Do you know what an Executive Assistant does? And do you know why an EA can turbo charge your business and create extra time for you?  Read on for the answers.

What is an EA?

An EA or Executive Assistant supports senior managers with administrative tasks and projects. They may work 1-on-1 with a single or multiple senior executives, typically handling admin or clerical work such as scheduling meetings, managing emails and diaries, and booking travel.

Today, much of this work can be done remotely so Virtual Assistants, also known as VAs, have become popular.  

Why is an Executive Assistant so valuable?

A really good EA shoulders many of the responsibilities that fall on a business owner or senior manager’s shoulders, giving them back many hours in the day and removing many of the time pressures they face. As an EA works at a fraction of the cost of a senior executive, not only do they save the company money by freeing the executive from those tasks, but they can also boost their executives’ productivity as they remove the stress and burden.

What does an EA do?

An experienced EA gets to know their executive/s and how they prefer to work – and adapts their working practices to suit. For instance, a senior manager may prefer to hold meetings during set times of the day, block out parts of their day for focused work, or to always travel with a particular airline, in a particular seat. A good EA knows this without needing to be told and arranges things accordingly. EAs are expected to use their initiative and to embrace opportunities.

As an EA learns more about a business, they often take on additional responsibilities such as managing projects, liaising with other departments, or undertaking research.  Here is an overview of the types of task a really good EA may undertake.

• Administrative Support

Business admin tasks may include scheduling meetings, taking meeting minutes or creating agendas, answering emails on their executive’s behalf, creating documenta and presentations, managing client data and liaising with clients or suppliers.  In short, everything needed to keep an office running smoothly.

• Project management

Managing one off projects or ongoing projects, EAs have first-class organisational skills – perfect for liaising with multiple teams to gather status updates, preparing reports, or simply ‘making things happen’.

• Corporate events

From finding a venue, to liaising with suppliers and inviting guests – an EA is perfectly placed to create the perfect event, managing all those background tasks that make things run smoothly and seamlessly.

An EA can help your team too!

Here’s an idea for a great employee benefit for your team – give them their own personal Executive Assistant. We all have life administration – paying bills, finding gifts, booking holidays or the car in for a service and many of these tasks need to be completed during the working day. By giving your team the opportunity to outsource their life admin you’re freeing up their time and removing some of the stress life admin can cause. It also means break times are spent relaxing rather than rushing to try to complete these personal tasks.

How the flexible Hour Hands EA team can support your business

Hour Hands is made up of experienced EAs and Personal Assistants (and also a few very talented bookkeepers). All are ready to support you with those urgent and important tasks that you just don’t have the time to complete. From booking travel, to managing your diary and managing your accounts and tax returns – we can help you complete tasks and shift them off your to-do list! By outsourcing your tasks, you can flex when you need support – be it ongoing support or for a one-off project or resolving a particular task. 

To find out more simply call us on 01727 818262. We will ask how we can support you and offer a solution either on an hourly rate or package cost. The choice is yours – we simply want to help.