whenever a preference comes up. Your assistant can help update it as the collaboration develops.
Access should match the task. Where possible, use separate accounts and the permissions provided by your tools, rather than sharing unrestricted access to everything.
Separate actions from decisions
You do not have to approve every standard reply if its rules have already been agreed. Define the exceptions that come back to you:
- spending outside an agreed limit;
- custom prices or discounts;
- changes to a client’s scope;
- meetings outside your availability;
- missing information or permissions.
Clear boundaries create room for independent work. You can expand them gradually as you learn how to work together.
Keep communication simple
A text message, voice note or shared task list can be enough. What matters is that the request goes to an agreed place and has a clear deadline.
Agree what your updates include: completed tasks, work in progress and decisions needed. Set response expectations and availability at the beginning. Virtual assistance does not necessarily mean round-the-clock support.
If you want to use AI, discuss permitted uses and how outputs are checked. If you prefer work without AI, include that in your initial agreement too.
Review the first task and choose the next
Compare the outcome with the brief. Did you receive what you needed? Was it clear which decisions were yours? What could be handled with fewer questions next time?
The first task may need more discussion than later ones. Check whether useful decisions are recorded and can be reused, rather than looking only at execution time.
Levyo helps identify initial tasks and agree a practical way to hand them over. Start with a 10-hour package with onboarding or choose regular support. Explore our example messages and replies to see how this could work.
You don’t need a finished task list.
During a free call, we’ll explore your needs and identify a useful starting point.
Let’s talk about your tasks ↗