In this blog post, we will delve into the essential role of an executive assistant and explore the key tasks that make them indispensable in driving successful businesses. From managing calendars and emails to preparing presentations and financial reports, each responsibility plays a vital role in saving valuable time for executives and empowering them to focus on strategic goals. We’ll discuss the importance of building trust and understanding expectations to handle delegated tasks effectively. Whether you’re an experienced executive assistant or aspiring to become one, join us on this journey to become the strategic partner your executive needs, fostering success and seamless productivity in the business world.
Tasks that can be delegated to an Executive Assistant
Calendar / Schedule
The calendar and schedule are what your Executive drives the business with; therefore, making sure all the details are correct is essential. Ask your Executive how they want their life to be scheduled; you then can make solid decisions when scheduling meetings and appointments. These preferences can be no meetings between certain times, holding a lunch hour without placing it on the actual calendar, saving space for focus work, and even giving them flexible space to be able to visit with their employees.
The email permission may take some time before it is delegated to you; trust must be built. Once you have email access, make sure you both agree on the process of email triage. You may only be sorting but could potentially reply on their behalf. Just be clear and understand the expectations. According to Inc., CEOs spend 24% of their time checking email. When you can take email off your Executive’s plate, you have saved them hours of time!
Telephone
You may be asked to answer all incoming calls for your Executive and filter out the telemarketing. Ensure that messages get to your Executive on time and that decisions can be made between calls and meetings. After a time, you will be able to determine which calls your Executive really wants. If possible, ensure your Executives business card has your direct line to help keep call access limited.
Agendas / Meeting Minutes
As you continue to build a Strategic Partnership with your Executive, agendas for upcoming meetings will become easier to create. In the beginning, work together to understand the goal of the meeting in order to prepare an agenda that fits. After a time, you will be able to create drafts that your Executive can review within minutes, saving your Executive lots of time. Meeting minutes can be tricky. Ask your Executive what type of minutes they’d like to see; this will help you determine how much you need to recap. Don’t forget your audience for the recap; they may not understand the jargon or abbreviations that you use. The most important part of meeting minutes is the who, what, and by when – be sure to capture those action items.
Presentations
You have great talent in technology, which is why you should be putting together those presentations in Prezi, PowerPoint, or Canva. Your Executive can give you the content, but you have the skills to assemble and make them shine. If you aren’t skilled in presentations, get on YouTube or take some online courses. Presentations can take hours to assemble and only minutes to present. The presentation speaks louder than the words, so be sure it shines!
Financial Reports
Depending on access and how your company is set up, financial reports may be a task for your Executive, or they may need these reports to execute decisions. You should be able to understand and know what is happening financially in the company. Executives love to be able to view their business as a whole. If you can provide them a Dashboard report monthly, with data that can give them enough information to know how the business is thriving, that is the key! Ask your Executive what keeps them up at night; I’m sure you can find plenty of information that can help them understand their business in one report. Plenty of software you can use to create financial reports; Excel does the job just as well!
Follow-ups
As your Executive switches between meetings, calls, and emails, following up on their day is important. If you are able to capture their to-do’s, next meetings, and conversations, this can save your Executive time and energy. When you are able to get the status of a task, person, or project, you can save your Executive so much time. Tracking down information and people can be consuming; you have the know where and what is going on. Keep your eyes and ears open to ensure you are sharing the most accurate information possible.
If your Executive can delegate these tasks to you, this is trust and you are moving forward as a strategic partner. Remember always to clarify what your Executive wants; never assume. Your role is to make them successful by keeping them in line and assisting them toward their goals to get to the finish line. Your success is to get them there without errors, lost time, and bumps along the way.
Be the Strategic Partner they need! You have the will and the skill to do so. Executives will gladly offer their advice and tasks as you continue to create opportunities for them to shine.
If you are an Executive or Assistant who is looking for additional information, please feel free to contact me.
Additional blogs related to this topic: Executives, how to leverage your Assistant https://hbr.org/2011/05/the-case-for-executive-assistants
