Grandma’s Advice:
If you have time, do it yourself.
If you don’t, delegate it to someone else.
A rule of thumb is to delegate low-payoff activities. Are you incompetent at it? Good. Do you dislike doing them? Even better. Those tasks are what you should be delegating! These are a few of the tasks you should be delegating:
Scheduling: This is a big one and the taks that is most often delegated. Organizing a meeting with someone whose schedule is as busy as yours is time consuming, meticulous, and down-right annoying. Share your calendar with your assistant, CC/BCC any incoming emails, and trust them with taking the reins on scheduling tasks. You’ll have saved more time than you know.
Preliminary Research: Want to know the hottest trends in your industry? Wanna learn about a client before a meeting? Instead of scouring Wikipedia articles delegate research! Your virtual assistant will get back to you 5-6 beautifully constructed bullet points, rid of fluff and goop.
Bookings: There are a million sites that help you research what are the cheapest, most convenient, and shortest flights available. Delegate it to someone who will sort through those sites and deliver viable traveling options that fit your preferences.
Reservations: This is more important than you think! Just the other day, my client, we’ll call him Patrick, was in the car with his beloved on her birthday and realized, “I forgot to book reservations at Dorsia!” He wanted to keep it a surprise. So, a quick text to his ZA and presto – reservations confirmed, Evelyn is happy, and the dinner goes off without a hitch!
Comparison Research: You need to find a coffee maker, but not one of those fancy high-tech ones. And not one of those cheap plastic ones either. How to choose? Where to go? How about, go to your assistant. What would waste countless hours for you, could be a quick task for your assistant. Your assistant will come back to you with options, and I’m not talking about the hundreds of options on Amazon, but 3-4 types that fit your needs. Seriously, just go with the French Press.
Editing: Use your VA as your editor-in-chief. If you are writing an important email or creating content that will be sent to the company a second set of eyes help, and with a virtual assistant you will have support. Their is nothing worse than confusing to, two, and too – grammar joke.