What can I delegate to my Personal Assistant?

Have you recently acquired the support of a Personal Assistant / Executive Assistant and don’t know how the relationship works, or what to delegate? After the initial joy of achieving such status in the workplace has worn off, the reality of having a real, dedicated, Personal Assistant, starts to kick in. Followed by confusion of what it actually means, and how does the relationship work for you. 

If you are in this situation, congratulations on your new status. Your employer has clearly recognised that you are a huge asset to your company, and with the right level of support, your efficiency can be improved, your time will be better utilised, and you will be more profitable for the business. Win, win! 

But has your boss invested time with you to explain how PA support works and how to delegate? Hell No! You are supposed to know all this stuff already – obviously! So, who do you ask? A colleague – no, that would make you look totally incompetent. Your PA? No way – he or she will think you are not worthy of their skills, and you don’t want to lose their respect on day one – do you? So, you enter the relationship foolishly, very green, not knowing what a PA does, what you’re supposed to delegate, and more importantly, not knowing how to tap into this amazing skill-set so you can hit your targets and then some! 

Unfortunately, PA’s do not come with a ‘user manual’ or a ‘quick set up guide’. And whilst some PA’s will take the initiative, book a meeting with you, and explain how it works, some will not.  I personally have supported senior level executives, who are mostly experienced in the workings of the relationship, and I have also had the privilege to support newly promoted executives, who didn’t have a clue. Its nothing to be ashamed of. 

If you don’t know how to do something in business – you learn, fast. Buy a book on it, listen to a podcast, go to professor Google, but get your head around it quickly, and move on. 

After one company restructure I experienced, I was appointed to work with an EVP who hadn’t had PA support before. She took the initiative, asked for 30 mins of my time and her opening statement was “I don’t know what a PA does”. Admittedly, I was slightly taken aback by this, because surely my PA skills were legendary, right? But being the uber office pro that I am, I swallowed my pride and talked through what I do, how I could support an EVP, and how it worked on a day to day basis. I also asked the EVP what her major time stealers were, what wasn’t working for her, and which projects could I help her with. 

It took that particular EVP just 4 weeks of working with me, to grasp how much she could outsource to me, what my skill-set was, and she increased her efficiency significantly. She had learnt, with my support, what to delegate to a Personal Assistant.

Is there a business book out there which can help YOU nail this? Yes! How to be a PA by Maria Fuller is extremely insightful for executives who are in the same situation. It’s a great resource for understanding what us PAs do, the type of tasks you can delegate, and how to utilise the fantastic skill-set that is now at your disposal.  

This small investment will see you benefiting in a very short period of time. You will become a master of delegation and your PA will respect you for it in bucket-loads! Keep it in your top drawer - its your personal insight into the world of 'PA's'.

Maria Fuller is a PA industry expert and has over 20 years’ experience of supporting C-Suite level executives at multinational companies. 

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