5 Tips to Help Executive Assistants Manage Emails Like a Pro

An executive assistant’s job functions cover a wide range. You may be a dedicated assistant to one executive in a large corporation or a do-it-all in a small business.  Neither position allows for wasted time and effort on emails.

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Below the ASAP team offers a few ideas to help you manage your emails and keep them under control.

1. Why Do I Have So Many CC’d Emails?

CC’d emails can clog up your inbox very quickly and are frequently unnecessary. You can reduce your Cc'd emails by understanding why you are getting so many and determining how many are necessary. You do not need to be copied on every email sent to your boss or every email communication between the team developers. Unfortunately, this happens because of a lack of trust and a need to control. If you trust your team, don’t demand to be Cc'd in every correspondence. If they want to tell the executive something about you, it won’t be on an email including you. If the boss only reads things you send to him, stop the process of the team sending everything to him.

2. How Do I Write Great Emails?

One of the common duties of an Executive Assistant is writing outgoing emails. It may be up to you to establish professional protocols for your office. Always use appropriate business salutations and professional signatures. Keep the message as brief and simple as possible. Be sure to check for spelling and grammar errors. If you are sending an attachment, be sure that you have it attached.

3. How Should I Reply to Emails?

When replying to emails, the Executive Assistant should follow the same rules as advised when writing an email. You may address the sender in the way that he or she signed the email sent to you. One of the biggest mistakes made in this area is the “Reply All” selection. Your correspondence is between you and the sender; if they need to send to more team members, let them do that. If you are communicating within your organization it may be acceptable to use reply all, but be careful.

4. What Will Help Me Write Repeat Emails?

Gmail has some insightful enhancements that can help with the executive assistant’s job. One of the most helpful tools for an admin is Smart Compose. If you send a consistent email, Smart Compose learns your writing style and predicts what you will write.

5. Can I Get a Daily Schedule?

Automate a daily schedule email to you at the time you want to start your day. This schedule is generated from the calendar you indicate. You can create a schedule for your boss with appointments and calls for the day. You can create another from your calendar with the tasks and calls that you need to complete that day. This can get your day off to a productive start.