15 Tasks to Delegate to a Temporary Assistant

When deciding what to delegate to your temporary assistant, consider your strengths and weaknesses and where the talents of your temp lie.

Don’t delegate tasks that only you, the business owner, can properly carry out.

Instead, delegate work that you can easily fulfil with a bit of input from you or permanent members of your team. Lots of temps can hit the ground running, but make it clear that they can ask for help if needed – in other words, create a culture of openness and support.

Here are 15 tasks to delegate to a virtual assistant.

1. Scheduling

Scheduling meetings and tasks can take up a lot of your time, and it’s something you can delegate to your temporary assistant.

Just ensure that you keep your calendar updated with any time off, personal tasks and events that mean you won’t be in the office or working from home.

2. Social media

Social media management can be time consuming too. While some business leaders have a marketing department that handles social, some do it themselves to save on resources. Your temporary assistant could help you source imagery and write captions.

3. Digital decluttering

With paper documents becoming a thing of the past, the amount of digital clutter we’re accumulating is up. Delegate the task of organising your digital files into appropriate folders to your temp assistant (but tell them not to delete anything without your say-so).

4. Invoice management

Your temp could also assist other team members, such as the finance director. For example, they could help them to send, track and receive business invoices.

5. Business development

If you’re considering expanding to a new market, you could ask your temp assistant to help conduct a little preliminary research. This might involve researching companies in a specific sector or area or pulling out key findings from business trend reports.

6. Greeting visitors

You could get your temporary assistant to meet and greet visitors if you're an office-based business. As well as meeting them at the entrance to the building, they could be responsible for introducing them to the appropriate staff member and preparing the meeting room.

7. Marketing

Temp assistants can help out with marketing tasks too. Working with your marketing director, they could help source content, write blog posts for your online audience and provide basic graphic design assistance.

8. Data input

Basic administrative tasks like data input are largely automated now, but some systems and processes still require human intervention – especially if they involve spreadsheets. You can delegate data jobs that take a lot of time to your temporary assistant.

9. Employee onboarding

Your HR team may also need support. Your temp assistant could help with HR-related tasks like showing new employees around the building, sourcing CVs and posting job ads.

10. Calls and emails

Following up on every single call and email can be a time sink for business leaders. Instead, delegate some of the work to your temporary assistant. Be sure to train them first: how would you like them to greet your callers, and which calls should they prioritise?

11. Reports

Delegate some reporting legwork to your temporary assistant too. For instance, you could provide them with the research and information for the report, which they transfer into the appropriate format or template. You could even delegate some of the research to them.

12. Meetings (note-taking)

Getting someone to take notes during meetings can make meetings more valuable and productive, enabling you to set goals and address potential pain points. Note-taking is a skill that many temporary assistants are adept at – make the most of it.

Knowing how to delegate to a virtual assistant is essential. If your assistant works remotely, ensure they have access to the tools and support they need to do their job.

13. Content

Content is king these days. But as a busy business owner, it’s hard to keep up with demand. Your assistant might help with visual and written content, depending on their strengths and interests. You could provide additional training in this area if you decide to hire your assistant permanently.

14. Project management

Streamlined management is the cornerstone of any successful project. Your personal assistants could facilitate project management by delegating tasks and following up on your behalf. Just be sure to train them on the project management software you use.

15. CRM

Your temporary assistant could also help out with CRM-related tasks, such as following up on leads, contacting new customers and updating information relating to your company.

Are you ready to hire a temporary assistant?

Now that you know what to delegate to a personal assistant and how to delegate to an assistant, it’s time to hire your virtual assistant or in-house executive assistant.

One of the main benefits of hiring through a temp agency is that you can gain access to talented temporary assistants at short notice.

Hiring a temp could be the perfect solution if you’re not ready to hire a permanent staff member but require short-term assistance. Be sure to tell your chosen recruiter which tasks you’re looking to delegate, and they’ll work to match you with the best temp for the job.