Why the Brief Matters More Than You Think
The brief isn’t just for finding the right person. It’s for everything that comes after.
When you work with a managed agency like VAConnect, the brief becomes the foundation for the matching process. The agency uses it to understand your needs, assess candidates against your requirements, and make a placement recommendation. A detailed brief means a more accurate match. A vague brief means the agency is making assumptions — and assumptions introduce risk.
Once placed, the brief becomes the onboarding document. Your VA reads it before day one. It tells them what matters to you, how you’ll measure success, and what the priorities are. It’s the starting point for every SOP and delegation framework that follows.
And over time, the brief becomes the reference point for performance conversations. When you’re reviewing the relationship at 30 or 90 days, you’re comparing outcomes to expectations. Those expectations are only useful if they were written down clearly.
A thorough brief takes 2–3 hours to write. It sets up everything that follows.
The Six Sections of a Good VA Brief
Section 1: Business Context (250–400 words)
Before you describe the role, describe the business. A VA who understands your business context makes better decisions. Context changes everything about how they prioritise, communicate, and exercise judgment.
Cover:
– What your business does (in plain English, not corporate jargon)
– Who your customers are and why they choose you
– How big you are (team size, revenue range, stage)
– What you’re working on right now — the 6–12 month focus
– Where you’re feeling the most pressure or constraint
Example:
“We’re a 12-person B2B software company in the legal tech space. We sell contract automation software to mid-market law firms in the UK. Currently in a growth phase — we went from 50 to 80 clients in the past 18 months and the commercial team is stretched. The main focus for the next 12 months is building our outbound pipeline and improving customer success processes. Our CEO’s time is split between fundraising conversations and key client relationships, and the admin overhead has grown significantly.”
That’s three paragraphs. It tells a VA everything they need to understand what kind of role this is and whether they’re the right person for it.
Section 2: Role Overview (100–200 words)
A paragraph or two that describes the role at the level of purpose, not task. What is this person fundamentally here to do?
Avoid: “The VA will handle admin tasks, email, and scheduling.”
Better: “You’ll be the operational infrastructure that allows the CEO to focus entirely on commercial activity. Your primary function is to ensure that no significant opportunity is missed and no important relationship is neglected because of operational overhead. In practice, that means owning the CEO’s inbox, calendar, and communications infrastructure while acting as the coordination layer across a small but fast-moving team.”
That version tells a senior VA candidate whether this role is interesting to them. It signals what kind of working relationship this will be. It differentiates the role from 500 generic VA postings.
Section 3: Core Responsibilities (5–8 bullets)
Now get specific. What are the 5–8 most important things this person will actually do?
Structure each bullet with: responsibility, scope, and output.
Format: [What they own] + [How much of it] + [What the output is]
Good examples:
– Inbox management: daily triage of CEO inbox, draft responses to all inbound, send directly for Tier B/C contacts, hold Tier A drafts for review. Target: inbox clear of actionable items by 9am each morning.
– Calendar management: own the CEO’s calendar fully. Schedule all meetings within defined priority parameters, protect deep work blocks (Tuesday/Thursday mornings), coordinate across 3 time zones (UK, US, SA).
– Client communications: maintain regular touchpoints with a portfolio of 20 key accounts. Send fortnightly check-in emails, track responses, flag any relationship drift.
– Board preparation: prepare board pack materials monthly — collate reports from department heads, format for presentation, coordinate submission deadlines.
– LinkedIn management: draft and schedule 3 posts per week from CEO talking points, manage comments and DMs, grow engagement metrics month-on-month.
These are not exhaustive task lists. They’re clear responsibility statements that a candidate can read and know immediately whether they’re capable of delivering.
Section 4: Skills and Experience Required
Be specific and honest about what you actually need. Not aspirational — actual.
Hard skills (list only what you genuinely need):
– Specific tools: “Proficiency in HubSpot CRM (not just awareness — active use)”
– Domain knowledge: “Familiarity with financial services compliance terminology preferred”
– Technical requirements: “Comfortable building and managing spreadsheets beyond basic functions”
– Language: “Written English at UK business standard — correspondence goes out in the CEO’s name”
Experience:
– “Minimum 3 years supporting C-suite or founder level”
– “Comfortable with confidential correspondence — M&A, personnel, client negotiations”
– “Previous experience in [industry] preferred but not required if other signals of quality are strong”
What to avoid in this section:
– Vague personality traits masquerading as skills (“proactive,” “self-starter,” “team player”)
– Requirements that sound impressive but don’t actually matter
– An exhaustive list of tools when proficiency in 2–3 key tools is what you really need
The skills section should read as a real filter, not a wish list.
Section 5: Working Style and Relationship Expectations
This section is often omitted and it’s often the most important for predicting fit.
Cover:
– How you prefer to communicate (brief voice notes vs. detailed written briefs? Async or real-time?)
– Your working rhythm (early starts? Late afternoon calls? Heavy travel?)
– Your management style (highly directive vs. preference for autonomous execution?)
– What frustrates you in a working relationship (too many questions? Not enough questions? Slow responses?)
– What you value most in a professional relationship (reliability? Initiative? Discretion?)
Example:
“I tend to work in short, intense focus blocks and I process communication best in brief voice notes or short Slack messages. I’m not a long-email person. I work best with someone who can ask one good clarifying question rather than ten questions, who acts on clear briefs without needing constant check-ins, and who is comfortable making judgment calls within defined parameters. Reliability matters more to me than speed — I’d rather something take an extra hour and be right than be rushed and need to be redone.”
This paragraph will resonate strongly with the right candidate and flag potential incompatibility for others. That’s exactly what you want.
Section 6: Practical Details
The logistics that candidates need to know:
Hours: Full-day (160 hrs/month) / Half-day (80 hrs/month) / Starter (40 hrs/month)
Availability requirements: What business hours? Which timezone coverage matters most? Any specific real-time availability requirements (morning calls, weekly meetings)?
Package/compensation: If going through an agency, this is typically handled at the agency level. If posting directly, be clear and honest.
Start date: Approximate. “Flexible but ideally [month]” is fine.
Contract structure: Fixed package / project-based / trial period details
Writing for Different VA Types
The brief structure above works universally, but the emphasis shifts depending on the VA type.
Executive Virtual Assistant Brief
EVA briefs emphasise:
– Representation capability. “Communications go out in my name. Your written English needs to be at the level where I can send without editing.”
– Judgment and initiative. “I need someone who makes good calls independently within defined parameters — not someone who asks permission for every decision.”
– Confidentiality. “This role involves sensitive business information — M&A, personnel, financial data. Discretion is foundational.”
– Strategic context. “Understanding the business context matters as much as task execution.”
The EVA brief is usually the most detailed, because the role requires the most context to execute well.
Administrative VA Brief
Admin VA briefs emphasise:
– Process precision. “We have defined processes for each task type. Following them consistently matters more than initiative.”
– Specific tool proficiency. “You’ll live in our project management system and CRM. Confidence with these tools is essential.”
– Reliability over creativity. “I need consistent execution, every day. I’m not looking for someone to redesign processes — I’m looking for someone to run them well.”
Sales/Outbound VA Brief
Sales VA briefs emphasise:
– Output metrics. “Target is 60 outbound calls per day. We need someone who is comfortable with rejection and maintains energy through high-volume outreach.”
– Communication quality. “The quality of outbound communication reflects on our brand. Written English needs to be strong.”
– CRM discipline. “All activity gets logged. We can’t coach or improve without data.”
Marketing VA Brief
Marketing VA briefs emphasise:
– Brand understanding. “Before you write anything, you need to understand who we are. Our brand guide is attached.”
– Platform expertise. “We need strong LinkedIn and email. Instagram is nice-to-have. We don’t need generalist social — we need depth on these two platforms.”
– Content quality bar. “Our content is how we build authority. Quality matters more than quantity.”
Common Brief-Writing Mistakes
The Vague Requirement
“Must have excellent communication skills.” Every candidate says they have this. It means nothing. Instead: “Written English at native UK professional standard. Correspondence goes out in my name.”
The Exhaustive Task List
A brief that lists 47 individual tasks isn’t a brief — it’s a job description. Focus on the 5–8 most important responsibilities. The task-level detail belongs in SOPs, not the brief.
The Missing Context
Briefs that jump straight to requirements without explaining the business context are asking candidates to guess at priorities. The business context section — what you do, who you serve, what you’re focused on right now — takes 10 minutes to write and changes how candidates interpret everything else.
The Unrealistic Skills List
“Must have 5+ years’ experience in [extremely specific niche tool], fluent in Mandarin, background in finance, and available 7am–7pm GMT.” Most unrealistic skills lists reflect wishful thinking, not actual requirements. Be honest about what you need vs. what would be nice.
The Missing Working Style Section
This is the section that predicts relationship fit — and most briefs skip it entirely. A candidate can assess their skills against your requirements. They can’t assess working style compatibility if you don’t tell them what your working style is.
What a Great Brief Looks Like: A Full Example
Here’s a complete example brief for a Full-Day EVA role:
Role: Executive Virtual Assistant — Full-Day (160 hrs/month)
Business Context
We’re a boutique wealth management firm serving high-net-worth clients in the UK and Middle East. 8-person team. The founder/MD handles all senior client relationships directly and drives the commercial strategy. We’ve been growing at 30% year-on-year for three years and the founder’s time is increasingly consumed by administration and coordination rather than client work.
The focus for the next 12 months is retaining and deepening current client relationships while selectively expanding to 3–5 new significant clients. We’ve identified that the primary risk to growth is the founder being too stretched operationally to maintain the relationship quality our clients expect.
Role Purpose
To be the operational architecture that allows the MD to focus entirely on client relationships and strategic decisions. This means taking full ownership of his communications, calendar, and professional infrastructure — to the point where he can redirect his attention to client work with confidence that everything else is being handled.
Core Responsibilities
- Inbox management: daily management of MD’s inbox, handling all correspondence within defined delegation framework. Tier A client emails drafted for review; all other outbound sent directly. Target: inbox clear and actioned by 9am GMT each morning.
- Calendar management: full ownership of MD’s calendar. All scheduling within defined parameters, time-zone coordination across UK/UAE/SA, travel arrangements, and meeting preparation.
- Client relationship maintenance: regular touchpoints with 45 active client relationships. Track when clients were last contacted, prepare briefings before meetings, send follow-up summaries.
- Board and regulatory preparation: support quarterly board pack preparation, coordinate with compliance and finance teams for collating materials.
- Research and briefing: briefing documents before all significant meetings — who we’re meeting, recent news, relationship history, relevant context.
- Team coordination: coordinate across the small internal team for project deadlines, meeting scheduling, and information flow.
Skills Required
- Minimum 4 years executive assistant experience, preferably supporting a founder or senior partner
- Written English at native UK professional standard — no exceptions
- Experience handling confidential correspondence (financial services context preferable)
- Comfortable with: Gmail, Google Calendar, a CRM tool (Salesforce preferred, trainable on others), Slack
- Understanding of high-net-worth client relationship norms is a significant advantage
Working Style
I communicate by voice note and Slack. I’m not a long-email person. I work best with someone who asks one good question rather than five, acts on clear briefs autonomously, and brings problems to me with a recommended solution attached rather than just the problem. Reliability is everything — I’ll never criticise you for getting it right slowly. I’ll be frustrated by getting it wrong fast.
Discretion is not negotiable. We handle deeply private information about our clients’ wealth, health, and family situations. This information is never to leave the working environment.
Practical Details
Hours: Full-day, 160 hours/month
Availability: 8am–5pm GMT (real-time availability required for morning slots)
Start date: Target [month, flexible by 2–3 weeks]
That brief is ~600 words. A candidate reads it and knows whether they’re a fit. An agency reads it and knows exactly who to match.
Using the Brief After Placement
Once your VA is placed, the brief doesn’t get filed away. It becomes the reference point for:
The orientation call: You walk through the brief together on day one, adding context and answering questions. The brief is the agenda.
SOP development: Each responsibility in the brief becomes the basis for one or more SOPs. “Inbox management: daily management of MD’s inbox…” leads to a detailed SOP for exactly how that works.
Performance conversations: At 30 and 90 days, you’re reviewing delivery against the brief’s expectations. What’s working? What’s not? Does the brief need updating?
Scope expansion: When you’re ready to expand the VA’s role, you update the brief. It stays current as the relationship evolves.
How VAConnect Uses Your Brief
When you work with VAConnect, your brief goes through a structured intake process.
Your account manager will typically conduct a 45–60 minute strategy call to work through your requirements. They’ll use your brief as the starting point and probe for additional context — things that are hard to capture in writing but matter for matching. Personality compatibility. Working style nuances. Team context.
The brief then becomes the basis for the matching process. VAConnect’s talent team reviews candidates against your requirements and shortlists 2–3 people who match not just on skills but on working style and cultural fit.
The shortlisted candidates receive a summary of your brief so they can prepare intelligently for the meeting with you. The result: your interviews are substantive conversations about fit and approach, not basic capability screening.
This process — where the brief powers the matching rather than just the job posting — is why VAConnect’s placement retention rate sits at 98% over 14 months. Good matching starts with a good brief.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long should a VA brief be?
500–1,000 words is the practical range for a comprehensive brief. Short enough to be readable; long enough to actually transfer context. One page is fine. Three pages is too much. The example above (~600 words) is a good target length.
Should I send my brief to multiple agencies?
Yes. Different agencies have different talent pools and different matching approaches. Sending the same brief to two or three agencies gives you comparison points. What you’re evaluating: how they respond to the brief, the quality of their clarifying questions, and the quality of their shortlist.
What if I don’t know exactly what I need?
That’s what the intake call with a good agency is for. VAConnect’s strategy call is specifically designed to help you clarify your requirements through conversation rather than assuming you have them fully formed in a document. Bring your rough thoughts — the call turns them into a workable brief.
Can I update the brief after the VA is placed?
Yes, and you should. As the relationship evolves, your requirements evolve. Update the brief to reflect the current reality rather than preserving the original version as a historical artefact.
The Bottom Line
A great VA brief isn’t complicated. It’s specific, honest, and context-rich. It tells the right person this role is for them and tells the wrong person to look elsewhere. It transfers enough context that a matching process can work from it and a VA can onboard against it.
The 2–3 hours you invest in writing a proper brief pays back in a better match, a faster onboarding, and a working relationship that builds rather than stalls.
VAConnect’s strategy call will help you build your brief — and once built, their matching team will use it to find the right person.
Ready to build your brief? Book a strategy call with Karen — she’ll help you clarify what you need and turn it into a brief that finds the right person.