Virtual Assistant SOPs for Founders (Starter Templates)

VAs execute well when the process is written down. These three starter SOPs cover most founders' first month of delegation.

SOP 1: Inbox triage

Goal: Founder sees only emails that need their judgment.

Steps:

1. Label incoming mail: Action / Waiting / Archive / Delegate
2. Draft replies for routine questions using approved macros
3. Flag VIP senders and billing issues immediately
4. End-of-day summary: 5 bullets in Slack or Notion

Escalate when: legal, press, refund over $X, angry customer, unknown sender with attachment.

SOP 2: Calendar management

Goal: Meetings happen without back-and-forth.

Steps:

1. Propose 2–3 slots in founder timezone
2. Confirm video link, agenda, and attendees
3. Block prep time 30 minutes before important calls
4. Send reminders 24h and 1h before

Escalate when: conflicting priorities, external VIP requests, travel across timezones.

SOP 3: Weekly status report

Goal: Founder gets situational awareness in 5 minutes.

Template:

• Completed this week (bullets)
• In progress
• Blocked / needs decision
• Next week priorities
• Metrics (optional): tickets closed, emails handled, hours used

Deliver every Friday by 4pm local time.

How to onboard SOPs

1. Record a 5-minute Loom for each SOP
2. Run a $30 trial on one day of inbox or calendar work
3. Iterate macros after the first 20 real tickets
4. Store living docs in Notion or Google Docs — VAs update as process changes

Tools stack

• Orca Messages for hiring and ongoing threads
• Notion for SOPs and task queue
• Loom for video instructions
• Slack for quick questions

Related: [Best tools for managing VAs](/blog/best-tools-for-managing-vas) · [Onboarding checklist](/blog/virtual-assistant-onboarding-checklist) · [Email VA hire page](/hire-email-va)