EAs with Staff: Effective Delegation Strategies

As an executive assistant with staff, effective delegation strategies are essential to help you free up your workload. Another huge benefit: you’ll be giving the admins under you opportunities to learn new skills and take on greater responsibilities. Here are EA staff delegation strategies that will help you improve both your own and your staff’s efficiency and productivity.

Understand the strengths and weaknesses of each admin on your team in order to figure out which person is best suited for which task. Ask yourself: Is this admin reliable? Eager for more responsibility? Will this assignment help your admin improve their skills or learn new ones?

Knowing who is detail oriented, collaborative, or creative will help you decide which tasks, responsibilities, and decisions can be best managed by which person. Who can easily take on travel arrangements … social media monitoring … meeting minutes—or quickly learn to do so?

Let your admin know why you’ve chosen them and how this job will benefit you both—and your organization. This shows your trust in them and your desire to help them progress in their job and career.

Give clear, comprehensive directions. The person you delegate to should know your objectives and timeline, which decisions they can make on their own, and what outcome constitutes success.

You may need to train your admin on how to carry out the project to your satisfaction. Yes, you can likely do the job faster than explaining it in detail, but down the line your admin should be able to work as quickly as you—freeing you up for more important work.

Check in every now and then to ensure that the work is being done correctly. Don’t nitpick; do offer helpful feedback and praise. Let your staff know you’re always available to answer questions. Check to see how they feel the delegation process is working out. Is the job on track? Do they have enough information? Will they ask for help should they need it?

Delegating is a wonderful way to help your admins build new skills, establish new strengths, boost productivity, and lighten your load (and your stress). Don’t wait—delegate to your admins today. It’s a win-win for everyone!