Executive Assistant Tips: How to Excel as an EA

welcome back to EA how to today I'm going to dive right in and give you ten tips for excelling as an executive assistant number one keep records this isn't about staying on top of your document management tasks although that is really important this is about keeping a record of your executives preferences a little black book if you will maintain a knowledge base of preferred business lunch spots coffee spots for casual meetings accommodation Airlines frequent flyer memberships dinner options meeting times caterers maintaining this knowledgebase complete with contact information will save you lots of time and will ensure you're always keeping your executives preferences in mind when planning number two be tech savvy whether it's being able to fix a setting on your executives phone or put out multiple technical fires before a major presentation be on top of as much tech as possible Murphy's law states that anything that can go wrong will go wrong this is true and you're unlikely to constantly have an amazing IT professional on call at all times in most cases you are the IT professional on standby number three make tomorrow's to-do list before leaving the office this will keep you organized and allow you to sleep better and relax during your downtime you'll perform better and rest easier knowing that you have a plan in place for the following day number four practice meditation and remain calm under pressure stick with me here you may be rolling your eyes right now but I cannot overstate the importance of self-care looking after your mental health and what a huge impact taking 15 minutes to meditate will have on your attitude productivity and demeanor for the rest of the day if you are thinking you don't have 15 minutes then you need to take a close look at your schedule and if necessary have a chat with your executive skipping lunch and not having 15 minutes to yourself is not a recipe for long-term success number 5 practice tactful honest and direct communication effective communication is vital to your success and efficacy as any a what is often underestimated is how important it is to your happiness in your own communicating your needs being assertive and pushing back at times is necessary to avoid being overwhelmed and burning out I'm not talking about complaining that's never okay I'm talking about negotiating boundaries and being empowered to speak up when these boundaries are being pushed number six build relationships and Trust building relationships with colleagues across all departments will enhance your enjoyment at work because you will feel a camaraderie with your coworkers a meaningful connection to others and it will help you when you need assistance people are far more inclined to go out of their way for someone who has taken the time to assist them in the past and get to know them also bear in mind that you are considered the executives eyes and ears in the office someone who is able to gauge the pulse of the team and report to your executive accordingly of course this doesn't mean you're playing office tattletale it means you are sensitive to what is happening with your coworkers and you're in a position to assist them by speaking to their boss when they feel they can't in terms of building trust time and discretion is everything demonstrate your worth over time and your executive will come to have more and more faith in you as you are privy to some very sensitive and confidential information absolute discretion is required and without this there is no trust number seven lead by example executive assistants are often tasked with managing others in the office you're also required to interact with high-profile individuals and some difficult personalities it's up to you to set the tone handle yourself in a professional manner and lead by example this is everything from being consistent punctual and accurate to handling conflict with tact not participating in office gossip and meeting professional expectations be the change you want to see and follow that golden rule treat others how you would like to be treated number 8 anticipate needs you handle the schedule you have access to the calendar and you're in constant communication with the executive so you should be able to anticipate that person's needs and have a number of backup plans examples of this include taking timing and hotel transfers into consideration when booking travel emailing presentations to yourself and your executive as part of a tech back-up plan arranging catering for extremely busy days considering what materials might be needed at a conference it could be ensuring there is a full stock of business cards it's not only noticing that a flight is delayed but providing details of a lounge where your executive can work or rest in the event of a delay always be several steps ahead number nine find your tribe join a AAA community I am a member of two communities in London that have regular meetups learning opportunities and networking events I'm also a member of two online ei communities these people get you they are solving the same kinds of problems and it's great to have a network of people that you can reach out to exchange ideas with and share knowledge with number ten continue to learn grow and challenge yourself EAS are asked to take on a really wide variety of roles some EAS manage large teams take on project management roles handle company-wide social media and even get involved in business strategy figure out what your strengths are and carve a niche for yourself within the business you need to be constantly learning evolving and staying on top of industry trends so sign up for courses take on passion projects and always be upskilling that's it for me today I would love love love it if you would share your EA tips in the comments below I'll be making more EA videos in the coming weeks so please feel free to make any requests and I will catch you again soon in the next video bye

Channel: EA How To

Views: 31,703

Rating: 4.9695239 out of 5

Keywords: Alicia Fairclough, Executive Assistant, EA, Executive Assistant Tips, EA Tips, How to be a great Executive Assistant, Alicia Fairclough Executive Assistant, Executive Assistant Advice, Tips for Executive Assistants, The Best Executive Assistant

Id: NFwna7O2rJw

Length: 7min 33sec (453 seconds)

Published: Tue Jul 30 2019