Martyn Butler, founder · Updated 5 October 2026 · 6 minute read
More check-ins are not the answer
Extra check-ins feel like control. In practice they add interruptions, teach your VA to wait for you before acting, and move the work of remembering back onto you, which is the thing you hired a VA to take away.
A better relationship helps, but it does not fix the problem either. A VA who likes working with you still cannot do a task nobody told them was theirs, or follow a process that only exists in your head.
Our view is that most problems are a briefing or a process problem rather than a person problem. So start with the system. It is quicker to fix, and if the problem survives a proper fix, you will know it is the person.
Cause one: nobody clearly owns it
"Can you keep an eye on the inbox?" is not ownership. Neither is a shared task list where anybody could have done it, or a handover where each of you thinks the other has it. Work with two possible owners often has none.
The fix is a written list of what is theirs. One line per recurring task, with a named owner and a due time. Owning a task means they finish it, or they tell you before it is due that it will not be finished and why. Anything not on the list is still yours until you hand it over.
Cause two: the procedure lives in your head
If you explained a task once, out loud, three weeks ago, your VA is working from their memory of your explanation. Every gap in that memory is a mistake waiting to happen, and it will look like carelessness.
Write each recurring task down as a procedure: what it is for, when it happens, the steps, the rules, and when to stop and ask you. When a mistake happens, fix the page before you fix the VA. Our guide on handing work to a VA goes through how to write procedures that stick.
Cause three: there is no daily update
Without a daily update, you find out about problems when a customer complains or a bill goes unpaid. By then a small slip has had a week to grow.
Ask for three lines at the end of every shift: what was done, what is waiting, and what needs you. Read it the same day and answer the part that needs you. It takes you two minutes, and it means nothing sits unnoticed for more than a day.
The update is not a report card, and it should not be used as one. Its job is to put problems where you can see them while they are still small. A VA who writes "waiting on you for the supplier login" is doing exactly what you want.
Cause four: they are waiting on you
A lot of dropped balls are really waits. The VA needed a decision, a login or an answer, asked once, and the task stalled while you were busy. From your side it looks as if nothing happened.
Give them a written list of what they can decide on their own and what must come to you, set up their access before they need it, and answer the needs-you part of the daily update within a day. If the same question keeps coming to you, the answer belongs in the procedure.
Cause five: too much, all at once
Handing over everything in the first fortnight feels efficient. It usually means nothing is learned properly, priorities are guessed, and the most urgent-looking task wins over the most important one.
Hand over a few tasks at a time and add the next only when the last one runs without you. Where there is more work than hours, say which comes first. A VA who knows the order will drop the right thing on a busy day.
Quick diagnosis
Match what you are seeing to the likely gap before you decide anything about the person:
| What you see | Likely cause | First fix |
|---|---|---|
| A task forgotten completely | Nobody clearly owns it | Add it to their written list with a due time |
| The same mistake more than once | No procedure, or an unclear one | Write or rewrite the procedure, then have them sign it |
| You find out late, from a customer | No daily update | Three lines at the end of every shift, read the same day |
| Work stalls for days | Waiting on you for access or a decision | A written list of what they can decide, and a same-day reply |
| Quality swings from day to day | Too much at once, or no clear priorities | Fewer tasks, in a stated order |
Five questions before you blame the VA
When something is missed, run through these before you decide it is about the person. If any answer is no, fix that first:
- Was the task on their written list, with a due time?
- Is there a written procedure for it, and is it up to date?
- Did they have the access, the information and the decisions they needed?
- Did they mention it in a daily update, and did anybody read it?
- Did they know it mattered more than the other things they were doing that day?
When it really is the wrong person
Sometimes the system is sound and the problem remains. The signs are usually clear once the basics are in place:
- The procedure is written, signed and explained, and they still miss it after it has been pointed out.
- They know something has gone wrong and do not tell you.
- The daily update does not match what you find when you check the work.
- They are not honest about hours worked or work done.
- After a fair run, they cannot do the core of the job, such as writing clearly to customers in a role that is mostly writing.
Or the wrong role
There is a third possibility between the system and the person: the role and the person do not match. Somebody hired to follow clear procedures will struggle in a role that turns out to need judgement calls every hour. Somebody experienced will get bored, and careless, in a role that is all copying and pasting.
If that is what you are seeing, the answer may be to change the role rather than the person: write more of the judgement down as rules, or move the judgement work back to you and hand over something else instead.
What to do about it
Say it plainly and in writing: what has to change, the examples, and by when. Give a short, fixed period, then check against what you wrote. Most people deserve that one clear chance, and it protects you if it goes no further.
If it does not improve, end it on the terms of your agreement. How you do that depends on the contract and on whether they are an employee or a contractor, so take advice before you act. Keep your procedures: the next person starts from them.
How we handle it
With a managed VA from Mango & Co., you tell your account manager. We diagnose first, because most problems are a briefing or a process problem, and those we fix. If it really is the wrong person, we replace them, and your procedures mean the new VA starts from something rather than nothing.
If you are thinking about a VA and want to know which jobs to hand over first, our free plan at /fit takes about three minutes.