Supporting More Than One Executive, How to Make That Work
At the beginning of the Great Recession, I was working in a 1:1 support model. After the first round of layoffs, that increased to a 1:4 support model - going from 1 C-level to C-level, SVP, VP, VP, and downstream teams!
I was one of the lucky ones - I still had a job. However, at the time, I felt like I was completely alone and underwater.
Whether you started off supporting multiple Executives or you have just been mandated into this new model, here are some tips and learnings from my experience that may help you.
Kickoff:
First off, there needs to be a kickoff meeting with all the executives you will support to clarify expectations:
Who will be your priority and get the majority of your efforts
Are there any projects coming up that are mission-critical that you will need to account for? Ie: team offsites, Revenue Kickoff, conferences, etc.
Set expectations for lead time for any requests
Communication cadence and content - will you be having daily 1:1’s, sending weekly email updates for each, etc? Spell this out now!
Communication:
Set up the cadence for 1:1’s with each of your executives
Clarify if daily or weekly email updates for each, etc. are expected. If they don’t have a preference or say it’s not necessary - do one anyway! It is imperative that you over-communicate during these stressful times
It could be useful to set up a group WIP (work in progress) spreadsheet where all the requests go. That minimizes miscommunication and gives you one source of truth for time management
Set Boundaries:
No automatic Yes. I have seen far too many assistants who always say yes - even when they can’t possibly meet the expectation because they have far too much on their plate That doesn’t make you look good, in fact, saying yes and not delivering makes you look very bad. Be realistic about what you can do with your time and what you can reasonably deliver
Be Honest. When communicating with your primary executive, be honest in what you are able to do. If you are overwhelmed, speak up! It is far better to speak up ahead of time than to wait until deadlines are missed or a major deal gets blown due to incorrect or incomplete work.
Offer solutions. If you cannot accept more work, always offer a solution. It may be time to hire a temp or virtual assistant to help with the day-to-day for a short time.
Automation/Apps. Automate what you can! If you’re doing manual expense reporting, manual travel bookings, etc. It’s time to look at some apps that can take that off your plate and enable the teams to do more for themselves (while still staying within the policy, of course)
For more on this and other topics, join our LinkedIn elEvAte group for regular Q&A sessions and be part of a group that GETS what you go through your day!
Maffei-RC also offers coaching options to work with both you and your executives to manage expectations and figure out how to make this new setup work - connect with me for details
