How to Write a Great Task Brief for Your Virtual Assistant
When delegation fails, the post-mortem almost always finds the same culprit: the brief. The task was clear in the owner's head, fuzzy on the page, and the assistant filled the gaps with guesses. Writing a good brief takes ten minutes and saves hours of rework — here is a structure that works for almost any task.
The six parts of a useful brief
1. The outcome, in one sentence
Start with what done looks like, not the activity. Compare: update the website versus every price on the services page matches the attached price list. The second is checkable; the first is a wish.
2. Why it matters
One sentence of context lets your VA make sensible judgement calls without asking. Knowing that the price update precedes a Monday campaign tells them the deadline is real and which page matters most.
3. Inputs and access
List everything they need: files, links, logins, contact names. A brief that ends with a scavenger hunt for a password is not finished. If access is managed through a password manager, say which entry to use.
4. An example of good
Nothing communicates a standard faster than an example. Attach a past newsletter you loved, a competitor page with the layout you want, or a properly formatted invoice. One good example replaces paragraphs of description.
5. Boundaries and exclusions
Say what is out of scope and what needs your approval before it goes anywhere: anything customer-facing, anything that spends money, anything that deletes data. Explicit boundaries let your VA move fast inside them.
6. Deadline and check-in point
Give a real deadline, and for larger tasks add a midpoint check: send me the first three so I can confirm the format. Midpoint checks catch misunderstandings while they are still cheap.
A worked example
Outcome: All 34 overdue invoices from the attached list have received a polite reminder email.
Why: Cash flow is tight this month; these have been outstanding more than 30 days.
Inputs: Spreadsheet attached; email template in the shared drive under Templates, Payment Reminder v2; send from the accounts inbox.
Example: See the reminder sent to Smith Plumbing on the 4th — same tone.
Boundaries: Do not offer payment plans or discounts; flag anyone who replies with a dispute to me rather than responding.
Deadline: Sent by Thursday close of business; send me the first two for a quick check before doing the rest.
That brief took five minutes to write, and the task will come back right the first time.
Common briefing mistakes
- Briefing the method instead of the outcome. Prescribing every click wastes your time and their skill — describe the destination and let them drive.
- Assuming context. Your VA does not know your industry shorthand or your unwritten preferences until you tell them once. Tell them once, in writing.
- The drip-feed brief. Sending requirements across five messages as you think of them guarantees something is missed. Collect your thoughts, then send one brief.
- No priority signal. If everything is urgent, nothing is. Mark the one task that actually matters most today.
- Never upgrading the brief into a procedure. The second time a task recurs, have your VA turn the brief into a step-by-step procedure document. From then on the brief is one line: run the invoice reminder procedure.
Clear briefs are not bureaucracy — they are the price of delegation that actually sticks. Pay it once per task and the returns compound every week afterwards.