One of the biggest reasons companies will hire a fractional executive assistant is to reduce the workload of their executive team, and unload administrative tasks so they can focus on the higher level strategy/ROI items. As a company grows, so does the work that must be performed to reach the goals of the company.
In this post, we will look at how you can reduce the workload of your top-level leaders by using a fractional executive assistant.
Let’s get started!
What is a Fractional Executive Assistant?
You may be familiar with an executive assistant, but have you heard of a fractional executive assistant? A fractional executive assistant gives you the same benefits as an EA but without the worry of hiring somebody full-time internally, covering payroll costs, and worrying about retention.
A fractional executive assistant is just like it sounds as they work a “fraction” of the time a typical full-time executive assistant would work based on your level of needs. They take on the same executive assistant typical day to day duties, but the correct fractional EA hire can be your strategic right hand and will help eliminate the cost of hiring a full-time employee or take away the stress of trying to find tasks for your EA that will take up the entire work week.
Hiring a fractional executive assistant to reduce the workload of your executive-level team is a fantastic solution for getting the EA support you need, but with the flexibility and not having to commit financially to a full-time hire.
How to Reduce Your Workload using a Fractional Executive Assistant
There are many benefits to hiring a fractional EA. One of the most important ones is to reduce the time you have to spend on mundane activities such as setting up meetings, replying to emails, doing research, and managing projects.
Since your executive assistant will be working part-time, they will help you delegate high priority tasks that work towards your business priorities.
Here are some other examples of how hiring a fractional EA can reduce your workload:
Reduces the number of administrative tasks you need to perform.
Managing your calendar and inbox in a way that protects and frees up your time.
Cuts down on time spent on research.
They will help with meeting preparation and presentations.
They can make travel arrangements for you and your executive team.
They are good at creating systems within an organization that can save both time and money.
What Are The Best Tasks To Assign To A Fractional Executive Assistant?
Since your fractional EA will only be working part-time, you need to determine which tasks to delegate based on which areas provide the most lift to your team's productivity.
You may need to have a sit-down meeting with your leadership team and find out which jobs are causing the most concern and taking up the most time. This will vary from company to company and ultimately come from the team leader.
EAs of Take It Easy Group can help them figure out the tasks and priorities to delegate. They are good sounding boards and have been here many times before.
With growing organisations, oftentimes, CEOs are wearing multiple hats, and taking on a lot more of the administrative responsibilities and other buckets that they should not be spending time on. To grow effectively, and ensuring scaling is intentional, and sustainable, a Fractional EA can be a great starting point to free up some space for Founders and CEOs to think about the larger picture and identify opportunities for continued growth and other higher ROI planning.
Tasks such as managing communications, returning emails, scheduling meetings, and helping to organize team meetings, taking board minutes, working on a workback cadence for investor relations
You want to get the best return on investment from the fractional executive assistant, so make sure you understand where your new assistant will perform best and accomplish the most. The right Fractional EA service will help you figure out where your EA can make the most impact for you as well based on your needs.
Related Links: 5 Things To Consider When Hiring an Executive Assistant
Questions To Consider When Hiring a Fractional Account Executive
If you are considering hiring a fractional executive to help you save some time, there are questions you should ask yourself before using this strategy.
Do You Need Help to Take Your Company to the Next Level?
If you’re a start-up company or an entrepreneur, it may be time to move your company to the next level. You may be feeling that you don’t have time to do all of the day-to-day tasks you need to do.
If you’re getting bogged down with answering emails, attending meetings, and playing customer service to all of your clients, hiring someone to help with these tasks may be the perfect strategy to up your game.
You may also feel that your skills have been maxed out. You need someone to help with time management, goal setting, and internal team building skills.
These are all signs that a fractional executive assistant would be suitable for you.
Are You Growing Fast Enough?
Many young companies either grow too fast or stay stagnant for too long. Companies with stagnated growth usually don’t have the right team to keep all the moving pieces operating efficiently.
You may even have the right team, but you’ve exhausted your budget and can’t afford to hire a full-time executive assistant to help organize the leadership team. The entire purpose behind hiring a part-time executive assistant is to keep costs low while increasing the productivity of your top management team.
By hiring a fractional executive assistant, you can focus on higher-ROI tasks and reach your goals for the company that you have set out to accomplish.
Does Your Team Have The Proper Skills to Reach Your Goals?
You may have an excellent team of people running the company, but there may be a slow down in growth simply because they don’t have the expertise to meet the vision you have for the company.
You and your team may have been running the company using a certain level of business sense, and you have gotten comfortable with this rhythm. You have become complacent instead of becoming more regimented with goal setting. You feel like you are constantly chasing after the next fire or bogged down by day to day tasks, instead of strategically growing the business or satisfying customers.
Finding a fractional executive with the expertise and know-how to accomplish the vision that you see for your company might be the ticket to taking your company from good to great in a much shorter period of time than what you could do if you and your team tried to do it on your own.
Conclusion
Hiring a fractional EA instead of a full-time EA can provide you with a means of saving precious time in your day-to-day operations, ultimately allowing your leadership team to perform at their highest levels possible.
For more information on hiring a fractional executive assistant, visit Take It Easy Group today.