EA Onboarding Secret: Proactivity is the primary goal.

You've found the perfect Executive Assistant. They're sharp, eager, and ready to dive in. But here's the thing — if you're not explicitly prioritizing proactivity in your onboarding, you're leaving a ton of potential on the table.

Let's be real. Most entrepreneurs don't want to spend their days playing the "what can I delegate next" game. It's a hassle. It adds more to your plate. You need an EA who can proactively identify opportunities and run with them.

Here's why you should make it an explicit goal:

1. It sets clear expectations: Your EA knows from day one that being proactive is a top priority. It’s unacceptable for them to be just a task-taker. They're should be a valuable long-term member of your team.

2. It unlocks their full potential: When your EA feels empowered to proactively help out, they'll go above and beyond. They'll fill in your gaps, anticipate your needs, identify inefficiencies, and find creative solutions.

3. It makes delegation a breeze: With a proactive EA, delegation becomes effortless. You're not constantly wracking your brain for tasks to hand off. They're already one step ahead, offering to take things off your plate before you even realize it.

So, how do you bake proactivity into your onboarding process?

1. Set expectations: Have an open conversation about your expectations. Make it clear that proactivity is a top priority.

2. Continuously give rationale and resources : Share your goals, priorities, and pain points. When you would like something done differently, share why you would like to do that differently and your thought process behind it.

3. Give examples: Communicate specific instances of proactivity you've seen or would like to see. Paint a clear picture of what it looks like in action.

4. Set goals: Make it an explicit goal for them to communicate one proactive point per week. Build a culture of continuous improvement.

5. Encourage initiative: Create a safe space for them to ask questions, challenge assumptions, and bring new ideas to the table.

Remember, a proactive EA is a game-changer for your business. Make it an explicit goal from day one, bake it into your onboarding, and you won’t regret it!

Tool of the Week: ATO - AI email templates

AI tools that have helped amplify the EA and Client productivity

Offloading emails is one of the most freeing things a founder can delegate. But it’s hard to understand intuit all of the different patterns and types of emails that you send.

It can take a 30 min meeting + multiple iterative back-and-forths to get this right.

That’s why we’re building an AI tool that will analyze your emails sent and automatically come up with email drafts that you and your EA can agree on.

If you’d like to give this a try, let us know by replying “AI email templates”!