Module 6: Digital Skills for Online Work Lesson 22

Introduction to Virtual Assistance

What does a virtual assistant actually do all day? Instead of just talking about it, you will spend a "day" as a VA for a fictional client: sorting her inbox, scheduling meetings across time zones, researching options, updating a spreadsheet and sending a professional end-of-day report.

The 5 core task groups of virtual assistance An interactive inbox-sorting challenge Real VA tasks in Gmail, Calendar, Docs and Sheets A finished VA work sample for your portfolio
1What Is It?

A Virtual Assistant Keeps Someone's Work Running Smoothly

Define virtual assistance simply and name the 5 task groups
A virtual assistant, or VA, is someone who supports a busy person or business remotely, using digital tools. Think of a personal assistant who sits outside the boss's office, except the VA can be in Enugu while the boss is in Lagos, London or Houston.

Most VA work falls into 5 task groups: email management, scheduling, research, data entry, and documents. You already learned the tools for all five earlier in this course: Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Docs, Google Sheets and AI.

In Lessons 13 to 18 we covered how to set up and run a VA business. Today is different. Today you will actually do the work, so you know exactly what it feels like.
2Why Do I Need It?

The Skills Behind Almost Every Office Job

Show that VA skills are useful far beyond VA work
Even if virtual assistance is not your chosen path from Lesson 21, these skills matter. Managing email, scheduling, researching and organising information are part of almost every office, admin, customer service and marketing role. Employers notice people who can do these things quickly and neatly.

And if virtual assistance is your path, today gives you something valuable: a real work sample you can show. When someone asks "have you done this before?", you can say "yes, here is an example of how I organise an inbox and report back."
🔐
The VA promise: trust VAs often see private emails, calendars and documents. Being trustworthy is not a bonus skill, it is the job. Keep client information private, never use it for anything else, and never share passwords in plain messages.
3Show Me

The 5 Task Groups and Your Client for Today

📧
Email management
Sorting, labelling, replying to routine emails, flagging urgent ones.
Gmail
📅
Scheduling
Booking meetings, handling time zones, sending reminders.
Google Calendar
🔎
Research
Finding venues, suppliers, prices or information, and summarising it clearly.
Google + AI
📊
Data entry
Updating contact lists, trackers and records accurately.
Google Sheets
📝
Documents
Drafting letters, reports, summaries and meeting notes.
Google Docs + AI
Introduce the fictional client and her brief
For the rest of this lesson, you are the VA for a fictional client. Read her brief carefully. A good VA always understands the client's priorities before touching anything.
AO
Adaeze Okafor
Founder, Rise & Lead Coaching · Lagos
What she does
Leadership coach for women professionals in Nigeria and the UK
Time zone
Lagos (WAT). Her UK clients are 1 hour behind in winter
Working hours
Monday to Friday, 10am to 4pm. No meetings on Wednesdays (content day)
Top priority this month
Her first in-person workshop in Lagos, for about 40 guests
How she likes updates
One short end-of-day report by email, in bullet points
Golden rule
"Do not reply to new clients about prices without checking with me."
Adaeze and her business are fictional, created for this exercise.
4Let's Do It

Task 1: Sort Adaeze's Inbox

Run the inbox challenge live; discuss answers after checking
It is 9:30am. Adaeze's inbox has 8 new emails. Your first job is to sort each one into the right category. Read each email, think about her brief, and choose a category. When you are done, click "Check my answers." Do not worry about getting everything right; the explanations are where the learning happens.
Urgent: needs action today, flag to Adaeze now
Reply today: needs a response, but not this minute
Schedule: involves booking or moving a meeting
File: useful to keep, no action needed
Delete / Report: spam, scams or junk
📥 Inbox: Adaeze Okafor0 of 8 sorted
5Now You Try

Tasks 2 to 5: Finish the Day

Walk through the remaining 4 tasks; students complete them in the Practical Task tab
Great work on the inbox. Here is the rest of your day as Adaeze's VA. Full step-by-step instructions are in the Practical Task tab.
  • 2

    Scheduling: Tolu (a London client) wants to move Thursday's session. Find a new slot that respects Adaeze's hours and the 1-hour time difference, create it in Google Calendar, and write Tolu a reply.

  • 3

    Research: Find 3 possible workshop venues in Lagos for about 40 guests. Summarise them in a one-page Google Doc comparison with your recommendation.

  • 4

    Data entry: Add 5 new workshop enquiries to a Google Sheet, cleaned up and consistent.

  • 5

    End-of-day report: Send Adaeze a short, bullet-point report of everything you did, plus anything she needs to decide.

🤖
Use AI like a smart assistant, not a replacement AI can draft replies, summarise research and tidy data quickly. But AI can invent venue names, prices and phone numbers. Every fact in your research must be checked on a real website or by a phone call before you send it to a client.
6Your Task

Lesson 22 Assignment

📋
This lesson's assignment Complete the "Day as a VA" challenge: all 5 tasks for Adaeze. Save everything in a Google Drive folder called "VA Work Sample" so you can use it in your portfolio in Lesson 24.
  • 1

    Inbox: Complete the inbox challenge and aim for at least 6 out of 8. Write a reply draft for the new prospect email that follows Adaeze's golden rule.

  • 2

    Calendar: Create Tolu's rescheduled session in Google Calendar and draft the reply.

  • 3

    Research doc: Create the 3-venue comparison document with a clear recommendation.

  • 4

    Spreadsheet: Enter and clean the 5 enquiries in Google Sheets.

  • 5

    Report: Write the end-of-day report and save it as a Google Doc (or send it to yourself as an email).

7What Did You Create?

A Real VA Work Sample

Close by naming the sample and pointing to Lesson 23
You just did a full day of real VA work. You sorted an inbox, spotted a scam, respected a client's rules, scheduled across time zones, researched and recommended, organised data and reported back professionally. That is exactly what VAs do, every single day.

Your "VA Work Sample" folder is now proof of what you can do. In Lesson 24, you will turn work like this into a portfolio project.

In Lesson 23, we look at another of the most common digital paths: customer service. You will practise writing responses to real customer situations, from simple questions to angry complaints.
  • Inbox challenge completed with a reply drafted for the new prospect
  • Tolu's session rescheduled in Google Calendar with a reply drafted
  • 3-venue research document with a recommendation
  • 5 enquiries entered and cleaned in Google Sheets
  • End-of-day report written and everything saved in "VA Work Sample"
WWorkbook

Lesson 22 Student Workbook

✏️
Instructions Use this workbook to plan each task before you open the tools. A few minutes of planning saves a lot of fixing later.
📧 Part A: Inbox Reflection
My score:
One I got wrong:
What I learned:
How I spotted the scam email:
📅 Part B: Scheduling Tolu
New day:
Lagos time:
London time:
Why this slot works:
🔎 Part C: Venue Research and Report
Venue 1:
Venue 2:
Venue 3:
My recommendation:
Decisions Adaeze needs to make (for my end-of-day report):
TTask

The "Day as a VA" Challenge

⏱️
Time: about 2 hours Output: a "VA Work Sample" Google Drive folder with a prospect reply, a calendar event and reply, a venue research document, an enquiries spreadsheet, and an end-of-day report.

Task 1: Inbox Follow-Up (15 minutes)

  • 1

    Complete the inbox challenge in the Trainer Script tab if you have not already.

  • 2

    Use Prompt 1 to draft a reply to the new prospect (email 5). Remember Adaeze's golden rule: thank them, share what you can, and say Adaeze will follow up personally about pricing. Do not invent prices.

Task 2: Reschedule Tolu (20 minutes)

  • 1

    Tolu is in London. She can do Thursday or Friday next week, any time between 9am and 1pm London time.

  • 2

    Remember: Adaeze works 10am to 4pm Lagos time, and London is 1 hour behind Lagos in winter. So 10am Lagos is 9am London. Pick a slot that works for both.

  • 3

    Open Google Calendar, create a 60-minute event called "Coaching: Tolu," add a Google Meet link, and write the London time in the description.

  • 4

    Use Prompt 2 to draft a short reply to Tolu, showing the time in London time so she does not have to convert it.

Task 3: Venue Research (35 minutes)

  • 1

    Search Google and Google Maps for event or training venues in Lagos that can hold about 40 guests. Use AI to help brainstorm search terms, not as your only source.

  • 2

    For 3 venues, note: name, area, capacity, what is included (projector, chairs, Wi-Fi, parking), price if published, and the website or phone number. Write "not published" if a price is not shown. Never guess.

  • 3

    Use Prompt 3 to turn your notes into a one-page Google Doc comparison with a short recommendation.

Task 4: Enquiries Spreadsheet (20 minutes)

These 5 enquiries came in through Adaeze's WhatsApp and Instagram. They are messy. Enter them into a Google Sheet and clean them up.

As received
funmi adebayo, 08031234567, saw your post on ig, wants workshop details
Mrs. Chioma Eze / chioma.eze@example.com / referred by Tolu / asking about group booking for 3
KEMI LAWAL - whatsapp +234 802 555 0101 - interested, asked if there is a payment plan
Ngozi (surname not given), linkedin message, wants to know the date
amina bello 0805-111-2233 instagram - wants to attend with her sister
  • 1

    Create a Google Sheet called "Workshop Enquiries" with columns: First Name, Last Name, Phone, Email, Source, Request, Status, Notes.

  • 2

    Enter each enquiry. Use proper capital letters for names, one consistent phone format (for example +234 803 123 4567), and the same source labels (Instagram, WhatsApp, LinkedIn, Referral).

  • 3

    Set Status to "New" for all, and write "Not provided" for missing details. Use Prompt 4 if you want AI to help clean the data, then double-check every row yourself.

🔐
Privacy check These contacts are fictional. With real client data, do not paste customers' phone numbers or emails into public AI tools unless your client has agreed. Remove or replace personal details first.

Task 5: End-of-Day Report (15 minutes)

  • 1

    Use Prompt 5 to draft a short report with three sections: Done Today, Needs Your Decision, Coming Up Tomorrow.

  • 2

    Keep it to bullet points, as Adaeze prefers. Include the urgent venue booking (email 3), the speaking invitation (email 7) and the prospect waiting for pricing (email 5) under "Needs Your Decision."

  • 3

    Save it in your "VA Work Sample" folder.

🗂️
Lesson 22 Complete!
You have completed a full day as a virtual assistant. In Lesson 23, you will practise customer service.
AIPrompts

Lesson 22 Prompt Library

📖
Add to your Prompt Library Google Doc Open your "My AI Prompt Library" document, add the heading "Lesson 22: Virtual Assistance," and paste all five prompts below.

VA Task Prompts

Prompt 1: Draft an email reply for a client
"I am a virtual assistant for [client name], a [type of business]. Draft a reply to this email: [paste email]. Rules from my client: [list any rules, e.g. do not quote prices]. Write in a warm, professional tone, sign off as '[Your Name], Assistant to [Client Name]', and keep it under 120 words. Do not make up any facts, prices or dates."
Always tell the AI your client's rules. It cannot guess them.
Prompt 2: Write a scheduling message across time zones
"Write a short, friendly email confirming a rescheduled meeting. Client: [name] in [city]. New time: [time] in my client's time zone, which is [time] in their time zone. Include the date, duration, that a Google Meet link is in the calendar invite, and an offer to adjust if needed. Show the time in the recipient's time zone first."
Double-check the time difference yourself. Time zone mistakes cause missed meetings.
Prompt 3: Turn research notes into a comparison
"Here are my research notes on [number] options for [what is being researched]: [paste notes]. Turn them into a one-page comparison for my client with: a short intro, a comparison table (name, location, capacity, what is included, price, contact), the pros and cons of each, and a 2-sentence recommendation. Only use the information I have given you. Write 'not published' where information is missing."
"Only use the information I have given you" stops the AI from inventing details.
Prompt 4: Clean up messy data
"Clean up these records and return them as a table with columns: First Name, Last Name, Phone, Email, Source, Request, Status, Notes. Rules: capitalise names properly, format Nigerian phone numbers as +234 XXX XXX XXXX, use only these source labels: Instagram, WhatsApp, LinkedIn, Referral. Set Status to New. Write 'Not provided' for missing information. Records: [paste records]"
Use this only with practice data, or real data your client has agreed you can process with AI.
Prompt 5: Write an end-of-day report
"Write a short end-of-day report from me, a virtual assistant, to my client [name]. Here is what I did today: [list]. Here is what needs their decision: [list]. Here is what is planned for tomorrow: [list]. Use three headings: Done Today, Needs Your Decision, Coming Up Tomorrow. Bullet points only, under 150 words, friendly and professional."
Put decisions near the top. Busy clients often only read the first few lines.