I've decided to focus this week's Hump Day Hint around that art of organisation. Being organised is without a doubt the biggest element of our role. If you're not organised as an EA then you're probably not going to last as one for very long! This particular blog is aimed at the newer EAs that are starting out, that might be looking for some tips to refine their daily routine. But to those career EAs that are also reading this blog, I would love to hear from you too on how you manage elements of your role and what you've learned and refined over the years. Share your ideas in the comments below, on my Facebook page, or shoot me an email. We all work differently, and we all need to find processes and systems that work for us, and for our bosses. Over the last fifteen years however I think I've refined my organisational skills to a point where they can be applied wherever I go and whomever I look after. So here are my top 15 tips to ensure you're always organised, never caught out, and always doing what you can to ultimately make your bosses life easier.
1. Getting decisions: Getting our boss to make decisions is something we are challenged with on a daily basis. And if you're paired with someone who is a little indecisive it's best to provide some options for them to choose from. Always provide some alternative options, but never more than two or three. Always ensure you have the detail you need to answer their questions, so best to prepare your alternative decisions with all the relevant information, well before even presenting it to them for their answer.
2. Getting signatures: A folder system always works well when you need to get things signed on a daily basis. Put everything requiring signatures in a folder (with an accompanying note if required), ensure your boss knows where it lives and what it looks like. Soon enough they'll get in to a routine to grab it and sign things every day/or every second day which will stop you needing to have to ask for signatures all the time.
3. Reply on their behalf: If you can reply to certain emails, then do. Just always ensure you copy them in so they know you've responded. If it's one less email for them to action, then I'll try to respond to the ones I know are within my realm of response.
4. File management: Create a sub file for yourself in their inbox with a 'completed' file within it. When they email you things to you to action, the email can then be dragged into your folder as awaiting action. Once you've actioned it you can drag it in to the completed folder. This is a great strategy for keeping tabs on what's done and what you still need to action. It also gives your boss visibility of what you've done and what you're still waiting on without them having to ask.
5. Forward the phone: Forward their landline to yours so it never rings. Chances are you'll have to liaise with whomever is calling anyway and direct callers usually call their mobile. This allows you to gate-keep more effectively, and manage their messages efficiently.
6. Schedule one on ones: Rather than interrupt them with a question every time you have one, create a list of things to discuss, or create an electronic folder/email folder with items to discuss. Save what you can for your one on ones and make sure they happen, even if it has to be out of hours on the phone. It's handy if you can to put in 15 mins every day (even if it doesn't happen) and then a longer meeting, perhaps 30 minutes, once a week to review the diary and plan ahead. If they're travelling, create an email at the end of the day with all your items which they can then reply to over night.
7. Attend meetings: I feel like broken record on this one, but its essential to attend your team's Leadership Team (LT) meetings every week, and any other LT workshops or offsites that get scheduled. You cannot do your job efficiently and effectively unless you know what your Exec's priorities are. Being in the know on what the team is working on, and what your bosses' priorities are will allow you to plan more effectively and make better decisions on what meetings need to happen and when.
8. Time keep: If your boss runs to a tight schedule, which most do, its essential to act as a time keeper. If they're in back to backs all day then where you can try and give them a signal to wrap up. Either do this with a glance through a window in the meeting room, or a subtle knock on the door, or short of that just stick your head in to the meeting room and advise the time. This will save you having to reschedule a lot of meetings that don't end up happening.
9. Always look ahead: Planning ahead is the epitome of being organized. Always be looking at least 4-6 weeks ahead in the diary and always have at least 6 months of regular meetings in the diary at any one time (with meeting rooms booked too of course!). Keep a planner for the year that lays out all your weekly LT meetings, your LT offsites, team dinners, your Executive's commitments, their leave etc. etc. Although it might seem like a bit of double handling (transferring events/dates from the diary into a visual planner) it will definitely come in to handy when trying to plan trips or specific events with deadlines. Keep it up to date and pin it up at your desk (and your bosses), so its easily accessible for that quick glance.
10. Maximise your tools: Set up your smart phone so you have your bosses calendar and email accessible on it (along with your own of course). It comes in handy when you're out of the office, or if they call you when you're on the go and not in front of your computer. Ultimately this will allow you to work outside of your normal hours. It helps to clear some of the quicker emails where you can in the morning or at night, leaving you less to action when you're actually in the office.
11. Notate the calendar: If there are particular things your Exec needs to remember to discuss in certain meetings, then note them next to the meeting invite in their calendar. I colour these notes in a set colour so you can differentiate between what are meetings and what are notes. This comes in handy when they say 'remind me to speak to Jo Blogs about X when I meet with him next week'. No problems! This is also a good idea for when they have to give a short speech or open a presentation, you can jot down their speaking notes in the calendar, rather than have to print it out for them.
12. Track your emails: I use the flag system in Outlook to track all my emails. I will send hundreds of emails a day and obviously not everyone will respond straight away. Every time I send an email I'll flag it as 'no date' in my sent items, which will then list all my 'no date' flagged items (my emails awaiting a response) all together which I can visually track. Un-flag them once you receive a response.
13. Manage your To Do's: Whether you do this on a piece of paper or you use your task list within your email, you cannot work effectively and in an organised fashion without a To-Do-List. My preference is the task manager. I flag emails for 'today' that need actioning immediately, or flag them for 'tomorrow' if they're not as important. Similarly I flag them for the weeks they need to be actioned if they're for the future. And when I get asked verbally to do something I just create a new task with the specific request. I find this the best way to combine emails and verbal requests together. Just tick completed when done!
14. Use your contacts: Set up contacts within your address book within Outlook for all the suppliers you use frequently - any drivers, travel agents, silver service taxi's, teleconference bridges/dial in numbers, preferred restaurants etc. etc., and duplicate them into your bosses contacts too so they'll always have the contacts should they not be able to get hold of you. Ensure they have all the contacts they need, including all their direct reports (noted with who their EA/PA is), all their fellow company Executives (noted with who their EA is), any crucial suppliers they deal with (along with EA details too of course), and any non-sensitive account information and passwords they may need (don't store any passwords within the contacts however that may be used if their laptop/phone was to be stolen).
15. How urgent is it?: Not everything has to be done now. Although you may like to be organized and walk out of the office each night feeling like you've cleared the decks ready for a new day the next day, that can often leave you feeling very stressed out or doing very long hours just to keep on top of everything. Delegate tasks to fellow assistants where you can, or allocate tasks to other days, weeks or months, depending on their deadline/urgency. Not everything has to be done on the day its given to you, and sometimes it makes more sense to do things closer to the time they are required, as we all know how things can change when you plan in advance!
Being organised can sometimes be challenging. But with the right systems and processes in place, it can just become routine. But when life becomes hectic and things get crazy, its good to have a stable basis of organisation that will prove to be a fail-safe process or set of skills that will prevent things from going wrong. To me, organisation skills are like any other skills that we develop in our life, they develop, grow and mature as we get older and become more experienced. The more you read, the more you learn, so I hope sharing my organisational tips will help you be a better Assistant in the long run.
9. Always look ahead: Planning ahead is the epitome of being organized. Always be looking at least 4-6 weeks ahead in the diary and always have at least 6 months of regular meetings in the diary at any one time (with meeting rooms booked too of course!). Keep a planner for the year that lays out all your weekly LT meetings, your LT offsites, team dinners, your Executive's commitments, their leave etc. etc. Although it might seem like a bit of double handling (transferring events/dates from the diary into a visual planner) it will definitely come in to handy when trying to plan trips or specific events with deadlines. Keep it up to date and pin it up at your desk (and your bosses), so its easily accessible for that quick glance.
13. Manage your To Do's: Whether you do this on a piece of paper or you use your task list within your email, you cannot work effectively and in an organised fashion without a To-Do-List. My preference is the task manager. I flag emails for 'today' that need actioning immediately, or flag them for 'tomorrow' if they're not as important. Similarly I flag them for the weeks they need to be actioned if they're for the future. And when I get asked verbally to do something I just create a new task with the specific request. I find this the best way to combine emails and verbal requests together. Just tick completed when done!