Building a partnership with your executive assistant helps increase your productivity and effectiveness. This partnership provides leverage and support to strengthen your work performance.
Helping your executive assistant understand what is most important to you helps them use their best judgment to manage your time. As a result, you can accomplish more and increase your value to the company.
Choose among these methods to build a partnership with your executive assistant.
Create a Partnership Mentality
Your executive assistant would rather work with you than for you. Therefore, you should view your assistant as a high-value contributor and treat them as an essential member of your team.
Your success and your executive assistant’s success are interdependent. As a result, viewing your assistant as your partner positively impacts your interactions.
Educating your assistant about your life and priorities helps your assistant perform accordingly. They can more effectively determine which individuals get on your schedule, who gets bumped when your priorities change, and how your needs can be proactively filled.
Share Your Goals
Talk with your executive assistant about your short- and long-term goals. Helping your assistant understand your vision provides context for where you are going and how they can help you get there. Your assistant can make more informed decisions regarding meeting priorities and calendar management to help you succeed.
For instance, if you are working to secure a new contract, you could let your executive assistant know about the contract and the key contacts. Or, if you want to become a keynote speaker at an industry conference, you could ask your assistant to prepare the notes or slide deck for your speech.
Involve Your Executive Assistant in Your Work
Showing your executive assistant your daily activities helps them more effectively support you. For instance, include your assistant in as many meetings as possible so they learn the key people, priorities, and plans. Also, include your assistant in leadership meetings so they can learn about current and future projects, prepare agendas, follow up on action items, and hold your team accountable.
Involving your executive assistant in your work helps them review your emails and draft correspondence for you to send. Having your assistant flag your important messages, categorize other messages, respond on your behalf, and delete irrelevant messages frees up significant time for higher-level activities.
Recognize and Reward Your Executive Assistant
Thank your executive assistant every day for their contributions and results. Also, include your assistant in your company bonus plan and equitable compensation package. Additionally, give your assistant cash, a gift card, lunch, or the day off for their birthday. Expressing appreciation builds loyalty and improves performance.
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