What to delegate to an assistant, and what to keep

A simple rule for choosing tasks

Start with work that is repeatable, follows rules you can write down, and does little harm if it goes wrong once. Inbox triage, scheduling, research and document filing fit all three. Work that is rare, depends on your personal judgement or is costly to get wrong comes later, or stays with you.

For every area you hand over, write three things: the outcome you want, the rules the assistant follows, and the line at which they ask you first. That short note replaces dozens of questions in the first month.

Inbox

• Triage: sort new mail into a few labels, such as “needs you”, “waiting”, “read later” and “done”.
• First replies: acknowledge, schedule, send documents, answer routine questions.
• Follow-ups: chase threads that stalled, with a reminder date on each.
• Unsubscribing and filters: cut newsletters and notifications that bury real mail.

Rules that help: a short VIP list of people whose mail you always see yourself, whether the assistant writes as you or signs as your assistant, and a daily summary of what needs your decision. Start with drafts you approve, then let the assistant send routine replies directly after a week or two.

Calendar

• Scheduling and rescheduling, including people in other time zones.
• Blocking focus time and protecting it.
• Buffers between meetings and travel time.
• Agendas, briefs and links attached to every meeting.
• Declining or moving meetings that do not meet your rules.

Write your meeting rules down: the hours you take calls, the days without meetings, the longest meeting you accept without an agenda, and who can be moved. With those rules an assistant can decide most requests without you.

Travel and events

Travel is one of the easiest areas to delegate and one of the most appreciated. Give the assistant a travel profile once: preferred airlines and seats, hotel standards, how early you like to arrive, and the budget rules. Keep passport details and loyalty numbers in the password manager, not in email.

• Research options and propose two or three, with the trade-offs.
• Book once you approve, or directly within agreed limits.
• Build one itinerary document with confirmations, addresses and contacts.
• Handle changes and cancellations while you travel.

Vendors, invoices and operations

• Collect invoices and receipts and file them where your bookkeeper expects them.
• Chase unpaid invoices with polite, firm reminders.
• Keep a list of subscriptions with renewal dates and flag the ones nobody uses.
• Get quotes from vendors and put them side by side.
• Update the CRM after your calls and send follow-up emails.

Keep approval of payments with you, at least at first: the assistant prepares, you approve. Clear money rules protect both of you.

Personal tasks, if you want them

Many founders find that personal admin takes more mental space than work admin: appointments, renewals, gifts, deliveries, home repairs. An assistant can handle these too, but agree on it explicitly and write it into the scope, so that nobody feels it is a favour or an imposition.

Set boundaries: which personal accounts the assistant may use, what they should never see, and whether personal tasks happen within the agreed working hours.

What to keep for yourself

• Final decisions on hiring, firing, pricing and strategy.
• Difficult conversations with your team, investors or key clients.
• Signing contracts and approving payments above a limit you set.
• Anything that needs your personal relationship, such as a thank-you that should come from you.

Everything else is a question of timing and trust. Our onboarding checklist shows how to hand over areas step by step in the first ten days.

A delegation brief you can copy

If you do not have an assistant yet, the brief is also the core of your job description: our executive assistant job description template turns it into an ad.