All companies need a pathway to define executive assistant goals within a manageable timescale.
Without a proper pathway, you can’t expect executive assistants to be able to deal with problems in the overall running of a business.
Of course, even successful businesses hit stumbling blocks from time to time.
However, there is a greater chance that your business will thrive if you set the right achievable goals.
Let’s see how goal setting can significantly improve your business and the best strategies you need to implement.
Take The Right Approach To Setting Goals
It is paramount that all businesses set goals for their executive assistants to achieve. However, there are specific things to consider when selecting your organisation’s goals.
These goals are commonly called SMART goals which personal assistants and executive assistants must follow.
When setting your company’s professional goals, you must ensure they are specific and clearly defined. If your goals are hard to understand, your company will encounter problems.
All SMART goals you set must be measurable to ensure you get the best out of your executive assistants.
Only set goals that are achievable, as this is only fair to your executive assistants. Providing the right equipment and training will help them achieve success.
Your executive assistants must have goals that are relevant and in alignment with your overall business strategic goals.
And all goals need a timescale to ensure executive assistant objectives are met.
Your Executive Assistant’s Goals Have To Support Business Growth
Business growth is the main objective when setting your own professional goals. Therefore, you must always maintain advanced knowledge of all goals for an executive.
An organisation can be truly successful only when executive assistant objectives and business goals align.
An excellent executive assistant must display great organisational skills so that they have a positive impact on all staff within the entire organisation.
Setting the right goals will help enrich employee morale, aiding their professional development to drive their career forward.
Excellent emotional intelligence is required by executive assistants, especially in the current business climate, if they are to do this effectively.
Those in an executive assistant role must concentrate on their own goals and the career development of the staff they oversee.
Executive assistant’s goal setting can prove tricky, but when implemented well with new team-building ideas, it can empower your workforce and forge an excellent working environment.
Priority Goals For An Executive Assistant
Continuous Improvement
Setting attainable goals which should be achieved in a timely manner should always be a continuous asset in performance reviews.
A business can only truly improve if each department undergoes growth plan evaluation regularly.
To ensure they hit their measurable goals and targets, it is vital to assess each staff member’s overall performance to ensure they hit their measurable goals and targets.
The only way staff will stay focused is if executive assistants constructively assess their objectives during their performance review.
It is up to good executive assistants to set the standard for other staff members to follow.
An executive’s goals must be seen to be adhered to; otherwise, standards will filter down to staff, affecting the overall company culture.
When executive assistants’ goal setting is achieved and improved upon, it sets an excellent example for all employees.
Focus On Training New Skills
A vital part of the planning process to achieve success is a clear focus on training staff in new skills.
Whatever level of the company you work in, you will always need to upskill regularly to keep pace with new developments in your industry.
Always look at the latest online courses that will help improve your executive assistant’s performance, which will keep your business moving forward.
The new skills they acquire could enhance their personal goals and help them stay motivated.
With new knowledge come new opportunities for you and your staff, which can only benefit your business.
Improved Time Management
Calendar management is vital to any business, so improving task turnaround time allows you more wiggle room in your appointment setting.
Time is money; the faster you can perform a task to a high standard, the better. Therefore, saving time should be a key goal-setter regarding professional growth.
Here are three top tips to improve time management.
- Do a time audit, which will help you understand where your time is being spent.
- Create a prioritised daily schedule that you should constantly update as an administrative professional.
- Limit distractions, whichwill always happen in your personal and professional life, but the less you have, the more time you will save.
Develop Delegation Skills
Delegation is one of the essential personal development skills of executive assistants, which helps aid job satisfaction as well as help company growth.
Identifying which time-intense tasks to delegate to other employees can be tricky.
However, giving a personal assistant extra responsibility by delegating a task can aid their personal career goals.
Knowing the strengths of your administrative assistants goes a long way to implementing delegation correctly.
You must provide the proper training and resources to achieve the best results.
Being constructive with your feedback on how personal assistants performed the delegated tasks will help their confidence and career growth.
Actively Request Feedback
You may be an administrative or executive assistant who must seek constructive feedback to aid with performance goals.
Nothing is worse than hitting deadlines, reaching personal objectives within the workplace, and not getting feedback. Not having feedback can leave staff feeling undervalued and unmotivated.
Requesting feedback at each project stage will ensure you are doing things correctly. You don’t want to assume you are achieving goals when they are done incorrectly.
If the feedback is overly critical and not constructive, it will have a detrimental effect on how this person approaches giving feedback to the staff working under them. Therefore, the way feedback is delivered is vital.
All businesses aim to be successful and create a happy and highly motivated working environment for all staff. We achieve this aim by being open and constructive with feedback.
Let Us Help You Manage Executive VAs
As you have read, it is vital that executive assistants, as well as all other staff, have clearly defined SMART goals to achieve.
Only by setting achievable goals will your employees reach their professional potential, which will benefit your business.
Need help managing virtual and executive assistants?
Then call us for a free consultation to explain how we can source, hire, train and manage the right virtual assistant for your business.