AdrienneJul 20, 20164 minGet on boardIn a recent conversation about ways to set oneself apart in a job interview, a fellow EA who we will call “Kate” gave the sage advice to come in prepared with a 30/60/90 day plan as to how you will effectively onboard yourself in the new position. I found this to be a brilliant move on multiple levels. It demonstrates initiative, work ethic, and forethought, all essential qualities of a rockstar EA. It gives you a leg-up on the competition, since most candidates consider them
AdrienneMay 4, 20164 minThinking outside the [in]boxEmail. It’s inescapable. According to a July 2012 McKinsey Global Institute report on “the social economy,” the average worker will spend 28% of the work day simply managing email. And not only does email take up a lot of our time, it randomizes us by drawing our attention not to the most urgent or important tasks but simply to the most recent item to land in our inbox. Worse still, most people insist on checking their email first thing in the morning, which is the worst poss
AdrienneFeb 11, 20165 minScheduling SavvyLesson two: Scheduling! Back to the nuts-and-bolts, folks! In the spotlight today: scheduling. This is the cornerstone of executive assistance: effectively managing your boss’s time. How many of you thought, when I said, “scheduling,” that this would be a blog post about how to set appointments? Well, we will indeed go over best practices for that most basic and necessary of EA tasks, but the meat of this post is about how to own your executive’s schedule. Step One: Prioritiz
AdrienneJan 19, 20162 minThe Travel FolderAs promised, I’m finally diving in more deeply to the specific, nuts-and-bolts how-to of various aspects of how to be an effective Executive Assistant at a start-up. Lesson one: The Travel Folder My phone wakes me up at 4:42 am. Before my alarm, meaning that whoever is calling is important enough to override my Do Not Disturb setting. The day is not starting well. “What’s up?” Bossman’s voice is equal parts angry and tired, “I’m at the airport, but the flight I’m booked on is
AdrienneOct 16, 20153 minThe power of “?”“Why?” If you’ve ever spent any time around a toddler, you know the pain of having to answer this question approximately 200 times per day. But it turns out our adorably obnoxious spawn may have something to teach us on this score. They understand the almighty power of knowledge, and they haven’t yet learned to be afraid or embarrassed to ask a question when they have one. Recently, I challenged myself to ask at least one clarifying question before I take, or agree to take, a
AdrienneMay 22, 20154 minMy Checklist ManifestoI used to be anti-checklist. It seemed so anal-retentive to check off little boxes on a sheet every time I wanted to get something accomplished. And if I’m honest, I had a fair bit of pride tied up in the idea of being able to remember all the steps of a given task without having a cheat-sheet to refer back to. Look how smart I am! I can keep it all in my large and imperious brain! WHERE IS MY PARADE?? And that worked fine when I had a relatively predictable daily routine wit
AdrienneJan 19, 20157 minHabit ReformingMy senior year of high school, I had an amazing teacher. She taught me more useful stuff about how to learn in the course of one semester than I had learned in all the rest of my 12 years of schooling combined. Her name was Dr. Tina Yeager, and I owe her more than I could ever repay. One of the most important things she taught me was never to listen to someone who told me I was simply not “wired” to be able to do something I wanted to do. “Teach to your weaknesses,” she would
AdrienneNov 3, 20143 minWeek one: the learning curveAt our first one on one, Bossman said to me: “When you interviewed for this job, I got the impression you were far more experienced and qualified than you actually are. So… well played.” And of course, he was right. I had presented my relevant experience, such as it was, in the most flattering possible light. So I already knew what he was all too quickly discovering: that I had a long way to go to come up to speed. I suspect that he strongly considered the option of firing me
![Thinking outside the [in]box](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/26b88b_42a0c6a064b84e788cf5d60e8ea7c183~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_454,h_341,fp_0.50_0.50,q_90/26b88b_42a0c6a064b84e788cf5d60e8ea7c183~mv2.jpg)
