Figure Out What to Delegate to an Executive Assistant
Your executive assistant plays a vital role in protecting your productivity by safeguarding your time and energy. Though, it can sometimes be difficult to create clear responsibilities for an assistant.
Time management tricks like the Eisenhower Matrix can assist in discovering what tasks you are already aware of that need to be delegated, though it lacks the long-term vision that clear job descriptions can create.
A successful support relationship with an executive assistant happens when:
There is clarity in what is and is not worth your time
There are long-term, consistent tasks that your assistant knows they are responsible for
There is an understanding of your goals and preferences so your assistant can easily manage the impromptu tasks that come up
It’s easy to get caught up on the phrase “worth your time” as it can feel a bit pretentious. Though, there is a practicality about it. As a CEO or high-performing executive, your job is typically heavily dependent on strategy, development, and innovation. There is nothing arrogant in saying that the 2 hours it takes you to file your expense report isn’t worth your time. It is a process that needs to get done, but doesn’t necessarily need to be done by you.
In a Harvard Business Review article, Jenny Blake outlined critical areas of delegation which she labeled as the 6 Ts:
Tiny: These are the little tasks that you tell yourself, “I can get this done in 5 minutes, I’ll just do it.” But then you have 10 tiny tasks that just took an hour or so out of your day. Did you know that, on average, planning a business trip can take 12 hours? Between researching hotels, best flight options, and random research the week before you leave, it’s easy for travel planning to eat up your time!
Tedious: Simple tasks that require a lot of attention to detail are better suited for someone else. Following up with vendors, updating CRM data, or scheduling your appointments are all tasks that can be handed off. On average, it takes 20 minutes to file an expense report for one expense. Make that 30 seconds by just taking a picture of the receipt and texting it to your assistant.
Time Consuming: CEO’s, business leaders, and managers are spending 62% of their time on administrative tasks or “work about work.” Many projects don’t need your expertise and time in the initial phases, such as research heavy projects. Delegate the project and step in when it is about 80% complete for review, approval, and direction.
Teachable: This is where efficient processes are going to come into play. Breaking large, seemingly daunting tasks into easily explained subtasks allows you to pass along tasks while maintaining your expected level of quality. Blake uses the example of teaching a team member how to draft presentation decks for monthly all-hands meetings. This allows you to still oversee the presentation but alleviates a big portion of time.
Terrible at: We hear this all the time - stay in your zone of genius. When you try to take on tasks that are not within your strengths or not within your area of passion, you are dramatically affecting your productivity. These are also tasks that are easy to recognize because they are typically tasks that not only take you a long time to do, but you usually either dread or feel anxious about doing. Delegating these tasks doesn’t mean you’re afraid to step outside of your comfort zone, it means you’re being smart about where you’re spending your time.
Time Sensitive: The Eisenhower Matrix points out how urgent tasks that aren’t as important as other tasks should be delegated. This is where our previous point on successful support relationships comes into play - if your assistant clearly understands your preferences, your goals, your direction, then they can support in getting time-sensitive tasks done with less headache and overwork on you.
Using the 6 Ts, you can begin to understand what tasks actually require your attention and what can be delegated.
Want specific ideas of tasks to hand off? Grab our Stay Focused & Delegate Guide for a checklist to build your virtual executive assistant’s job description.