Whether you’re coordinating one meeting or multiple high-level meetings over the course of a year, there are some best practices that you MUST use to keep yourself, your executive, the executives who attend the meetings, and maybe most importantly – those board members’ assistants organized. The ability to troubleshoot for your boss is a must-have skill. Select Accept cookies to consent to this use or Manage preferences to make your cookie choices. One of the Exec Assistants there got a request from her boss around 10 A.M. on a Friday: “Hey, I’m entertaining a VIP investor tonight,” he told her as he was passing her desk. It takes sound judgment on your part to figure out what warrants attention and what you need to shut down. These skills turn solid employees into indispensable critical thinkers that always seem to have the answers. Website Accessibility Policy, 59 Exciting Employee Engagement Ideas It might sound weird but reading your article has helped me understand all I did and how I did it. We need more articles like this as I only found his today and have been searching the net for a few days for a course that covers these skills. About the Author: Victor Prince is a keynote speaker, critical thinking trainer, and executive coach. In fact, being creative and unique on your resume is one of the best executive assistant resume skills you can hold. Many EAs also take on de-facto internal communications roles, drafting internal emails on behalf of their boss. Careers Many EAs keep a “little black book” (a.k.a. Practice negotiating often, especially when nothing is at stake. You’ve re-inspired me to stick with my challenging EA role. Goal tender. We were a great team. Trust is probably the single biggest determining factor when it comes to success in the EA role. - EAs often set the stage for the contact many people have with an executive. Simple. 59 Ridiculously Fun Virtual Happy Hour Ideas but it was great because I had an absolutely fantastic boss, who appreciated me all the time and that made me go over and above. Most Improved This Week (Diag to Final) Record Breaking Score Improvement. You can too. Our brains just aren’t made to handle more than one complex task at a time. We’ve interviewed executive assistants from different companies and asked them for valuable tips every executive assistant could use. Great article! This new landscape increases the need to understand the business goals and objectives in order to proactively support their leaders and organizations. They will say be “quick and decisive” with your decisions and move on to the next topic without pointing you in any specific direction on ways to become that way. You can leverage a strong analytical skillset in any situation, from handling tricky social scenarios to making far-reaching company budget decisions. Keep sharing more like this. How do they view the situation? I would add one item. Q: What are the most important skills to learn as an executive assistant? (Sign up here). So whether you’re committed to the EA path or hope to use the role to springboard to your dream job, here are the skills you’ll need to wow your bosses and make the biggest impact for your team. Great adds, Dani! EAs are expected to dabble in things as wide and varied as project management, event planning, and internal communications. 100 Fun Office Games & Activities for Employees In the experience section, you’ll want to include executive assistant accomplishments examples. To do it, you need scrappy resourcefulness and resolve to just get sh*t done. In many situations, your words are treated as if they are your boss’s, so polished emails and proper phone etiquette are a must. I look forward to new updates and will They also have to communicate out to large teams of people who may work several layers of management from them on the organization chart. Check out our other blog post: 23 Books Every Executive Assistant Should Read. Great information and we’ll worth my time to learn and refresh on EA Skills. Q: How can I improve as an executive assistant? It can seem like some people are just born with a certain je ne sais quoi that inspires others to do their bidding, and maybe they were. Thank you for sharing that, I especially enjoyed following the links to adfitional resources. After you’ve prioritized your tasks, give them 100% of your attention, even if your thoughts try to wander to all the to-dos you need to tackle next. As an Executive Assistant, I’d bet you’ve been called one of the above labels before. The very best executive assistants use their intuition, judgment, business knowledge, motivational techniques, and personal leadership to become an integral element of the executive’s … (HINT: This helps you hold true to the “Urgent AND Important” Rule.) She scoured ticket sites, called ticket brokers, chased false leads on Craigslist. I. Optimizing the Calendar – Scheduling meetings is a large part of the EA role. Contact Us For instance, if your experience has taught you that your boss is sharper in the morning hours than after lunch, schedule that tough meeting in the morning, not the afternoon. But in order to play the role of sounding board for your boss, you have to first have a solid understanding of your business so that you put more granular questions into the larger context of your company’s goals. Thanks for sharing this with us. Reminding us to always be decisive and truthful is highly appreciated because sometimes executives can be rude and disgraceful. Most of these I use, a few I will start doing. You can’t always know what the bigger priorities are across departments when supporting multiple departments, so from time to time you need to get your managers’ input as priorities can change within a day. How else can you get more done in the same amount of time? Here’s what Wulfhart says you should do when making an important decision: “Don’t choose something just because you’re “supposed to.”, “Remember that doing something trumps doing nothing.”. Share “The only way to do great work is to love what you do.” – Steve Jobs * “Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.” – Theodore Roosevelt It’s about love. IV. Here are the 12 best practices I learned from some exceptionally talented Executive Assistants I've been lucky to see in action. Set up a time each day (or 2 or 3 times a day, if necessary) where you guys will check in with one another to see if anything came up. Yes, we know, multi-tasking is a myth. Excited to hear that the list was helpful! (PS – Become your boss’ hero: get your hands on The Assist — the #1 free weekly newsletter made for assistants by assistants.). To be honest, I still don’t know exactly how she did it. “You need to know how to anticipate your boss’s needs — a lesson we can all learn from the best executive assistants. Good luck on your opportunity! We work on our habits, rituals and routines via our subconscious mind 90-95% of the time, therefore we need to make sure we have efficient and effective habits. I agree that being kind is key. Creating highly specific content that speaks to other EAs is a great way to carve out a network of like-minded professionals. The difference is that an executive assistant is specifically a senior office staff member assigned to a top executive. Leadership: Executive Assistant’s often manage people, so one must be able to step up and get the team on track. Traffic cop. A slip of the tongue or an errant email can have the same effect as a public Tweet about your company’s upcoming layoffs. Question the numbers. Be an Ambassador. Here are three best practices in making meetings efficient. Thank you for sharing and reminding us of how important our job is and what a big role we play for our executives. I’ll add my two-cents Be humble and remember that everyone is integral to your company, from the janitor to the CEO. EA courses. Top Scorer of the Week. A good Assistant knows that making the impossible possible comes with the territory. But these weren’t normal circumstances. It's been a while since I've been on a PC platform (or had an assistant), but I use to "delegate" my account to my assistant so they can access my inbox and respond "On Behalf Of XXX." Please enable Strictly Necessary Cookies first so that we can save your preferences! Consider the leverage on both sides. Hi Jen! 25 Virtual Holiday Party Ideas For Spirited Festive Fun And on the other side, we have many Executive Assistants adding security-related training to their skillset. Read Also: 6 Tips to Accelerate Your Executive Assistant Career Path I want more. Beyond handling typical office tasks, the right assistant can anticipate your needs, do everything from managing your calendar, phone calls, and emails, and serve as your surrogate in meetings. She wants (and needs) to hear what you really think. thank you. The expert tips for an Executive Assistant Welcome feedback from … Our most recent post, The Top 10 Benefits of Being an Executive Assistant outlines all the ways Executive Assistants can benefit from their employers, from learning new skills to advanced job opportunities. To build more analytical thinking skills, the education experts at Udemy, an online learning platform, recommend a variety of simple steps. Very resourceful and thanks for giving us these outlines and reminding us how important role we play and our priorities. Remember, you have a perspective that very few in the company have. It is important because it manages a resource that is more precious and non-renewable than cash – time. The critical first step is in being clear on big picture goals. Really dig in. PAs and executive assistants (EAs) are at the heart of organisations, working side-by-side with chief executives and leaders, playing a key role in supporting decisions. Read and resources that I do… fun, life executive assistant best practices productive, and awesome! “ win ” or “ lose ” mentality has time to time select a,... Office staff member assigned to a top executive Assistants typically function as support to level. People cultivated their impressive negotiating skills emotional Intelligence to learn from Administrative Assistants, task, follow-up or... 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