One of my clients is starting an executive role in a new company. He wants coaching to help him be his best. One area he asked for advice was how to work effectively with his new executive assistant.
My first tip was to talk with her and ask about her work style and communication preferences. After all, everyone is different.
I also asked my fabulous assistant, Yumi, to give me her top 10 list. She gave me 11 🙂
She assured me that these weren’t criticism of me – but tips that she’s compiled from working with multiple bosses – lol!
I’m sharing these with you as a thought starter.
Whether or not you have an assistant, what are you doing, perhaps unintentionally, that could be harming your relationship with your colleagues, their productivity (and yours!)?
What could you easily change?
Yumi’s tips to be a great boss
- Don’t ask for personal requests (unless this is a part of your working agreement)
- Respect their working hours (know that the person is your assistant only during office time)
- Tell them what you need support with and what you don’t need support with
- Be clear about what you like and what you don’t like (e.g., food, airlines, seats, hotels, scheduling rules, how often he wants to meet)
- Give clear instructions and be open for them to ask questions if necessary
- Don’t move around your schedule in your calendar by yourself
- If you make a new appointment during working hours, let your assistant know to add that to the calendar regardless of whether it’s business or personal
- Keep all the work-related receipts and give them to your assistant occasionally, preferably every 1-2 weeks instead of giving her a pile at the end of the month (no more than 1-month-old receipts)
- Don’t ask them to do work for other staff (unless they are a group assistant)
- Use email rather than phone (to avoid misunderstanding)
- Acknowledge and appreciate them and their work with words sometimes
Which works best with your assistant or colleagues?
Have you asked their preferences?