As an assistant, one of your highest priorities is to manage your executive’s most valuable asset – their time. If you look at your role through this lens, then you’ll stop viewing “calendar management” as an uninteresting part of your job.
This episode features an excerpt from my audiobook, The Leader Assistant: Four Pillars of a Confident, Game-Changing Assistant. In this chapter, I cover managing your executive’s calendar before it manages you, setting up and maintaining the “Ideal Week” tactic, and auditing your executive’s time.
Looking to free your time and energy so you can better support your executive(s)? Automate scheduling with booking links using this amazing tool for automated calendar management.
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CONNECT WITH ME (JEREMY BURROWS)
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- #1 Amazon Bestselling book – The Leader Assistant: Four Pillars of a Confident, Game-Changing Assistant
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ABOUT ME
I’m a longtime executive assistant, international speaker and trainer, founder of The Leader Assistant Community and Premium Membership, author of the #1 Amazon Bestselling book, The Leader Assistant: Four Pillars of a Confident, Game-Changing Assistant, and host of the #1 podcast for assistants – The Leader Assistant Podcast.
I’ve worked with CEOs, professional athletes, Fortune 100 board members, billionaires, pastors—and their assistants—in both the nonprofit and for-profit sectors.
I’ve also had the opportunity to speak at administrative professional and executive assistant conferences all over the world, including Hong Kong, Thailand, and Germany.
I’m currently EA to the Founder and CEO of Capacity, a fast-growing artificial intelligence SaaS startup with an AI-powered, support automation platform.
My passion is to help you lead well, resist burnout, and automate before you’re automated.
I live in Kansas City, MO with my amazing wife and 2 boys. My hobbies are podcasting, beer, music, crypto, stocks, and entrepreneurship.
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EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
00:00:00.840 –> 00:00:04.600
JEREMY: A Leader Assistant is keenly aware of the climate in the C-suite.
00:00:05.440 –> 00:00:13.220
JEREMY: They’re ready to respond to shifts in scheduled events, fires that need to be extinguished, and challenges in scheduling meetings.
00:00:14.200 –> 00:00:18.380
JEREMY: Paris D, Executive Assistant in Memphis, Tennessee.
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<v SPEAKER_2>The Leader Assistant Podcast exists to encourage and challenge assistants to become confident, game-changing leader assistants.
00:00:39.872 –> 00:00:43.312
JEREMY: The Leader Assistant Podcast is brought to you by Goody.
00:00:44.132 –> 00:00:49.112
JEREMY: If you’re starting to think about holiday gifts for your team like I am, Goody is a game changer.
00:00:49.832 –> 00:00:55.352
JEREMY: They have amazing gifts that people will really love, including brands that give back to charitable causes.
00:00:56.192 –> 00:01:01.252
JEREMY: As a long-time executive assistant, I’ve always been nervous about holiday gifting season.
00:01:01.552 –> 00:01:09.832
JEREMY: But thankfully, Goody’s platform lets you send one gift or hundreds at the same time without ever worrying about shipping details.
00:01:10.372 –> 00:01:11.252
JEREMY: Can I get an amen?
00:01:12.112 –> 00:01:20.212
JEREMY: With Goody, your gift recipients provide all their shipping info, and they can even swap out your gift for another option if they prefer.
00:01:20.952 –> 00:01:25.112
JEREMY: It’s free to start gifting and you can get a $20 credit when you sign up.
00:01:26.012 –> 00:01:33.192
JEREMY: If you mentioned you heard about Goody from The Leader Assistant Podcast, Goody will add an extra $10 credit to your account.
00:01:33.912 –> 00:01:38.272
JEREMY: Go to leaderassistant.com/goody to start gifting today.
00:01:38.292 –> 00:01:40.412
JEREMY: Hey friends, it’s Jeremy Burrows.
00:01:40.432 –> 00:01:43.012
JEREMY: Welcome to episode 185.
00:01:43.372 –> 00:01:51.892
JEREMY: We’re going to be talking all about calendar management today, and I am going to do that via a chapter of my audiobook.
00:01:52.332 –> 00:02:00.412
JEREMY: This is chapter 10, which is titled Calendar, and it talks all about how to manage your executive’s most valuable asset, which is their time.
00:02:01.172 –> 00:02:14.172
JEREMY: So I hope you enjoy all of the good tactics around calendar management and the ideal week calendar template, as well as auditing your executive’s time.
00:02:14.892 –> 00:02:19.312
JEREMY: And of course, if you enjoy this clip, be sure to check out the entire audiobook.
00:02:19.952 –> 00:02:22.512
JEREMY: You can do that on Amazon or Audible.
00:02:23.792 –> 00:02:29.032
JEREMY: audio.leaderassistant.com will take you right to the Audible page.
00:02:29.572 –> 00:02:37.312
JEREMY: Of course, if you prefer reading the book, go ahead and check it out at amazon.leaderassistant.com.
00:02:37.612 –> 00:02:40.392
JEREMY: There’s a digital ebook version or paperback version.
00:02:41.232 –> 00:02:46.312
JEREMY: And I recently published the workbook discussion study guide to go along with it.
00:02:46.392 –> 00:02:51.032
JEREMY: You can check that out on Amazon if you want just the digital Kindle version.
00:02:51.052 –> 00:02:54.072
JEREMY: It’s called The Leader Assistant Workbook.
00:02:54.792 –> 00:03:02.932
JEREMY: Or you can download the printable PDF version at leaderassistantbook.com/workbook.
00:03:04.172 –> 00:03:05.032
JEREMY: Chapter 10.
00:03:05.992 –> 00:03:06.592
JEREMY: Calendar.
00:03:07.652 –> 00:03:09.272
JEREMY: I’m not a fan of assistance.
00:03:09.672 –> 00:03:12.412
JEREMY: I do so much more than just schedule meetings all day.
00:03:12.452 –> 00:03:13.152
JEREMY: Battle cry.
00:03:14.212 –> 00:03:17.752
JEREMY: I know it’s true, but I challenge you to think about it differently.
00:03:18.752 –> 00:03:23.832
JEREMY: Scheduling meetings is important, so take pride in your ability to manage your executive’s calendar.
00:03:24.952 –> 00:03:32.352
JEREMY: After all, your executive’s most valuable asset is their time, and you’re tasked with managing that asset.
00:03:33.452 –> 00:03:36.672
JEREMY: Feel free to add asset manager to your job description, by the way.
00:03:38.192 –> 00:03:44.792
JEREMY: How you manage your executive’s calendar has a huge impact, positive or negative, on every aspect of their world.
00:03:46.372 –> 00:03:49.412
JEREMY: Their physical, emotional, and relational health.
00:03:50.272 –> 00:03:53.352
JEREMY: Their energy, productivity, and focus.
00:03:54.812 –> 00:03:57.452
JEREMY: Everything flows out of how they spend their time.
00:03:58.872 –> 00:04:03.332
JEREMY: The problem is, many assistants let others decide how their executive will spend their time.
00:04:04.372 –> 00:04:10.192
JEREMY: They passively wait for someone to request a meeting, then look for time on the calendar that might work.
00:04:11.292 –> 00:04:17.132
JEREMY: With an unstructured method like this, your executive’s mind will wander while they’re in meetings.
00:04:18.632 –> 00:04:19.412
JEREMY: Why am I here?
00:04:20.232 –> 00:04:21.472
JEREMY: How am I going to get through this?
00:04:22.392 –> 00:04:24.592
JEREMY: Shouldn’t I be doing something else with my time?
00:04:25.572 –> 00:04:26.932
JEREMY: Will I ever eat again?
00:04:28.452 –> 00:04:31.272
JEREMY: As the meeting progresses, their inner dialogue continues.
00:04:32.772 –> 00:04:33.672
JEREMY: How did this happen?
00:04:34.432 –> 00:04:37.652
JEREMY: Did I think about my priorities when the invite hit my inbox?
00:04:38.452 –> 00:04:39.492
JEREMY: Well, not really.
00:04:40.292 –> 00:04:42.492
JEREMY: Did my assistant check with me before booking it?
00:04:43.392 –> 00:04:45.772
JEREMY: Probably, but it seemed important at the time.
00:04:46.692 –> 00:04:51.512
JEREMY: Did my assistant tell me I would regret taking this meeting, yet I ignored their warning?
00:04:52.672 –> 00:04:53.352
JEREMY: No comment.
00:04:54.832 –> 00:04:58.192
JEREMY: How to manage your executive’s calendar before it manages you.
00:05:00.032 –> 00:05:04.312
JEREMY: Far too often, assistants and their executives let their calendars run wild.
00:05:05.132 –> 00:05:12.832
JEREMY: This leaves executives in draining meeting after draining meeting, dreaming of the work they could be accomplishing if only they weren’t stuck there.
00:05:13.952 –> 00:05:20.912
JEREMY: It’s a surefire way to ruin their productivity and suck the joy out of them, not to mention make them useless in meetings.
00:05:23.012 –> 00:05:27.452
JEREMY: A calendar dictated by others turns into a burnout machine.
00:05:28.612 –> 00:05:36.572
JEREMY: It’s time for you, The Leader Assistant, to take back the reins of your executive’s calendar, managing it before it manages you.
00:05:37.872 –> 00:05:43.932
JEREMY: Take control so your executive can spend more time doing what they love, what they’re good at, and what they’re paid to do.
00:05:45.432 –> 00:05:50.652
JEREMY: You can start by creating a rigorous vetting process to rank incoming meeting requests.
00:05:51.732 –> 00:06:00.012
JEREMY: Find out who your executive wants to meet with, who they don’t want to meet with, and which VIPs should get bumped to the top of the list every time.
00:06:01.432 –> 00:06:06.372
JEREMY: When a request comes in, you can run it through your priority filter and act accordingly.
00:06:07.612 –> 00:06:09.672
JEREMY: But having a vetting process isn’t enough.
00:06:11.592 –> 00:06:16.512
JEREMY: With no structure to your executive’s calendar, you might simply schedule meetings whenever they’re free.
00:06:18.052 –> 00:06:25.852
JEREMY: Even worse, your executive might schedule them based on how they feel in that moment without considering how they’ll feel when the time comes to attend that meeting.
00:06:27.432 –> 00:06:31.112
JEREMY: When it comes to your schedule, no structure equals chaos.
00:06:33.212 –> 00:06:42.372
JEREMY: The Ideal Week To prevent RSVPs based on emotions, I like to set up an Ideal Week calendar.
00:06:43.852 –> 00:06:47.592
JEREMY: I first heard of this concept from Michael Hyatt’s blog and podcast.
00:06:48.732 –> 00:06:57.552
JEREMY: Hyatt credits Todd Duncan’s Time Traps and Stephanie Winston’s The Organized Executive for introducing him to the idea.
00:06:59.152 –> 00:07:11.712
JEREMY: With the Ideal Week tactic, you block out times on your executive’s calendar for meetings, projects, checking email, working out, reading, taking breaks, and whatever else they want to spend their time doing.
00:07:13.252 –> 00:07:19.072
JEREMY: It’s a great way to set aside specific times each day for doing what they need to do when they need to do it.
00:07:20.212 –> 00:07:28.672
JEREMY: You can download the Ideal Week calendar template at leaderassistant.com forward slash ideal week.
00:07:30.192 –> 00:07:43.052
JEREMY: For example, your executive might like to use their mornings to focus on projects, so adding an event called Focus Time on their calendar every morning from 8am to 10am could be a good start.
00:07:44.412 –> 00:07:50.272
JEREMY: Unless there’s an emergency, you and your executive can agree not to schedule meetings during those blocks of time.
00:07:51.072 –> 00:07:51.972
JEREMY: Here’s a quick tip.
00:07:52.732 –> 00:07:57.672
JEREMY: Make sure you clearly define what a true emergency is to take out the guesswork.
00:07:58.692 –> 00:08:08.612
JEREMY: On the other hand, your executive might get their best work done in the afternoons, so you might schedule a 9am to 11am block on their calendar for meetings and phone calls.
00:08:09.872 –> 00:08:19.412
JEREMY: If this is the case, when you receive a meeting request, schedule it in the 9am to 11am slot and leave your executive’s afternoons open for focus blocks.
00:08:20.652 –> 00:08:27.232
JEREMY: I’ve set up an ideal week calendar for my former executive, my current executive, and myself.
00:08:28.192 –> 00:08:32.532
JEREMY: It’s an extremely helpful way for you and your executive to protect your time.
00:08:34.332 –> 00:08:45.372
JEREMY: Instead of allowing your calendar to be a blank slate that fills up as invites come in, your new schedule serves as a guide to direct invites into predetermined time slots.
00:08:46.972 –> 00:08:50.652
JEREMY: With the ideal week, you’re in control of your executive’s schedule.
00:08:52.392 –> 00:08:55.052
JEREMY: What would your executive’s ideal week look like?
00:08:56.372 –> 00:09:02.372
JEREMY: If you have no clue how your executive’s ideal week would look, take some time to audit their current calendar.
00:09:03.592 –> 00:09:10.312
JEREMY: Look at the big picture, as well as one meeting at a time, then help your executive consider the following questions.
00:09:12.192 –> 00:09:13.532
JEREMY: Is this meeting necessary?
00:09:14.732 –> 00:09:16.392
JEREMY: Does this type of meeting drain me?
00:09:17.592 –> 00:09:19.512
JEREMY: Does this type of meeting bring me joy?
00:09:20.812 –> 00:09:23.472
JEREMY: What time of day am I generally more productive?
00:09:24.512 –> 00:09:25.732
JEREMY: Am I dreading this meeting?
00:09:26.772 –> 00:09:28.892
JEREMY: Can someone else attend on my behalf?
00:09:30.032 –> 00:09:34.132
JEREMY: Does this meeting really need an hour, or could it be done in 20 or 30 minutes?
00:09:35.452 –> 00:09:39.012
JEREMY: What times and days of the week am I more pleasant to be around?
00:09:39.972 –> 00:09:42.232
JEREMY: Hint, schedule meetings at these times.
00:09:43.792 –> 00:09:56.812
JEREMY: As you work through your executive’s calendar, you and your executive might determine a more extensive audit of their life is needed, their workload, their job description, and their goals, personal and professional.
00:09:57.752 –> 00:10:06.092
JEREMY: If so, I’d encourage you to walk them through my five-step process outlined in Chapter 8 to help them do what they love and eliminate the rest.
00:10:07.352 –> 00:10:16.652
JEREMY: Once your executive has a handle on how their current schedule is laid out, meet with them to discuss their preferences, then put together a first draft of their ideal week.
00:10:18.032 –> 00:10:29.312
JEREMY: You can create a new Google or Outlook calendar strictly for the purpose of crafting their ideal week, or you can use a whiteboard, a spreadsheet, or a Google Sheet to work it out first.
00:10:30.032 –> 00:10:32.072
JEREMY: Personally, I like to start with a Google Sheet.
00:10:32.792 –> 00:10:40.912
JEREMY: It’s easy to quickly move things around, color coordinate based on type of event, and share with my executive so he can make changes to it.
00:10:42.532 –> 00:10:50.312
JEREMY: As soon as you get the ideal week close to a final version, overlay it with your executive’s current calendar to see how far off it is.
00:10:51.392 –> 00:10:57.012
JEREMY: From this point, you can determine how long it might take to implement their new weekly rhythms.
00:10:58.512 –> 00:11:03.892
JEREMY: It might take a couple of months to completely switch over, but starting small is better than not starting.
00:11:05.212 –> 00:11:08.972
JEREMY: Even after the ideal week is implemented, you’ll tweak it here and there.
00:11:09.832 –> 00:11:15.872
JEREMY: As long as your changes are intentional steps toward more productivity and focus, that’s OK.
00:11:18.672 –> 00:11:19.932
JEREMY: One calendar vs.
00:11:19.952 –> 00:11:24.432
JEREMY: multiple calendars Does your executive have more than one calendar?
00:11:25.272 –> 00:11:30.572
JEREMY: I know it might seem wise to split different types of events in your executive’s life into separate calendars.
00:11:31.852 –> 00:11:37.032
JEREMY: Maybe a personal calendar, a vacation calendar, a kid’s calendar, work, etc.
00:11:38.272 –> 00:11:47.072
JEREMY: Generally speaking, especially in smaller companies or startups, I’m a big proponent of your executive having only one calendar.
00:11:48.632 –> 00:11:57.052
JEREMY: There’s no reason to waste brain power and endure decision fatigue by having to determine which calendar to use every time you create a new event.
00:11:58.652 –> 00:12:05.432
JEREMY: You can always use different colors or naming conventions to delineate types of events, but do it all on one calendar.
00:12:06.792 –> 00:12:08.832
JEREMY: There’s no work-life balance.
00:12:09.632 –> 00:12:10.972
JEREMY: There’s only life balance.
00:12:11.972 –> 00:12:16.832
JEREMY: Your executive can’t live two or three different lives as much as they might like to.
00:12:18.292 –> 00:12:20.292
JEREMY: Track your executive’s time.
00:12:21.312 –> 00:12:27.972
JEREMY: The next game-changing tactic to add to your arsenal is time tracking, or auditing your executive’s time.
00:12:30.072 –> 00:12:31.992
JEREMY: In the business world, data is king.
00:12:32.752 –> 00:12:38.332
JEREMY: It’s one thing to tell the board your executive spends too much time meeting with internal team members.
00:12:39.592 –> 00:12:48.732
JEREMY: It’s another to show them a graph or chart with the exact number of internal meetings versus external meetings your executive had in Q1 versus Q2.
00:12:50.012 –> 00:12:57.992
JEREMY: The data from the audit helps your executive stay honest about where they’re spending their time and allows them to reorder their priorities if needed.
00:12:59.092 –> 00:13:06.452
JEREMY: Let’s say your company hits its sales mark in Q1 when your executive spent 78% of their time in sales meetings.
00:13:07.592 –> 00:13:13.832
JEREMY: But your company missed its goal in Q2 when your executive spent only 24% of their time in sales meetings.
00:13:15.112 –> 00:13:22.412
JEREMY: Based on the data you gathered, the board might want to ensure your executive clears their calendar for sales meetings in Q3.
00:13:23.952 –> 00:13:29.372
JEREMY: Tracking your executive’s time is one of the more tangible ways you can impact your company’s bottom line.
00:13:30.492 –> 00:13:36.052
JEREMY: Employ this tactic and you’ll further cement yourself as the revenue generator we discussed in Chapter 7.
00:13:38.052 –> 00:13:43.572
JEREMY: This tactic also helps you stay honest as you zoom out to look at how you’ve been managing your executive’s time.
00:13:44.592 –> 00:13:53.572
JEREMY: It’s easy to get stuck in the weeds as you schedule meeting after meeting, but when you look at data covering a 6 or 9 month period, it can be eye-opening.
00:13:54.872 –> 00:13:56.992
JEREMY: Did you give up on the ideal week tactic?
00:13:58.032 –> 00:14:03.052
JEREMY: Did you say yes to low priority meetings that should not have made it on your executive’s calendar?
00:14:04.252 –> 00:14:13.852
JEREMY: Sit down with your executive to review the data, talk about what’s encouraging and what’s not, and make an action plan for any changes to their schedule you need to make going forward.
00:14:14.952 –> 00:14:17.192
JEREMY: I used to audit my executive’s time manually.
00:14:18.012 –> 00:14:26.592
JEREMY: At the end of a quarter, I’d go week by week and count how many sales, internal, capital raise, networking, or other types of meetings took place.
00:14:27.872 –> 00:14:30.092
JEREMY: I would then report the numbers to my executive.
00:14:31.312 –> 00:14:38.092
JEREMY: Thankfully, there are now tools to automate much of this process so I can audit my executive’s calendar in a fraction of the time.
00:14:39.452 –> 00:14:47.112
JEREMY: You can use a time tracking tool, but many of these require your executive to trigger the tool every time they switch between tasks.
00:14:48.432 –> 00:14:53.332
JEREMY: I don’t know about you, but my executives don’t have the brain power available to worry about something like this.
00:14:54.772 –> 00:15:10.492
JEREMY: You can also use a tool like BASE’s software for assistance, basehq.com, which has an analyze feature to track average meeting duration, who your executive met with the most, and more.
00:15:11.752 –> 00:15:22.272
JEREMY: I’ve found the best system for my situation is a workflow using Google Calendar plus Zapier plus Google Sheets plus Conditional Formatting plus Manual Cleanup.
00:15:23.212 –> 00:15:31.192
JEREMY: When an event ends on my executive’s calendar, Zapier creates a row in a Google Sheet and logs details from that event.
00:15:32.612 –> 00:15:39.072
JEREMY: The title, description, length, location, type, attendees, and date of the event are all added.
00:15:39.992 –> 00:15:42.592
JEREMY: Zapier allows you to customize which fields to include.
00:15:44.012 –> 00:15:48.752
JEREMY: This system adds data from every single event my executive has to one spreadsheet.
00:15:49.512 –> 00:15:59.152
JEREMY: All I have to do is go back through and edit what’s already there, set up a few formulas, and create some tables and charts to report an overview to my executive.
00:16:00.752 –> 00:16:04.552
JEREMY: This new workflow literally saves me days of manual work.
00:16:05.952 –> 00:16:15.432
JEREMY: If you’d like to see step-by-step instructions on how to set up this workflow, visit leaderassistantbook.com forward slash bonus.
00:16:16.692 –> 00:16:22.192
JEREMY: If you’re not already gathering calendar data for your executive, now is the perfect time to start.
00:16:23.172 –> 00:16:26.552
JEREMY: Make it one of your goals during your annual review.
00:16:28.032 –> 00:16:35.792
JEREMY: Set aside time to research what tools will work best for you and your executive and ask them what data they’d specifically like to track.
00:16:37.632 –> 00:16:44.432
JEREMY: Employ these calendar tactics to better manage your executive’s time, their most valuable asset.
00:16:45.472 –> 00:16:47.152
JEREMY: Alright, I hope you enjoyed that chapter.
00:16:47.212 –> 00:16:52.912
JEREMY: Again, you can download the entire audiobook at audio.leaderassistant.com.
00:17:03.465 –> 00:17:05.965
<v SPEAKER_2>Please review on Apple Podcasts.
