En your rôle de leader, executive, or manager, your professional life is a series of appointments, unexpected events, and various situations. Between digital tools, external solutions, and hiring, it’s not always easy to find flexible and effective solutions to meet your needs. This is where the executive assistant comes in, a versatile professional who can work as an independent or an employee of your company. Its abilities provide essential expertise to streamline daily operations. Let’s explore the specifics of these assistants, ranging from diverse to common skills, and specific expertise, linked to individual experiences or preferences.
The Common Core: Essential Skills of Executive Assistants
When searching for an executive assistant, there are certain skills and foundational tasks that everyone should be able to handle. These tasks are responsibilities that we all must be capable of addressing to enhance the daily life of the business owner or manager whom we support regularly. We are talking here about elementary tasks, acquired through training or technical experience primarily. Many functions related to secretarial or administrative assistance can be found in this context.
I like to emphasize that the executive assistant is not an expert in all these areas, but they have knowledge that allows them to understand the tasks and either carry them out or delegate them to others based on the needs and requests.
1. Agenda Management & Organization
As a fundamental element of their responsibilities, executive assistants excel in agenda management. Their role is to be skillful architects of your schedule, ensuring that each day is orchestrated to maximize your productivity and fully leverage your potential.
Agenda management goes beyond simply noting dates on a calendar; it is a meticulous strategy aimed at synchronizing activities coherently. Executive assistants carefully plan meetings, appointments, and deadlines, taking into account your priorities and objectives. This strategic planning ensures that each commitment is aligned with your crucial missions, thereby avoiding scheduling conflicts and maximizing operational efficiency.
Beyond mere organization, agenda management becomes a strategic tool to optimize your time and maximize efficiency. It adapts to your goals, emergencies, and emerging opportunities, creating a dynamic and flexible schedule. It is through a relationship built on communication, trust, and attentive listening that your executive assistant will be able to leverage their skills and administer your schedule in a manner that is tailored and optimized to your needs.
2. Communication & Correspondance
In a second phase, one of the fundamental keys to the success of an executive assistant lies in their mastery of communication. This professional plays a central role as the primary point of contact between the company and its partners, clients, or collaborators. They must be a showcase for the company’s image and, above all, for your image outwardly to the various stakeholders of the business.
Executive assistants stand out for their ability to craft professional and impactful emails, conveying clear and concise messages while preserving the appropriate tone. They also often handle telephone calls, whether it’s screening calls, providing information professionally, or directing callers to the appropriate individuals. In this communicative role, executive assistants excel.
Every interaction is handled with meticulous attention to detail and a particular focus, aiming to create a positive and memorable experience for everyone interacting with the company.
3. Event & Travel Organization
Event and travel organization is a crucial aspect of the executive assistant’s role. Their expertise extends beyond merely planning corporate events to meticulous coordination of associated logistical elements. When it comes to designing and executing corporate events, these professionals shine with their ability to anticipate the smallest details, including managing invitations, coordinating speakers, selecting suitable venues, and addressing technical requirements. Beyond the purely logistical aspect, executive assistants bring a creative dimension to event planning, contributing to the creation of memorable experiences.
When it comes to business travel, executive assistants prove to be true virtuosos. They not only handle flight and hotel reservations efficiently but also ensure seamless logistics to guarantee smooth and hassle-free travel. Through their meticulous preparation, the logistics should become invisible to you, allowing you to focus on what matters most: the purpose of your trip.
4. Project Management & Task Tacking
Executive assistants stand out for their remarkable ability to take on projects comprehensively, from the initial concept to the final realization. Their role goes beyond task management; they are skilled architects shaping the structure, scope, and overall success of projects.
An important distinction between an executive secretary and an executive assistant is that the latter’s work lies in the design of detailed strategic plans that pave the way toward set objectives. The executive assistant, therefore, takes on the role of a project manager. These plans incorporate a deep understanding of project goals, required resources, and critical milestones. Deadline tracking becomes an integral part of their expertise. They also ensure that each team member understands their role and responsibilities, fostering effective and harmonious collaboration.
In essence, executive assistants go beyond task execution; they become catalysts for project success. Their holistic expertise ensures effective management of every aspect of the process, ensuring that each step is successfully navigated and projects are delivered on time and in accordance with expectations.
5. Administrative Tasks & Secretarial Work
Often the source of confusion regarding the roles of executive assistants, administrative assistants, or secretaries, administrative and secretarial tasks are part of the skills developed by executive assistants. However, as the executive assistant becomes more competent and evolves in their role, these tasks become less central to their responsibilities, allowing them to focus on more strategic missions.
In the administrative and secretarial tasks mastered by the executive assistant, we find the entire document management. This includes archiving, digitization, filing, etc. We also find the updating of files, general organization, monitoring of current legislation, displays, etc.
Executive assistants must be able to understand all these tasks and have, at least in their past, been responsible for carrying them out to claim to become a competent executive assistant. They are the very foundations of the assistant’s profession. However, their work goes far beyond these tasks, and it is their unique expertise, personal abilities, skills, and experiences that will make this executive assistant the perfect assistant for you.
Individual Abilities of an Executive Assistant: The difference that makes a difference
The executive assistant is someone who can become your shadow, your representation, your right hand. While you greatly appreciate their ability to bring you your coffee at the right time and temperature, and that you can rely on them when it comes to organizing your documents… It’s not exactly what will make them your essential for tomorrow. It’s their unique abilities, skills developed over time, their affinity for a specific field, or expertise enriched through varied experiences that will make them the assistant you need.
1. Specific skills of the executive assistant
One of the aspects that can enable you to build a strong relationship and create a real partnership with your assistant tomorrow may be a specific skill that addresses one of your problems.
This skill could be a technological skill, for example: your assistant might be particularly comfortable with new digital tools and feels like a fish in water when it comes to installing them, using them, and even training others around them on their usage.
We also often find skills in communication and marketing. For you, there is nothing more frightening and unsettling than social media and websites, while for your assistant, it’s a piece of cake. Creating comprehensive strategies, content, or even advertisements, the terms and actions have no secrets for them.
2. Industrie-oriented expertise
Every company has its specificities. What if the assistant you need is someone who not only understands but particularly enjoys the industry in which you operate? Executive assistants with industry expertise bring a deep understanding of the challenges and opportunities specific to your field of activity.
Although it may seem essential to you, it’s not certain that your executive assistant needs 10 years of experience in your field for you to work together. Many skills are transferable, and often, the tasks you plan to assign will be only partially affected by the industry you operate in. Perhaps a curiosity for your sector will be sufficient for them to quickly find their place by your side.
3. Multilingual Versatility
The next ability that could set your assistant apart is their ability to communicate in multiple languages. In the event that you work in several countries or plan to expand internationally, this skill could provide a real time and energy-saving advantage.
Before embarking on this search, accurately identify the languages that would be useful to you and, most importantly, their application: written, spoken, technical… This skill can significantly impact the financial investment you make in your assistant, so it is essential to take the time to understand the challenges they will need to address and what you specifically expect from them.
4. Personal and Interpersonal Abilities of your next executive assistant
Beyond technical skills, many personal and interpersonal abilities can be crucial for you and your business. Whether it’s the ability to handle stress, communicate effectively, problem-solving, creativity, or the ability to synthesize, executive assistants often possess diverse personal and interpersonal skills. Each of these abilities can help you overcome your own challenges.
The executive assistant, your five-legged sheep, can be…
It would be so easy to think that you need all these skills and abilities in your executive assistant. Just remember that these are specific expertise, and you’re not looking for a five-legged sheep— we would have well exceeded five legs in that case. By focusing on precisely the skills you expect from your assistant, you’ll have an easier time finding the right person and building a strong and professionally fulfilling relationship. Keep in mind that the position you offer during hiring, whether within your company or as a freelancer, should align with the tasks you will assign to your assistant in their daily routine.
Imagine hiring an assistant for their Chinese language skills, telling them they will be working on business development in China. However, when they arrive, they realize their work will be reduced to a maximum of 1 hour per month… you risk significant disappointments and, more importantly, quickly losing the asset you had discovered.
Choose Professional Excellence, Choose an Executive assistant
By hiring an executive assistant, you are investing in a long-term resource. A real asset for your company, but more importantly for you, they will handle fundamental tasks of their profession such as schedule management. However, what will truly make them the right professional match for you will undoubtedly be their unique abilities.
Before considering investing in an executive assistant, carefully assess your specific needs and the kind of relationship you want to establish with the person. This approach can save you time, energy, and, most importantly, provide a valuable asset for your company.
