How to Maximize Productivity with Your Executive Assistant
Maximizing productivity with your Executive Sidekick help your business grow
One of the toughest challenges we face as business owners is delegation. As your business grows and scales, it can be hard to let go of tasks you find easy to do yourself. However, if you genuinely want to grow your business, it is crucial to step back from the day-to-day operations and focus on working on the business rather than in it. As cliché as it sounds, this is much harder than it seems.
At Sidekicks, we have developed highly trained executive assistants, or Executive Sidekicks, who are ready to take the reins on those tasks. In this post, we will discuss what an executive assistant can do for you and, more importantly, how you can maximize their productivity to focus on what matters most—growing your business.
What Your Executive Assistant Should Handle
Right from the beginning, an executive assistant should take on several core responsibilities to help free up your time:
Inbox and Calendar Management
Reports
Travel Arrangements
Administrative Tasks
Managing Communications
As your business expands, so do your inbox and the meetings. Managing these tasks alone can feel like a full-time job! Many of our clients find themselves buried in emails daily, which keeps them from managing their teams and focusing on the goals of the business. That is why we recommend starting with inbox and calendar management on day 1 with an executive assistant. If nothing else, this alone could significantly free up your time. Your Sidekick can filter and organize your inbox, only flagging the messages that require your attention while they handle the rest.
At Sidekicks, we developed a step-by-step guide for our new clients called "The First 30 Days. " This guide outlines how to delegate those core responsibilities, one part at a time while building a system that creates accountability and trust. This system provides a pathway to creating the systems that allow you to maximize the productivity of your executive assistant.
Maximizing Productivity in Specific Areas
Inbox & Calendar Management
The moment your business takes off, your inbox will likely become a source of stress. That is where an executive assistant shines. By delegating your inbox and calendar, you will regain hours of your day. Your Sidekick can sort emails, schedule meetings, and provide a daily agenda. All you have to do is respond to the essential items—they handle the rest. Use the first 30 days to build a system that works between you. Once you get into a rhythm, your executive assistant will become highly efficient with your emails, and so will you!
Reports
Whether it is financial, progress, or internal reports, creating and managing these documents can take up valuable time. Delegate the data collection to your Sidekick so that you can focus on analyzing the information and making informed decisions. You will save hours every week and month, freeing you up to concentrate on what truly matters—leading your business. The key to maximizing productivity with reports is creating a system and cadence. For example, creating a short workflow on how the executive will collect, update, and generate the report for you will work wonders. Then, this process becomes repeatable each month, which, in time, will become more efficient for the executive.
Travel Arrangements
Booking flights, hotels, and rental cars should be removed from your personal to-do list. It is not the best use of your time as a busy business owner, even if you like it! Instead, provide your executive assistant with a few parameters (e.g., "I need to fly to Atlanta between 6 a.m. and 10 a.m., arriving before lunch". They will handle the research and come back with options, leaving you with the final decision. You maintain control without losing precious time. To make this as efficient as possible, have your executive assistant research several trips for you and then review the results together. After several iterations, your executive will begin understanding your preferences and will start "reading your mind" about the types of flights you like, the seats you want, the hotels you prefer, and the travel times that work well. This help can save you a tremendous amount of time! When you get into a groove, your executive will know your preferences so well that you can quickly decide with the results provided. Done and done.
Maximizing your time together
Now that you have identified what to delegate, let us discuss how to maximize your time with your executive assistant:
Daily Check-ins ("Car Time") One of our favorite techniques is "Car Time" (thought up by one of our very own Executive Sidekicks!). Whether you are commuting, dropping the kids off at school, or running errands, use that commute to chat with your Sidekick for 5-10 minutes. You can review daily priorities, weekly goals, or any urgent tasks during this quick check-in. Your Sidekick can also provide updates on what is happening behind the scenes.
Weekly Sync In addition to your daily touchpoint, schedule a 30-minute weekly sync to review detailed plans for the upcoming week. This meeting provides a space for more in-depth discussions and helps you align on long-term goals.
Monthly Retrospective At the end of each month, schedule a 30 to 60-minute retrospective. In this retrospective, you and your executive assistant can review what worked well, what did not, and how to improve moving forward. For example, if a report takes too long to complete, you may discover that data could be gathered more efficiently by involving additional team members. These discussions allow you to refine processes and boost overall productivity.
Final Thoughts
Being a business owner often feels like wearing a thousand hats. By delegating at least five or six of those hats to your executive assistant, you will be well on your way to breaking free from the day-to-day grind. Empowering your team and trusting them to handle tasks is essential—even if you could do them better yourself. Remember, having a team operating at 75% of your capability is more efficient than trying to operate at 500% on your own.
The tips in this article will help you maximize productivity with your Sidekick, so you can focus on what you do best: growing your business.
If you need an executive assistant, join our waiting list today to take the first step toward reclaiming your time. Already have a Sidekick? Please share this article with them and sit down to figure out how to take your productivity to the next level!