Do you know how busy leaders stay on top of everything? It’s often thanks to an executive assistant!
They’re not just there for coffee runs. These pros keep the chaos in check so the boss can focus on the wins.
Curious about what an executive assistant actually does? We’re about to walk you through it.
And hey, if your own workload’s got you sweating, ProAssisting could be your game-changer.
We can connect you with experienced remote executive assistants who can transform your productivity starting at just $3,000 per month. Schedule a free consultation today.
What is an Executive Assistant?
An executive assistant is a professional who serves as a partner to a principal in a business.
This principal could be an owner, executive, entrepreneur, board director, or high-net-worth individual.
The role comes from the traditional secretarial position of the 1950s, 60s, 70s, and 80s, as technology advanced and business needs changed. As the role expanded, the term was changed to executive assistant.
At its core, the executive assistant role is centered around giving time back to the principal.
They accomplish this by managing information flow, handling administrative tasks, coordinating schedules, and often serving as the gatekeeper to the executive’s time and attention.
What sets top-tier executive assistants apart is their ability to anticipate needs, make decisions independently, and act as true partners to their executives.
They don’t just take orders—they understand the business, its objectives, and how you operate.
Difference Between an Administrative Assistant and an Executive Assistant
Though the titles might seem interchangeable to some, there are differences between an administrative assistant vs. an executive assistant.
The simplest way to understand the difference is to look at seniority, the scope of responsibilities, and the level of decision-making authority:
| Administrative Assistant | Executive Assistant |
| Supports lower-level executives or multiple team members | Supports C-suite executives, business owners, or high-level managers |
| Task-oriented, focused on specific administrative duties | Strategic partner handling confidential and high-level responsibilities |
| Limited decision-making authority | Empowered to make decisions on the executive’s behalf |
| Primarily handles day-to-day administrative tasks | Manages complex projects and serves as a business partner |
| Often works with multiple people across departments | Works closely with one or a small number of executives |
| Entry-level position (0-5 years of experience) | More senior position (5+ years of experience) |
| Salary range: $35,000-$60,000 in metropolitan areas | Salary range: $70,000-$150,000+ in metropolitan areas |
It’s important to note that the distinction isn’t always clear-cut.
As Ethan Bull, co-founder of ProAssisting, explains:
“An executive assistant can get that title and perform at the level of an administrative assistant, and an administrative assistant can be given that title and perform at the level of an executive assistant. It becomes an internal choice with the person doing the role in terms of what kind of support they want to provide.”
Difference Between a Chief of Staff and an Executive Assistant
Another common comparison is between a chief of staff vs. an executive assistant. While there is some overlap, these are fundamentally different roles.
A traditional chief of staff:
- Typically has an MBA or master’s degree
- Is brought in to be a partner to the CEO from a strategic and goal-oriented perspective
- Helps guide the senior leadership team on their 12, 18, 24, and 36-month goals and objectives
- Keeps the team abreast of key performance indicators (KPIs) for their departments
- Holds the entire leadership team accountable for their own goals and objectives
- Serves in the role for a limited time (usually 2-3 years)
- Typically earns $150,000-$300,000 annually
In contrast, an executive assistant is focused on:
- Dealing with the day-to-day logistics of running the office
- Being that single point of contact
- Knowing who needs to be where and when
- Handling all arrangements for events and travel
- And basically running the office for you
The executive assistant usually works hand-in-glove with the chief of staff.
In some instances, we say that the executive assistant is serving a chief of staff role by being that single point of contact and knowing who is doing what, when, and where in both worlds of the principal’s life—meaning the personal world and the business world.
This is where the performance multiplier concept comes in.
At ProAssisting, we use “chief of staff” as one of our five performance multipliers under the executive assistant title, but we don’t mean the strategic goal-setting role of a formal chief of staff.
Instead, it refers to the executive assistant’s function as a central hub for communication and coordination.
As Bull emphasizes, “There is no reason you should be hiring a chief of staff unless you have the executive assistant position filled and fully or even exceeding expectations.”
Benefits of Hiring an Executive Assistant
The primary benefit of having an executive assistant is time arbitrage—giving executives back their most valuable asset: time.
But the advantages extend far beyond just saving hours in a day.
- Increased Executive Productivity: A skilled executive assistant effectively adds more hours to your workday by handling tasks that don’t require your personal attention. According to the Harvard Business Review, “Companies see a positive return on investment when an assistant improves an executive’s productivity by just 8%—equivalent to saving about five hours in a typical 60-hour week. However, most effective assistants deliver far greater time savings than this minimum threshold!”
- Reduced Executive Stress: When executives aren’t constantly juggling administrative details, they experience less stress and can focus more clearly on high-level decisions and strategic thinking.
- Better Information Management: Executive assistants sort through info like a pro. They pass on what you need to know when you need it, keeping the extra noise out of your way.
- Enhanced Communication: Assistants often act as communication hubs. They facilitate clear and effective communication between you and your various stakeholders, both internal and external.
- Improved Work-Life Balance: You can maintain a healthier work-life balance by having an assistant handle scheduling and travel arrangements and even empowering your executive assistant as a personal assistant to do personal tasks.
What Does an Executive Assistant Do?
So, what does an executive assistant actually do?
They work hand in glove with the principal (the executive they support). And if the principal has a chief of staff, they work closely with them too.
Their main goal is to make sure the daily objectives of the office get done while allowing you (the principal) to focus on higher-level tasks and responsibilities—the stuff that increases business, keeps clients happy, expands the brand, and shapes overall strategy.
They’re essentially helping steer the ship.
As Ethan and Stephanie Bull explain in their book, “The 29-Hour Work Day,” a great executive assistant is much more than someone who answers phones or schedules meetings.
They identify five key performance multipliers that truly showcase what a top-level EA can do:
1. Business Partner
As a business partner, your EA can be your second set of eyes and ears. They attend meetings on your behalf, take notes, and report back with key information.
They’ll bring a fresh perspective to discussions and can act as a sounding board for your ideas.
Because they’re so in tune with both you and your team, they often catch things you might miss and can suggest solutions based on their unique vantage point.
2. Chief of Staff
In this role, your EA becomes your main point of contact:
- They filter information coming from all directions, handling what they can and bringing only the most important matters to your attention.
- They coordinate with your direct reports, manage communications, and ensure everyone has what they need to move forward.
This creates a buffer that protects your time and focus, allowing you to concentrate on strategic decisions rather than getting bogged down in day-to-day details.
3. Project Manager
When wearing the project manager hat, your EA takes ownership of specific initiatives from start to finish.
They track progress, follow up with team members, and keep everything moving forward on schedule.
It can be:
- Planning a board retreat
- Coordinating an office move, or
- Organizing a fundraising event
They handle the logistics, track the details, and solve problems before they reach your desk. You get to focus on your contribution while they ensure all the pieces come together smoothly.
4. Assistant/Scheduler
This is what most people think of when they hear “executive assistant,” but there’s real skill in doing it well.
Your EA becomes a master of calendar Tetris, arranging and rearranging meetings to make the most of your time:
- They’ll prepare you for each appointment with background information and talking points.
- They’ll also manage your email, flagging important messages and handling routine correspondence so your inbox doesn’t become overwhelming.
5. Personal Assistant
A great EA understands that your personal life affects your work life.
They might help with tasks like researching vacation options, finding a gift for your spouse, or scheduling home repairs.
Handling these personal tasks frees up mental space that allows you to be more focused and effective at work.
And because they know your preferences so well, they can often complete these tasks better and faster than you could yourself.
When these five performance multipliers come together, you get an EA who truly transforms your productivity and effectiveness. They help you make the most of every minute!
Tips for Strategic Communication Between Executives and Teams
Strategic communication isn’t just about sharing updates; it’s about communicating with intent and coordinating everyone’s efforts to help achieve company goals. Organizations with strong cultures establish two-way communication channels: executives set and communicate the company’s vision, while the team undertakes daily operations and provides feedback.
As the executive, you could leverage various strategies to streamline communication across the organization:
- Provide a Role Model: Embody the clarity, tone, and professionalism expected from top leadership, and communicate these expectations to your EA regarding how they draft your emails or interact with stakeholders.
- Encourage Open Conversations: Empower your team to ask questions or flag issues whenever they notice deviations from standard practice. EAs have an essential role in bridging the gap between executives and their teams by filtering the information and deciding which issues to escalate to the principal.
- Provide Real-Time Feedback: Executives should provide rolling reviews of their teams, highlighting both the good and the bad. Constructive feedback helps the team adjust quickly, reducing the impact of the highlighted issues on company performance. Your EA can use their ‘grease’ to communicate your feedback in an empathetic way that doesn’t affect team dynamics.
- Use Multiple Communication Channels: A strategic EA understands that not all communication should be done via email, with the context and urgency of the message influencing the best-fit channel. For example, the team should use email communication for issues that can wait until the next business day and text messages for urgent matters that require a response within the hour.
- Create a Culture of Communication: Establish a communication rhythm within the organization by introducing regular, structured check-ins and follow-ups. Your EA can attend some meetings as your representative to make your presence felt without overwhelming your schedule.
What Makes a Good Executive Assistant?
A successful executive assistant combines technical proficiency with exceptional soft skills. At the heart of the role is what Danny Meyer calls the 51:49 ratio—51% soft skills and 49% hard skills.
As Ethan Bull explains, a good executive assistant is “someone who’s very detail-oriented, someone who likes to be behind the scenes and can command respect through leveraging emotional intelligence, which then informs their soft skills.”
Hard Skills:
- Technical Proficiency: Mastery of email, calendar, and contact management systems, regardless of the specific platform.
- Organization: Ability to create and maintain systems that ensure nothing falls through the cracks.
- Time Management: Skill in prioritizing tasks and managing both their own time and their executive’s schedule efficiently.
- Communication: Excellence in written and verbal communication, with attention to detail and proper grammar.
- Problem-Solving: Capacity to anticipate issues and develop creative solutions.
Soft Skills:
- Emotional Intelligence: Understanding the needs and moods of the executive and adapting accordingly.
- Team Player Mentality: Being collaborative and willing to work with others for the overall success of the group.
- Comfort with Menial Tasks: Being okay with doing menial tasks on a consistent basis, which then builds trust for those instances when larger tasks or projects or responsibilities are bestowed upon them.
- Crisis Management: Ability to handle situations that arise at the last minute that they need to take care of.
- Discretion: Maintaining absolute confidentiality with sensitive information.
- High-Touch Hospitality: Creating positive experiences for everyone who interacts with the executive’s office.
The “hospitalian” mindset—derived from restaurateur Bobby Stuckey’s concept—distinguishes exceptional executive assistants from merely competent ones.
While service is about what you do for someone, hospitality is about how you make them feel.
Great executive assistants combine both, handling tasks efficiently while making everyone feel valued and respected.
How to Hire an Executive Assistant
Ready to find the right executive assistant? You can’t just pick someone random—it takes a bit of planning to get it right.
Here’s how to nail the process and land the ideal match for you:
- Know What You Need: You really want to understand what the exact needs are in the moment for you and also envision what those needs could evolve into after being partnered with an executive assistant over a period of time. Are you drowning in schedules, projects, or personal tasks? Pinpoint what you need help with now and where you see it going down the road.
- Check Their Background: Look for someone who’s been in the game. Have an executive assistant who has the hard experience of actually partnering with principals in the past—think 5+ years supporting CEOs or big shots. Bonus points if they’ve got “specific knowledge around your industry or company,” though that’s secondary. Experience matters more than niche expertise at first.
- Look for the Right Skills: It’s not just about resumes—the soft skills, the emotional skills, the work ethic, the poise, the pride in their work, and really wanting to be a true partner to the principal. You need someone who’s organized, great with people, and has that drive to team up with you—not just follow orders.
- Dig Deep in Interviews: Ask questions that reveal their real chops. How have they handled a crazy day or fixed a mess before? Check if they present themselves well—think tone, confidence, and stories that show they’ve got the goods. Do they feel like someone you’d trust with your most important client?
- Test the Fit: Before you commit, try them out. Give them a small project—like sorting your inbox or planning a meeting—to see how they roll. It’s a low-risk way to spot if they’ve got that “no like and trust” vibe, where you feel good letting go of the reins.
Here’s a pro tip: Companies like ProAssisting can take the hassle out of this. We match you with seasoned pros who fit your needs, often at a fraction of the cost of a full-time hire.
Want to save time and get it right? Reach out to us for a free chat—we’ll help you find the perfect assistant fast!
How to Evaluate Executive Assistant Skills During the Hiring Process
Realistically, you can never be 100% sure that the EA you pick is the right one for you, as the interviews rely heavily on their background experience and your gut feeling during the one-on-one calls.
But there are ways to increase the chances of getting an EA that can provide the required support, and to your preference:
- Define What Success Looks Like: Create your executive Bible describing the support you expect from the EA and your preferences. This provides a framework for the executive assistant interview questions you’ll ask to know if a candidate truly fits the role.
- Evaluate Core Competencies: Assess whether candidates possess the non-negotiables for providing EA support, including strong communication skills, confidentiality, and organization.
- Check for Personality Fit: Visualize the EA candidate representing you in stakeholder meetings. Would you be confident that they’d handle themselves in a way that shines positively on you? Answering this question should help you determine whether they are a good fit for the EA role.
- Assess Previous C-Level Experience: An EA who has supported a CEO, founder, or other C-suite executive can significantly reduce the learning curve. However, do not exclude EAs who don’t have prior C-level experience, but who possess exceptional soft skills.
- Watch Out for Red Flags: While context matters, be wary of EA candidates with a history of short tenures across multiple companies or who provide inconsistent descriptions of their previous roles and responsibilities, as these may signal a lack of competence.
List of Most Useful Executive Assistant Tools
Not all executive assistant tools are created equal. You could easily get trapped in a cycle of trying different tools, hoping to get the right fit, and incurring unnecessary expenses.
The best executive assistant tools complement your workflows, reducing inefficiencies:
- Calendar Management Tools: These tools streamline how your EA organizes your schedule to prioritize urgent and important meetings, while also blocking time to let you focus on key tasks. Your EA should be proficient in at least one of the following tools: Microsoft Outlook Calendar, Google Calendar, or Calendly.
- Task Management Tools: They help the principal and EA maintain visibility on pending and ongoing projects, ensuring tasks are completed within the set timelines. Examples include Asana, Trello, ClickUp, Microsoft To Do, and Notion.
- Communication Tools: Your EA should leverage tools such as Slack, Microsoft Teams, Zoom, and Google Meet to streamline information flow from the principal to the team and stakeholders. The tools should also help your EA manage your email inbox by organizing messages into labeled folders for easier tracking.
- Document Management Tools: Give your EA access to your document management software so they can help you maintain a centralized information hub and back up essential documents. Some suitable examples include Google Drive, Dropbox, Adobe Acrobat, and DocuSign.
- Travel Management Tools: Exceptional EAs use tools like Expedia, TripIt, and Uber for Business to provide high-touch hospitality when planning work-related events, such as board meetings, or when booking the principal’s family vacation.
How to Measure Executive Assistant Performance
Reviewing your EA’s performance is often quite different from what you’d do for other team members, because your EA’s primary role is to help you reclaim your time as opposed to helping the company generate more revenue.
This requires taking a 30,000-foot bird’s-eye view of the principal-executive assistant partnership to see what works and what doesn’t. Also, performance measurement significantly relies on your gut feeling about your EA’s ability to meet your needs.
For example, the number of times you need to repeat something to get things done should give you an idea of how well your EA is performing in their role.
Given the unique nature of the EA role, we have organized the performance review process into a few steps:
- Outline EA Roles: Explain to your EA their roles and responsibilities, including setting SMART executive assistant goals that they should work towards. Additionally, share your executive Bible to help your EA understand your expectations and preferences.
- Provide Real-Time Feedback: Do not wait until the annual review to provide feedback. Instead, provide a rolling review of your EA, highlighting the good and the bad. However, provide constructive feedback with empathy, acknowledging your contribution to the inefficiencies.
- Track Essential Metrics: Measure key performance indicators that demonstrate how your EA supports the executive role, including turnaround times, communication accuracy, and client satisfaction scores.
- Conduct Annual Reviews: Use the annual review as a summative evaluation of your partnership, highlighting what went well and where the executive and EA can improve to streamline operations.
- Set New Goals: Use insights from the review to set new milestones for the next review cycle. For example, if you managed to reduce late responses by 20% within 12 months, you should aim to achieve a 100% response rate within 48 hours over the next year.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Here are answers to some common questions about executive assistants:
What is the Most Important Function of an Executive Assistant?
The most important function of an executive assistant is to give back time to the principal, and by principal, we mean you!
So you can focus on strategy, on new business, on current customer satisfaction, and on the long range goals of the company.
Can an Executive Assistant Work Remotely?
Absolutely. An executive assistant can work remotely, given the changes in technology and, frankly, the acceptance of remote work in recent years.
When a lot of computer work converged in the web browser, it allowed people on both PCs and Macs to work together in a more seamless way.
Combined with the rise of the app economy and SaaS products, which are ubiquitous between the Macintosh, Apple, and PC platforms, this allows remote executive assistants to work effectively from anywhere.
How Does an Executive Assistant Handle Confidential Information?
Very carefully. Handling confidential and personal information and keeping it as such is a cornerstone and pillar of being a top-level executive assistant. Professional assistants treat confidentiality with the same seriousness as doctor-patient or attorney-client privilege.
To maintain confidentiality, executive assistants typically:
- Use two-factor authentication so you’re not getting hacked
- Leverage biometric security on your electronic devices
- Use VPN software when working remotely
- Store physical documents in locked cabinets
- Clear their desks of sensitive information when not present
- Have regular check-ins with their principal about what is confidential and what is not
And the good executive assistants over time will know what information can be shared with whom based on previous interactions with their principal and how information flows.
That takes time, and a great executive assistant always errs on the side of caution by saying, “I’m not at liberty to share. I’m not at liberty to say.”
How Can Technology Enhance an Executive Assistant’s Productivity?
Technology enhances an executive assistant’s productivity in several ways:
- Streamlines scheduling by enabling your EA to set reminders for important meetings, reducing bottlenecks.
- Helps you EA plan and manage tasks based on urgency and priority.
- Enhances collaboration between the principal and EA or the team, especially when handling time-sensitive tasks.
How Does an Executive Assistant Contribute to Company Culture?
The EA role provides a unique asset that top-level management can leverage to influence organizational culture. For example, your EA can serve as the pulse checker, providing updates on your team’s motivation, job satisfaction, and overall employee Net Promoter Scores.
Additionally, your EA can help with change management by being your point person during the transition, ensuring the team feels your participation/buy-in.
Conclusion
An executive assistant is truly the backbone of successful leadership.
Beyond managing calendars and emails, they serve as strategic partners who anticipate needs, solve problems before they arise, and create space for you to focus on high-impact work.
If you’re ready to reclaim your time and elevate your productivity, ProAssisting connects you with elite remote executive assistants with 5+ years of experience at globally recognized brands (like J.Crew, Fidelity, Oracle, NBC Sports, and JP Morgan Chase).
Our ProAssistants operate on a 3:1 executive-to-assistant ratio, ensuring personalized attention—at 50-80% less than hiring in-house. Plus, 80% of your monthly retainer goes directly to your ProAssistant—ensuring you get the highest quality talent.
Why continue drowning in administrative tasks when you could be focusing on growth? Schedule a free consultation today and discover how a ProAssistant can transform your workday!
