I have to admit it.
I have felt quite frustrated with my Executive Assistants (EA) for years.
I even found them much harder to manage and lead than my senior directors or managers.
In some instances, it seemed to me I could better handle some tasks.
In others, I felt like I was underutilizing them, wasting their talent on the most mundane tasks and not justifying their full-time position.
Then, I realized that the problem was not with my EA. It was me!
I had been unable to set the scene and rules of engagement for my EA. My delegation style had been quite approximative, and everyone suffered from it.
So, I started to adjust, and step by step, things got better. We eventually found a better balance and a more impactful role for my EA.
How did I go about it?
Here are some of the significant shifts I learned to make, and also a few best practices that I wish I would have known earlier:
#1 Know What to eliminate
Tim Ferriss said it best in his 4-Hour Workweek bestseller:
“Never automate something that can be eliminated, and never delegate something that can be automated or streamlined. Otherwise, you waste someone else’s time instead of your own, which now wastes your hard-earned cash.”
It is worth thinking hard about whether you need a task in the first place. One way to test this is to stop that task for some time and see whether it has any impact.
#2 Automating doesn’t always beat delegating
If a recurring task proves critical for the business, it’s tempting to automate it. Some of the most automation-obsessed companies have built empires with that mindset – think of how Amazon became an e-commerce giant!
But automation doesn’t always make the most sense. Suppose you put your best engineers on building and supporting some task automation. It might cost you more than just delegating this task to your EA. So do the math!
#3 Know how to delegate
Too often, I’ve fallen into the trap of being overly descriptive about a task I needed to delegate and how to go about it. That’s fine with a precise sequence of events that doesn’t vary much.
But in most cases, I’d benefit from describing my desired outcome. Something like: “I need you to put together a weekly summary of our project status meetings, highlighting key takeaways, timeframes, and owners.” My EA would take it from there and decide on the best ways to go about it.
#4 Share your EA!
You might not have enough to keep one EA busy full time with your own needs. That’s ok! The time for executives to keep their EA to themselves is so “20th century”!
Everyone on your team has specific tasks they need to get done which deserve to be delegated. If you keep tight communication and monitor the flow of delegated tasks, everyone will benefit.
#5 There’s not one single universal approach
We’re all unique. So, know what requires your deeper involvement. For instance, after a few years, I realized that I’d rather manage some critical aspects of my calendar and do proper tradeoffs.
So, I built a more flexible approach to calendaring where my EA and I would share inputs. I didn’t stick to the traditional idea that your EA takes care of all your calendaring and travel needs.
With experience, I’ve learned to appreciate how much my own guidance impacted my EA effectiveness.
Like any relationship, it takes trial and error to get the best outcomes. But if you follow these five principles, you’ll have a greater chance of having an incredibly motivated and effective EA.