Templates for EAs have saved me more time throughout my career than almost any other tool. When I was supporting Executives, I quickly realised that many of the tasks we manage happen again and again.
That is why having a collection of templates for EAs can make such a difference. Instead of creating documents from scratch every time, you already have a starting point that helps you work faster and stay consistent.
As EAs, we are constantly moving between meetings, travel, projects, inbox management, stakeholder communication and whatever surprise lands on our desk before lunch. Having the right templates for EAs ready to go means you can spend less time formatting documents and more time focusing on the work that needs your attention.
In this article, we will explore ten templates for EAs that I believe every Assistant should have in their toolkit.
If you work closely with your Executive, regular 1:1 meetings are probably one of the most important conversations in your week.
Among all the available templates for EAs, this is one I would never be without. A good 1:1 Meeting Template gives you a place to discuss priorities, review actions, raise concerns, prepare for upcoming commitments, and make sure you and your Executive are on the same page.
Many Assistants have a weekly catch-up with their Executive, but the conversation can easily drift. A simple structure keeps everything organised and helps you make the most of the time together.
Make sure everyone is on the same page and knows all of your Executives’ preferences around communication, decision-making, and so much more.
A Daily Briefing Template helps your Executive start the day with the information they need.
As EAs, we often know more about what is happening in our Executive’s day than they do. We know which meetings need preparation, which stakeholders need attention and which diary changes happened overnight.
This is one of those templates for EAs that can quickly become part of your daily routine.
Your briefing might include:
Business travel has changed over the years, but a detailed itinerary is still one of the most useful templates for EAs.
When flights are delayed, meetings move location or hotel bookings need checking, having all the information in one place makes life much easier.
A good itinerary should include travel details, accommodation information, transport arrangements, meeting locations, contact numbers and booking references.
Your Executive will thank you when they need information quickly and do not have to search through six different emails to find it.
Taking minutes becomes much easier when you already have a structure in place.
Among the many templates for EAs available, this one can save a surprising amount of time. Instead of deciding where information belongs during the meeting, you already have sections prepared for attendees, discussions, decisions and actions.
It also helps create consistency, especially if several people within the organisation are reading the minutes afterwards.
We have all experienced the meeting where somebody forgot the room booking, the video link or the agenda.
A Meeting Planning Checklist helps prevent those situations.
This is one of those templates for EAs that works behind the scenes. Nobody really notices it when everything runs smoothly, but everyone notices when something important gets missed.
Whether you are organising a board meeting, leadership meeting or project workshop, having a checklist helps keep everything under control.
One of the challenges of the Assistant role is that requests arrive from everywhere.
An email arrives. A Teams message appears. Your Executive asks for something between meetings. A colleague catches you in the corridor. Another request appears five minutes later.
This is why I always recommend templates for EAs that help manage unexpected work.
An Ad-Hoc Task Tracker gives you one place to capture requests, monitor progress and make sure nothing slips through the cracks.
Many of us manage recurring responsibilities every day, week, month and quarter.
Without a documented process, it can be difficult to remember every recurring task, particularly during busy periods.
This is one of the templates for EAs that becomes even more valuable over time. It helps you document responsibilities, build routines and create consistency in how work gets completed.
It is also useful when another Assistant needs to cover your role during annual leave.
As EAs, there are certain emails we write repeatedly.
Having a Standard Responses Template means you already have approved wording available when you need it. You can adjust the response for the situation, but you are not staring at a blank screen every time.
For many Assistants, this becomes one of the most frequently used templates for EAs in their toolkit.
A SWOT Analysis Template is often associated with business planning, but it can also be incredibly useful in the Assistant role.
You can use it to assess your working relationship with your Executive, identify opportunities to improve support and think about areas that need attention.
Of all the templates for EAs discussed here, this is probably one that people use less often than they should.
The Assistant role moves quickly. One week ends and another begins before we have had much chance to think about what happened.
A Weekly Evaluation Template gives you space to review your week and consider what worked well, what could be improved and where your time was spent.
This is one of the templates for EAs that supports your own development because it encourages reflection and helps you spot patterns over time.
The best templates for EAs are the ones you actually use. You do not need dozens of documents sitting in a folder that never gets opened. Start with a few templates for EAs that support your most common tasks and build from there.
Throughout my career, I found that templates for EAs helped me stay organised, communicate more clearly and manage a busy workload with greater confidence. They also reduced the amount of repetitive work involved in the role, which meant I had more time available for planning, problem-solving and supporting my Executive.
If you are looking to build your toolkit, these ten templates for EAs are a great place to start.
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