An executive assistant runs the CEO's calendar and inbox, books travel, prepares every meeting, chases follow-ups and decides who gets time. Done well, the CEO spends their hours on the few things only they can do. Here is the full job list, and what good looks like after 90 days.
Why the job centers on time
A long-running Harvard Business School study, published in HBR in 2018, tracked how 27 CEOs of large companies spent their time. As summarized by MGMA, they worked an average of 62.5 hours a week. They had 37 meetings a week, which took 72% of their work time. Electronic communication took another 24%.
Those CEOs ran large firms, so your numbers will differ. The point holds for any owner: meetings and messages are where the hours go. That is why the executive assistant's core work is the calendar and the inbox.
The job list
Calendar
- Books, moves and confirms meetings, with the right people and links.
- Protects focus blocks and keeps buffers between calls.
- Applies your rules: which days for clients, which for internal work, which meetings you never take.
- Looks a week and a month ahead to spot clashes and overload.
Inbox
- Sorts every message: needs you, can be answered by them, can wait, can be archived.
- Answers routine email in your tone, such as scheduling, confirmations and simple requests.
- Drafts replies for your approval on anything sensitive.
- Gives you a short daily list of what needs your answer.
With Google's tools, this is done through Gmail delegation. A delegate can read, send and delete mail for you, but cannot change your password.
Travel
- Books flights, hotels and ground transport to your preferences.
- Builds one itinerary with times, addresses, confirmations and contacts.
- Rebooks when plans change, so you do not have to.
Meeting prep
- Sends you a short brief before each important meeting: who, why, what they want, what you want.
- Gathers the documents, last emails and notes you need.
- Writes or circulates the agenda.
Follow-ups
- Sends notes and next steps after meetings, or drafts them for you.
- Tracks what others owe you, and chases it.
- Keeps a list of your own promises and reminds you before they are due.
Gatekeeping
- Is the first contact for people who want your time.
- Says no politely, in your name, to requests outside your rules.
- Moves urgent issues to you fast, and holds the rest for the right moment.
Often added
- Expenses and receipts, invoices to approve, simple bookkeeping entry.
- Confidential documents: contracts, offers, board or investor material.
- Small projects: an event, an office move, a new tool rollout.
- Some personal tasks, if you agree on the boundary first.
The BLS describes executive assistants as giving high-level support to an office and its top executives, and notes that the roles usually need several years of related experience.
What good looks like in 90 days
Days 1 to 30: take over the calendar and inbox
- Has delegate access to your email and calendar, set up with the right permission level.
- Has read your how-I-work page and asked questions about it.
- Books and moves all meetings without asking you.
- Sorts the inbox daily and sends you one short list of what needs you.
- Holds a 10 to 15 minute check-in with you each working day.
Days 31 to 60: prepare and follow through
- Sends a brief before each important meeting, without being asked.
- Sends follow-ups after meetings and tracks what is owed.
- Answers routine email in your tone, with few edits needed.
- Handles all travel end to end.
- Turns repeat tasks into written steps.
Days 61 to 90: run whole areas
- Keeps your inbox under control without your daily input.
- Says no to the right requests and explains why when needed.
- Spots problems in your week before you do.
- Runs a weekly review with you on the coming week and open items.
- Suggests changes to your rules based on what they see.
If day 90 looks like day 30, talk about it openly. Usually the cause is missing access, rules that were never written, or an owner who still does the work themselves.
How to measure the job
You do not need a dashboard. A few plain checks each month are enough:
- How many hours a week do you now spend on email and scheduling, compared with before?
- How many follow-ups were missed this month?
- How often did you walk into a meeting unprepared?
- How many times did you correct the same thing twice?
- Do clients and your team say it is easier to reach you, or harder?
Talk through the answers in your weekly review. Each problem usually points to a missing rule or missing access.
What an executive assistant should not do
- Make decisions that change your promises to clients without asking you.
- Sign contracts or approve payments above a limit you set.
- Write to key clients in your name without your rules on tone and topics.
- Hold your passwords in a notes file. Use delegate access and a password manager.
Next steps
To decide what to hand over in week one, see how to delegate tasks. A weekly review template gives you both a shared rhythm, and how to write meeting notes helps your assistant send clean follow-ups. For your own week, time management for business owners covers what to keep for yourself.