How Executive Assistants Save Companies Time and Money
As a community of high-caliber Executive Assistants, we know firsthand that having a rockstar EA is a game changer in helping you add both time and money back into your own “bank.” We’ve seen three key ways EAs add this value to an executive’s personal and professional life, and to companies at large.
For a closer look at the specific ROI of a 33Vincent EA, use our Executive Assistant Cost Savings Calculator here! This will show you exactly how much time and money you’re likely to save by delegating tasks to a world-class 33V EA.
1. Executive Assistants are Efficient
Executive Assistants pride themselves on their efficiency. Once an EA knows the details of a task and understands the starting point (point A) and end goal (point B), they’ll find the fastest and most efficient way to get from A to B.
Part of this efficiency comes from their high-level administrative skills. When considering at the top 20 top skills we look for in the world-class assistants at 33Vincent, you’ll see that many of the hard skills that we look for lean towards administrative and task-oriented abilities.
And with time, EAs who are already proficient at these tasks inherently find ways to do them even better and faster. By delegating these tasks to a 33V Executive Assistant, you can save hours each week, and rest easy knowing that they are being handled by an expert at that task!
One reason that EAs are so efficient is that they are no strangers to technology. We love sharing our favorite tools, apps, and hacks within our community at 33Vincent. Ask any Executive Assistant about their favorite tools and we’re sure they will enthusiastically list off a dozen or so with gusto, and perhaps even borderline nerdiness. With the wealth of technologies on the market, there’s always something new for EAs to test, and test they will, especially if there’s the possibility that it will save time or make a process easier.
Another way that Executive Assistants demonstrate their efficiency is through building and creating systems. EAs are process professionals, with the ability to streamline tactical work, formulate a process for that work, and record and communicate those processes. By allowing an Executive Assistant to build and refine systems for your organization, you can expect not only an efficient and well-documented SOP, but also bask in the ability to take your hands off the wheel and let your EA manage it.
2. Executive Assistants Keep You Focused
In addition to the time you’ll save by having an EA take on administrative tasks and manage processes, you’ll find that you are more focused with the time you have. By delegating work that is currently on your plate to an EA, you will find hours freed up in your calendar to spend on the work only you can do–the work that has the highest impact in your organization.
Another way that Executive Assistants keep you focused is by serving as a gatekeeper. EAs are pros at managing up, uncovering your top priorities and auditing your schedule to align with those priorities. When an EA knows what is—and is not—a top priority, they can coordinate your schedule and projects strategically so you are focused on what matters most.
Through this process, EAs can find the “fluff” on your calendar—meetings where your presence is not necessary or inefficiently placed appointments—and reduce or eliminate it. These time savings convert not only to more time to focus on your most important work, but also more time to dedicate to your personal passions, whether that be family, friends, exercise, or hobbies.
By knowing your habits and preferences, Executive Assistants can also strategically block work time when you are at your highest level of focus and energy, helping you to optimize your output with the same amount of time in a day. It’s almost like assistants have a magical ability to “add time” into your day!
Executive Assistants often expand their compounding impact beyond an individual executive to their entire team as well. Their unique perspective provides them the opportunity to utilize their coordination and proactivity to streamline projects, communication, and even meetings. When your EA is involved in any work that spans multiple people at your organization, you can trust that they will keep everyone involved focused on the task at hand.
Let’s use a board meeting as an example. Your EA proactively helps you land on an agenda and outline; coordinates with other key stakeholders for their contributions to the discussion points; ensures meeting room or dial-in information is clearly in the event and that everyone has RSVP’d; sends prework for review a week in advance along with reminders; and helps you prep the room before the meeting. By enlisting your assistant to schedule the time, create and disperse the agenda, and delegate appropriate pre-work, you can count on a focused and effective meeting.
3. Executive Assistants Add Value
Time is money, and with all of this extra time saved, it’s clear that an EA will save you dollars as well. Sometimes this savings actually comes in the form of a gain: you’re able to knock out key KPIs that will affect a bigger bottom line. Executives will find that this additional time can convert the ability to make more sales, generate more donations, develop more products, or create more content.
Executive Assistants can have this same effect on whole teams. EAs are communication experts and can serve as a liaison between team members, aligning them to work towards the same goals and help them achieve them more efficiently. If you have a remote team, remote Executive Assistants are especially invaluable as they are already experts at systems and processes for remote work and can help keep your team in sync.
Sometimes it’s not a matter of “what” an EA can add, but a matter of “how.” Because of their specialized experience, an EA will likely be better than you at project management, time and schedule management, travel planning, and logistics. We are big fans of the book Essentialism by Greg McKeown, which explains that “the Way of the Essentialist involves doing less, but better.” When an EA is focusing on what they’re best at, you can then focus on your “Essential” competencies. Think of having an assistant as an investment in you!
Speaking of investments, we often hear that cost can be a barrier to bringing an EA on board. We have helped many executives calculate the cost of their time and actually find that by outsourcing many of the tasks and responsibilities, they are able to save money in the long run. Due to their administrative efficiency, EAs are able to do the same tasks in half the time but at a fraction of an executive’s hourly rate.
And a bonus, if you’re hiring a virtual Executive Assistant, like those from our community of remote EAs, you don’t have to worry about the costs of hiring a full-time employee, such as office space, benefits, or payroll tax. You get the high-caliber skills that an EA brings without the overhead!
Ready to start saving?
Whether you were intrigued by the notion of saving time or money—or both!— and are ready to enlist an EA to help you do that, let’s talk! Contact our team to share your support needs so together we can discover if 33Vincent is a good fit for you.
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