Building a Strategic Business Partnership with your Executive

Working with your Executive

At the centre of the Assistant role is their working relationship with their Executive.

The relationship has to be effective and intentional for the Assistant to thrive in the role and the Executive to drive the organisation forward. For Assistants to move into a strategic partnership role, the working relationship with their Executive must be solid, with both sides of the partnership aware of what they need to bring to the table.

The role of the Personal and Executive Assistant has changed so much over the years. It is no longer the case that Assistants complete the tasks given to them by their Executive. Instead, the role is much more reactive, with Assistants taking part in many projects, crafting their roles and taking on their strategic work.

Nevertheless, the relationship with their Executive is at the heart of the role. The Assistant will always ensure their Executive succeeds, drives the business’s vision forward, and achieves its goals and objectives. For Assistants to thrive as strategic partners, the partnership must be reciprocal and dynamic.

We will look at how Assistants, working with their Executives, can ensure an effective partnership built on trust, open communication, and efficiency.

Creating an effective relationship with your Executive

As Assistants, we spend a vast amount of time with our managers. If the relationship turns sour, it is almost impossible for us to do our jobs effectively, and it devastates our work.

So how do we ensure this does not happen?

Here are some tips on maintaining a good relationship with your manager. This is the first step towards working as a strategic partner with your Executive.

Respect and trust

As with any relationship, the one you have with your manager should be built on respect and trust. Of course, this is a two-way street, but for an assistant, your manager needs to trust you explicitly.

So to guarantee their confidence meet deadlines, deliver work when you say you are going to, keep confidential matters top secret and don’t be seen as the office gossip.

They are human too

Talking to your manager about what you do outside of the office may seem daunting or even a complete waste of time, but I think it helps maintain good rapport.

Always ask them how their evening/weekend was, and look genuinely interested when they answer. You may find that you have things in common, and even if they do not reciprocate the question, you have gained at least a small insight into how their mood will be that day.

Also, if you focus on the positive traits of your manager, it will help you understand what motivates them to succeed.

Communicate

Regularly and face to face!

Again this is a two-way thing and should be consistent throughout your work with your manager. Then, naturally, set up regular meetings to discuss workloads and diaries and be there for them when they need to talk about something.

Check-in with them throughout the day, even if it is to say where you are going. If you communicate with them effectively, you won’t be blindsided by unexpected problems.

Have a sense of humour

One of the most effective ways to manage my relationships is not to take them too seriously. This may sound controversial but let me explain. I’m not talking about the work itself, this is important and should be treated as such, but the relationship itself can be handled with a lighter touch.

If you appear happy and can have a good time at work, it enhances your relationships with colleagues, including your manager. So let them in on the joke occasionally and include them in the conversation.

For Assistants, the most important thing to get right is the relationship with your Executive. The reasons for this are twofold. Firstly, it is your job to make your Executive as successful in their role as possible and to do this you will need to work with them very closely, it is much easier if you have a good relationship. Secondly, and this is particularly true if you are a 1-2-1 assistant, the only person that can appraise, reward or promote you is your Executive.

So, all in all, it makes it much easier if you do have a good working relationship with your boss. If you think you could improve your relationship with your boss, here are a few tips.

How was your weekend?

Invest time in getting to know your Executive. To do this, you should find out what their life is like outside of work and try to appreciate their sense of humour (even if you have to force yourself!)

Build rapport with your Executive

Talking to your manager about the things you do outside of the office may seem a bit daunting or even a complete waste of time, but it does help build rapport and a good understanding of how and why you are both doing what you do.

Always ask them how their evening/weekend was, and they look genuinely interested when they answer. You may find that you have things in common, and even if they do not reciprocate the question, you have gained at least a small insight into how their mood will be that day. Also, if you focus on the positive traits of your manager, it will help you understand what motivates them to succeed.

If you are in the early stages of improving your relationship with your Executive, check out our video on how Assistants can build rapport with their Executive.

What do they need to focus on?

You should ask them this question each week.

Find out what their issues are or have a specific problem to solve and then try to help. This could merely be clearing their schedule to concentrate on the issue at hand or helping them directly with the problem. Always ask your boss what you can do to help.

Make sure they know you are on their side

Executives have so much going on that quite often. As a result, they can drop the ball on certain things.

This is where you come in. One of the main aspects of the role is to make your boss look good. So to do this, ensure you know the tasks they tend to neglect and make sure you do them.

For example, if they are always late, make sure you build contingency time in their schedule to get to their meetings on time. If they are continually losing things, make sure you keep a copy of all of their paperwork. Once you make them look good, the next step is to let them know you are on their side.

It can be easy for them to neglect you, making sure they are aware of how much you are doing for them.

A simple way to do this is to feedback on all of the work you do at each face to face meeting you have.

What do they value in your colleagues?

It is well worth looking at how your Executive interacts with other employees.

Who do they like, interact with and respond well to? What characteristics and habits do these people have? Can you learn from them or follow some of their practices to ingratiate yourself with your manager?

Communication – when and how

I’ve always said that Assistants must communicate regularly with their Executive, which has to be face to face.

Assistants also have to know when best to communicate with their manager and which communication channels to use. Assistants are not mind readers, and the best way to get answers to these questions is to ask the manager.

They have to see you as an equal

This is important as an Assistant.

Your Executive has to see you as an equal, not as somebody that does everything for them no matter what, or any other negative stereotypes that Assistants often have to face.

The relationship may not be quite that bad, but it could be that your boss doesn’t think that you are as important as their other employees and spends less time investing in you. Either way, you have got to make them see you as an equal in every regard (even if they are the organisation’s CEO).

How do you do this?

Well, firstly, you have to see yourself as their equal. You have to think that you are just as important as them and that you have the right to be heard and the right to speak. You bring a tremendous amount of value to the organisation, and your Executive should respect you for that. You should also respect yourself for that too!

You should see yourself in a partnership with your boss based on a mutual understanding and wanting to achieve the same objectives. Yes, your Executive is more senior to you, and you should undoubtedly show them respect, but you are equally responsible for its success in terms of your partnership.

Respect their time

We save our boss time.

It is the foundation on which our role is built.

More than any other staff member, we should understand how much time our Executive has to dedicate to specific tasks and shouldn’t take more of their time than we need.

For every meeting, come prepared with the correct paperwork. Before the meeting, anticipate the questions they will ask you and find out the right answers. If it helps, set an agenda for each session so that you both know precisely what needs to be achieved by the end of each meeting.

Think about how long you will need; don’t just put an hour in their diary because it is easier for you. Senior Executives will not like time-wasters, so we should do everything we can to respect their time.

Over-deliver

This is easier said than done, but you will improve the relationship with your boss if they truly value you as an asset. They are going to appreciate you if you are excellent at your job and over-deliver for them.

How do you over-deliver?

Well, first of all, make sure you have your usual daily tasks under control and then start asking for more work and more projects. The additional work that you take on shouldn’t be detrimental to your basic tasks but will help your reputation at work and, ultimately, your relationship with your boss.

Ask for their advice

Ask for advice, and then act on that advice.

You work for a senior Executive. They will have some good business knowledge to pass down to you, so do ask them to share their experiences with you. Everyone likes to voice an opinion, including your boss.

Do be selective with the type of advice you ask for, obviously don’t ask for advice on something fundamental to your role. You still need to be seen as an expert assistant. Instead, ask them how they dealt with certain situations or think the best course of action is on more complicated tasks.

Asking for advice should encourage your Executive to see themselves as a bit of a mentor, which in turn should help your relationship develop a certain amount of trust.

Don’t wait to be told what to do

And here is my final piece of advice, and it is something that assistants are pretty good at.

Don’t wait to be told what to do. If something is causing your Executive stress or is an unnecessary waste of their time, you should be doing everything you can to fix it for them. An excellent stable working relationship between you and your Executive is achievable if your manager doesn’t feel like they have to manage you.

Don’t get me wrong; they have to be a good manager who supports you professionally through regular catch up meetings and feedback. But on a day to day basis, you should be anticipating their needs and ensuring everything is running smoothly around them.

Making your Executive successful in their role

We are employed to make our boss’s job easier, to remove unnecessary work and allow them to focus on running the company, but how do you make your boss successful?

Here are a few pointers that I think help us achieve that goal.

Understand the rhythm of your manager’s day

It is essential to know at what point during the day your manager is at their peak.

Are they a morning or afternoon people? Do they take a while to get going in the morning or start to flag in the afternoon?

A good way of finding this out is by monitoring when they need caffeine!

Once you have this information, you will know the best time to schedule meetings and when to leave time free to get stuck into their emails or write reports.

As we know, minimising interruption is a vital part of Assistants’ service. However, it is even more important to know when it is appropriate and how you interrupt them.

Information is king

Ultimately, your manager needs to know what they are discussing, whether with the CEO, clients, board, or staff members. Your manager needs to have the correct information to communicate what they know and what they can offer.

To help them succeed, Assistants should provide information in the correct quantity and format that works best for the manager.

Simple right?

Well, no, not really – how do we know what information they need? Indeed we would be doing their job if we had that knowledge.

Well, this is precisely my point we should have knowledge of their job and the business to provide them with the information they need to succeed.

How do we do this?

Start by attending meetings with your manager, taking notes, and having that information readily available if you need to remind them or refer back to what was discussed. Know what is happening elsewhere in the business and feed this information before. Get to grips with the office structure and how it relates to your Executive – who do they need to see and see them?

If your manager knows they can rely on you to be a centre of knowledge, it will free up space in their brains to concentrate on something else.

Keep on top of tasks

So you have a to-do list.

Sure, you do, but do you have a to-do list for your manager? Do you know what they need to achieve by the end of the day, week or month?

It is a good idea to have access to their task list (MS outlook is excellent for this) so that you can keep an accurate record of what they need to do and remind them of any outstanding work.

A vital characteristic of a successful person is the appearance of being on top of things and meeting deadlines. If you know, they have something urgent. You can schedule a time for them, rearrange meetings or stop anyone interrupting them until that task has a tick next to it.

Also, if you can access their task list, it is easier to do the small things they shouldn’t be doing anyway!

Reputation Management

From the moment you start working with your manager, you should be figuring out what they are terrible at. I know this sounds slightly negative, and a bit mean, but knowing what they are rubbish at means you know what to focus on being good at!

Are they untidy, do they lose things all the time, are they unorganised or continuously late for meetings – do they completely forget they are supposed to be in a meeting!?

If this is the case, they will have a reputation in the office for having this weakness, which won’t reflect well on them. So whatever issue they have, work on the basis that you will excel at propping up their weaker side, which should make them much better at their job and, therefore, more successful.

It will also improve their reputation at work, which will add to their success.

Questions Assistants can ask their Executive to build a strategic partnership

I think this approach works particularly well when an Assistnat is in a new job, especially if your manager hasn’t had an assistant before or isn’t sure how to work with you.

If you have been in the role for a while but are struggling to develop your relationship with your manager or a colleague, this approach might also be worth trying. You can ask your Executive a few questions to provoke honest answers, help you understand their needs, and add value.

• Is there anything you do not want me to go near or change in any way?
• What is your biggest distraction?
• What do you dislike in your daily routine?
• Is there anyone that you don’t want to talk to?
• Are there any points in the day when I should leave you alone?
• What personality types do you dislike working with?
• Are there any aspects of my role you don’t need me to do?
• What do you least value in an assistant?
• Are there any forms of communication you dislike?
• What details bother you? What doesn’t?

If you have been on the job for a while, these questions are still relevant as you will probably gain a different insight into how your manager likes to work.

As we all know, it can be cathartic moaning about your least favourite parts of the day, and I bet your managers get very little chance to do that!

Managing Up for Personal and Executive Assistants

Some people are great at ‘managing up’, but assistants must be fantastic at it!

The central part of our job is to manage our Executive’s time to concentrate on the essential tasks that keep the business going.

But we don’t just stop there. We manage every aspect of their day. From reading their emails and responding with kind words, getting them coffee so that they are awake and alert throughout the day, buying their presents so that they look generous and thoughtful, the list is endless.

There are enormous benefits for staff that are good at managing up.

They are seen, by their Executive, as a helpful resource rather than a hindrance, and they learn very quickly how to get the most out of their manager in a way that will advantage them.

We spend all day managing our executives and evaluating their needs, but do we effectively manage up?

If not, we could miss out on some fantastic benefits.

Know your manager’s limitations

To start managing up, we have to come to terms with the fact that our manager has limitations.

We are in the perfect position as assistants to understand those limitations. We work very closely with our managers and should already be helping them with the work that takes most of their time.

For example, we will know if a big problem for them is their organisational skills or they are not good at delegating. We will likely have first-hand knowledge of this and already be aiding them with their needs, so managing up for us has to be more than just helping with their limitations.

We have to take on the tasks they don’t want to or can’t do, and we have to make that our speciality. Taking on such responsibilities will only help our careers and enable us to learn more in the long run.

For example, your Executive doesn’t like filing (to be fair, who does)? If we take that job on, we have access to relevant documents that we should read to understand better what is happening in the business. Another example is if your boss doesn’t like dealing with difficult staff members, act as a go-between so that you can enhance your people skills.

Again, if you ever manage teams, this training will be helpful. You are increasing your skills while managing your boss’s limitations.

Be honest

As an Assistant, we are in a fortunate position in that we often get to tell our boss what to do. So, for example, when they have to be in meetings, they can take their lunch, what they have to read, and which emails they must answer first.

Again, not many of our colleagues have this type of relationship with the boss, so we can use it to our advantage when managing up.

We can be honest; we don’t have to be ‘yes men/women’.

We can be a breath of fresh air, be asked our opinion and give advice, and most importantly, be trusted. This leads to respect, which is necessary for an assistant to progress in the workplace.

Take responsibility for the relationship

The relationship with your manager is a two-way street; we should not rely on them always to know what is required to make the relationship work. Instead, we should control the relationship by understanding their style, how they like to communicate, and when best to approach them.

Assistants should have consistent meetings with their managers. Use this time wisely – come prepared for every meeting and make sure you have enough information for your boss to make any decisions you want during the meeting.

We are already managing their time effectively, but managing up will mean that we get what we want out of the time we spend with them as much as they do.

Proactivity is always going to be key

In everything we do, proactivity is a required skill.

This is undoubtedly the case when it comes to managing up. It would be best to be on top of everything you do so your manager doesn’t have to worry about managing you. A good way of appearing proactive is keeping a record (either physically or mentally) of the status of each task that your manager has given you. Then, if you can reel off updates whenever asked, you will look in complete control.

Also, you know, be proactive. If something is broken, fix it and keep everything ticking over nicely so your manager doesn’t have to be concerned with the general office issues. Let them know you are proactive, though I don’t think your work speaks for itself.

As an Assistant, it rarely gets noticed.

So, be indispensable to your manager, but let them know you are too!

20 ways to impress your Executive

We have a great cheat sheet to help Assistants build a strategic partnership with their Executives. The cheat sheet is full of fantastic tips and tricks that Assistants can quickly implement to build rapport, manage expectations, and communicate effectively with their Executives.