Executive assistants (EAs) can change your life. The best ones go beyond managing your inbox, calendar, and travel arrangements. They delve into networking, event planning, partnership management, and even extend their support beyond the workplace to ensure your success in your personal and professional life.
Today, the most effective delegators engage their executive assistants at work and home, allowing you to focus on high-impact tasks in all aspects of your life.
Important Skills for an Executive Assistant
The best EAs specialize in optimizing everyday tasks, effortlessly handling administrative duties and repeated tasks to give you more time to focus on your zone of genius.
Here are three foundational skills to look for in an Executive Assistant:
Inbox Management
EAs are experts in inbox management, employing effective and efficient email-handling strategies like:
- Triaging incoming emails
- Sorting them by priority and relevance, and
- Proactively managing correspondence by pre-drafting replies to ensure timely responses.
Calendar Management
Navigating a packed agenda can be challenging, especially when crucial decisions are on the line. Exceptional EAs are masters at orchestrating organized calendars, ensuring that they:
- Adapt to sudden schedule changes
- Manage packed work and personal schedules, and
- Leverage easy-to-understand calendar management tools.
Travel Management
Your comfort and convenience should be top priorities for your EA.
It's not just about efficiency; exceptional EAs go the extra mile to personalize your travel experience. They fully understand your preferences, ensuring that whether it's securing a peaceful hotel room for focused work or suggesting local attractions for your photography hobby, your trip is perfectly tailored to suit your needs.
Your EA should possess the skills to effectively:
- Document travel preferences once for future trips.
- Handle trip details and bookings efficiently.
- Craft your personalized itinerary.
- Navigate and resolve any sudden trip hurdles, such as delayed flights, booking mix-ups, or canceled activities.
Get an Assistant and Streamline Your Delegation
When hiring an assistant, consider companies offering formalized training and continuing education. Athena Assistants complete 140+ hours of initial training and receive ongoing education with a 1:1 coach.
The top-tier executive assistants not only excel at core skills but also go above and beyond. They can automate mundane tasks like grocery shopping, curate bespoke experiences such as date nights, create meal plans, or even find your next gym instructor.
Learn more about Athena and how we can help you unlock time abundance.