As a Leader, you want to see your team succeed. You want them to achieve more than they ever thought possible. But in order for that to happen, they need to be equipped with the tools and training they need to make your vision a reality.

That’s where you come in! In this blog post, we will discuss how Leaders like you can help your team — and Executive Assistant — reach new heights. We’ll talk about training and onboarding, setting expectations, and more. Are you ready to equip your team?

Start with the Basics

Consider this scenario. You tell your EA you want them to take care of all of your future travel arrangements. As such, you expect them to take care of booking flights and creating an itinerary for an upcoming conference you have out of state. One week after setting this expectation with your EA, you start to get questions like: what airline do you prefer to fly? What credit card do you use to purchase flights? Which hotels are your favorite to earn rewards?

Suddenly, you realize that you never shared any of your travel preferences with your EA. They are now are one week behind in booking your stay and still don’t have access to all of the necessary documents.

When you don’t properly equip your teammate, you become a bottleneck to their progress.

To avoid being a bottleneck, you need to gather, organize and share basic information with your EA, such as:

• Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and their location
• Brand guide documents
• Company handbook
• Onboarding schedule, including names and contact information for support personnel
• Leader’s Executive Summary

Your teammate will also need login credentials to basic programs and systems such as:

• Password vault (LastPass)
• A branded email address
• Your email (if applicable)
• Cloud storage (Google Drive, Microsoft Cloud)
• Your calendar and team calendars
• Dropbox, Evernote, Google Drive
• Project management like Trello, Asana or Teamwork
• Slack
• CRM
• Your website (WordPress, Squarespace)
• Social media accounts
• Credit card information (if applicable)
• Customer service hubs (HelpScout, ZenDesk)
• Company phone (Google Voice)

Once you’ve gathered and organized this information, it’s important to share it with your EA or teammate. The goal is to grant them access right away, so you aren’t looking for it later and stalling their progress.

Related Content: Get the Onboarding Success Kit

The next way to equip your team is to set expectations.

Setting Expectations

We think every teammate and EA deserves to know what you expect of their performance from the beginning. This way, there are no surprises and everyone is on the same page.

When it comes to setting expectations, Leaders can do a few things:

• Define roles and responsibilities in detail
• Create templates for recurring tasks in SOPs
• Share best practices and standards
• List out company values and how they should be reflected in work
• Outline guidelines for communication

You reduce ambiguity by defining what success looks like for your team. As a Leader, you should also hold your team accountable to meeting these expectations. One way you can do this is by holding a weekly meeting or check-in for your team member of EA. This creates a short feedback loop on your team member’s performance and clarifies your expectations.

The best Leaders also set a strong example for their team. They walk the talk and embody the values of their company. 

When it comes to setting the example, Leaders should:

• Be aware of their own communication style and be conscious of how they are perceived by their team
• Model desired behaviors (collaboration, ownership, respect)
• Stay positive during challenging times
• Reward good work with acknowledgement and praise
• Avoid micromanaging

The final way Leaders can help their team achieve more is by providing access to training and development resources.

Training and Development Resources

As technology changes and new tools are released, it’s important that your team has access to up-to-date training. Once a year, or every quarter, we recommend asking your team if there are any trainings or tools they need to be successful.

You can’t green-light everything, but it’s important to hear what training needs your team has.

Here are some ways you can provide access to training and development resources:

• Budget for trainings, courses and software subscriptions that benefit the business.
• Grant access to a shared, online library of information such as books or eBooks (we use Scrbid)
• Offer mentorship from other Leaders within your network.
• Have a stipend for your team member to attend conferences related to their field.
• Give access to LinkedIn Learning or another online learning platform like Udemy. 
• Create a culture of learning within the company and reward growth-mindedness. 

Final Thoughts

The bottom line is: your team will achieve more when they have been properly equipped. When Leaders give their teams the right tools, resources and information they need to succeed, it sets them up for success well into the future. It also grants you peace of mind that you, as the Leader, have not become a bottleneck for their progress.