The VA Scorecard: Score Your Setup in 10 Minutes

Most executives evaluating a VA relationship are evaluating a feeling. The work is fine, or it isn't. They seem proactive, or they don't. It's going well, or something's off and you can't name it.

Feelings are lagging indicators. By the time one shows up, whatever caused it has been running for weeks.

This scorecard measures the setup instead — the five things that decide whether a VA relationship works, none of which are about how talented your VA is. It takes about ten minutes, and it will tell you which specific gap is producing your specific symptom.

Score it straight. Nobody sees this but you, and a generous score buys you a comfortable result and no useful information.

How to score each statement: answer as things are today, not as you intended them. 0 — not at all. 1 — loosely, or sometimes. 2 — mostly, with gaps. 3 — yes, consistently, and your VA would say the same.

Dimension 1 — Ownership & Scope

Whether your VA has a job or a queue.

1. My VA has three to five recurring responsibilities they fully own, rather than a rolling list of tasks I assign.
2. Their role was defined by an outcome they're responsible for, not by a list of activities.
3. Every task I handed over survived a real filter — I checked whether it should be deleted, batched, or automated before it went to a person.
4. If I disappeared for two weeks, my VA would know what to keep moving without asking.

Dimension 1 score: ___ / 12

Dimension 2 — Context Transfer

Whether you handed over the work or only the steps.

1. My VA understands what the business is trying to grow this quarter, not just what's on their list this week.
2. The judgment behind recurring decisions is written down somewhere — which client gets which treatment, what counts as urgent, when to escalate.
3. My VA can tell when something is wrong before I do, because they understand what right looks like.
4. When they ask a question, it's a good question — not one that reveals they're guessing at the basics.

Dimension 2 score: ___ / 12

Dimension 3 — Definition of Done

Whether the target is visible or only described.

1. For each recurring task, my VA knows what a finished output includes.
2. They have at least one real example of work I approved without edits, for each major task type.
3. They know which decisions are theirs to make and which need my sign-off, without checking.
4. Revisions are getting rarer over time rather than staying flat.

Dimension 3 score: ___ / 12

Dimension 4 — Operating Rhythm

Whether the relationship has structure or only proximity.

1. We have a standing check-in on the calendar that happens whether or not there's a problem.
2. My VA sends a written update on a fixed schedule, without being asked.
3. Access to tools and accounts was granted on a plan, with clear levels — not all at once or one panicked login at a time.
4. The rhythm held the last time I had a brutal week.

Dimension 4 score: ___ / 12

Dimension 5 — Measurement & Feedback

Whether you're managing with information or with instinct.

1. I could name three things my VA moved forward last week without checking my inbox.
2. Feedback reaches them within a day or two of the work, not at the next scheduled review.
3. We've had at least one structured conversation about performance that wasn't triggered by something going wrong.
4. I know what I'm getting back for what I'm spending, in something more specific than "it helps."

Dimension 5 score: ___ / 12

Your total: ___ / 60

What your score means

48–60 · Built to work

Your setup is sound. If the work still isn't landing, you're in the small minority of cases where the issue is fit rather than structure — and because your structure is real, that read is trustworthy. Look at your two lowest dimensions first, give it thirty days, then make the call with confidence.

Most useful next step: tighten the weakest dimension, then push scope. A VA in a solid setup is usually under-used rather than over-extended.

34–47 · Working, with leaks

The common result, and the frustrating one. Enough structure that things mostly function, enough gaps that you're still pulled in more than you should be. Your VA is probably performing at the ceiling their setup allows.

Most useful next step: whichever dimension scored lowest is where your leak is. Fix that one alone and the symptom you've been noticing usually goes with it.

20–33 · Structurally under-supported

Your VA is improvising most of their job. Whatever you're seeing — slow, passive, needs too much direction, inconsistent — is a predictable output of this score rather than a reliable signal about the person.

Most useful next step: don't try to fix all five dimensions at once. Start with Definition of Done, because it produces visible change fastest, and follow with Operating Rhythm.

0–19 · Set up to fail

Nobody could succeed inside this setup, which also means you don't currently have any information about whether your VA is good. That's worth sitting with before you make a decision that costs you another search and another three months of ramp.

Most useful next step: a full reset — re-filter the task list, narrow the scope, define done, put a weekly rhythm in place. Thirty days of that will tell you what you're working with.

The part most people get wrong

Your lowest dimension matters more than your total.

A 40 built from five even scores is a different problem than a 40 built from four strong dimensions and one at zero. The second is easier to fix and more damaging while it's broken, because the missing dimension undermines the other four. Structure without measurement means you can't see whether it's working. Context without a definition of done means your VA understands the goal and still can't hit it.

Find your lowest. Start there.

Turn the score into a plan

If your score points at a setup problem — and for roughly four in five executives who run this, it does — the fix is a matter of weeks, not a new hire.

Vamped rebuilds the setup around the VA you already have: the filtered scope, the context transfer, the definition of done, the weekly rhythm, and the reporting that shows you what you're getting. Five days to install it, then coaching to keep it running.

Book a setup review →

Bring your scorecard. We'll start with your lowest dimension.