Delegation 101
Delegating is an investment that pays dividends. However, it is an investment, and it is not always easy. We know you can be successful at delegating and we're here for you as you master delegation.
5 key steps for delegating well:
Be clear with your information and vision. Be specific so there is no ambiguity. Ask the person you are delegating to, to repeat back what you have said. Clarity is key. Like a skillful carpenter, measure twice and cut once.
Make sure you give this person any resources they might need and the permission to make decisions. You’ll need to coach them directly on the first few tasks. Over time, they will take less of your time. Assume no one does it perfectly the first few times.
Define what success looks like and set expectations. Set when you’d like the task or project to be completed and be sure to add some buffer time if possible.
Don’t do the work yourself after you’ve delegated it. This communicates that you don’t really trust the person. If you must step in, communicate that first and let them know why.
Be sure not to delegate by abdication. You are ultimately still responsible for outcomes. Someone else is working on your behalf, but don’t dump and run.
Blog Articles on Delegating
Case Study for Athena Executive Services
Best Selling Author, Gary John Bishop “My career is about to go ape-shit” This case study demonstrates one of the many different places our potential clients find themselves before they hire us. Gary was in the ideal place when he approached us – a place that many...
Creating Systems That Work for You Now
As you may know, I was part of Athena on its inception day several years ago. I was the first contractor hired here and was a part of our firm’s growth for four years before being offered an opportunity to serve an impact investing firm as their Chief of Staff....
Does Having an Executive Assistant Feel Too Fancy?
Do you ever have the experience that you work all week and then most of the weekend you're still working, but for a different boss? Do you shift from working for your boss or your company to working for the family or household? Even though I'm 52 and the term...
What could you delegate off your plate today?
There really is a world of delegating effectively and turning over projects and tasks to another person in a way that leaves you freed up to go do the things that are a higher and better use of you and your unique talents and expertise. We will always shout this from...
From Conflict Management to Conflict Curiosity
What is the best way to avoid or manage conflict? I hate conflict as much as the next person, but there is an interesting paradox here. If you get interested in the conflict or issue, then a lot of the fire or fury can quickly be taken down a notch. People tend to...
Trusting the Captain of Your Ship – Your EA
Gina celebrated a milestone birthday a couple of years ago and wanted to do something on her bucket list - a yacht trip around the beautiful Puget Sound area where she lives most of the year. How the heck do you plan something so fabulous? You turn to your EA, of...
Your Time and Your Health
“The price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it.” – Henry David Thoreau We all know that rest and sleep allow our body and mind to recover, rejuvenate and heal. Studies have shown how important this is. Experts have published articles and papers about...
Learning and Growing Together
A couple weeks ago we had our Athena Leadership retreat. This happens a couple times a year with me and our two managers, Jennifer and Dorian. We met together right back where we were last January, in Pismo Beach, California. This is one of my happy places. It’s on...
Delegating: Take the Risk and Be Surprised
I have been doing a lot of podcast interviews lately. (Thank you, Your Expert Guest.) It has given me the opportunity to speak to many different audiences and communities, from architects to bookkeepers, to women lawyers and moms running businesses. I particularly...
What Does an Assistant Really Want to Do?
What FEEDS a high-caliber Executive Assistant? They want to be of Service to you! You may think to yourself, “Really, they want to do this stuff that I absolutely do not want to do?” Yes, they do. “Really, they want to book my airline tickets and send out birthday...
Delegating: Take the Risk and Be Surprised
Athena CEO Gina Cotner was recently interviewed by Davina Frederick of Wealthy Woman Lawyer. The conversation moved into a discussion around delegating thinking: I thought to myself, “Well, let's just go there and see if I can start to speak somewhat intelligently...
Athena Team spotlight: Rachel Brown
https://youtu.be/tCb4pSQud9s Executive Virtual Assistant, Rachel Brown Meet Rachel Brown - one of our incredibly talented Virtual Executive Assistants. ⭐️ Rachel loves the work-life balance she helps her clients achieve, while also maintaining a healthy balance for...
Security and Confidentiality
https://youtu.be/yHmNEzShvuk How do Athena EAs manage confidentiality, discretion, and security? Our Executive Assistants operate with the highest level of integrity required - which is all-important when you have people’s personal lives and personal data in your...
The Wild World of AI
https://youtu.be/6E5wgRpKFOk Gina, Jennifer, and Dorian discuss how AI is being used by their team to support clients. Dorian explains that they are using AI to help with scheduling appointments, proofing calendars, and preparing for debriefing. They also discuss how...
Delegation is Empowering!
Athena CEO Gina Cotner does a household purge pretty regularly, going through closets and adding things to the giveaway pile. Recently she noticed that a lot of what she was sorting through represented who she was five years ago. Some of this had to do with the...
Perception vs. Reality
We will always take the opportunity to sing the praises of our high-caliber Executive Assistants. The role of an EA is so much more complex than many people realize! This article gives some great examples of the types of things an EA actually does - and the perception...
Finding Balance
Our clients let us know on a regular basis just how organized their lives are, and how much stress has been removed from their daily existence because they have Rockstar Executive Assistant. We never get tired of hearing about it! Having a right-hand person in your...
Fitting fun and self-care into a busy schedule
I don’t have time for Yoga. I don’t have time to learn Pickleball. I don’t have time to see my parents. I don’t have time for a lunch date with a friend. Someday when I have more time, I’ll be one of those people. Is that you, or something like you? Some weeks, is...
Hooked On Delegation
For the first few years of owning and operating this business I didn't have an assistant. I was running a firm centered around the great benefits of having an Executive Assistant, but I had never had an Executive Assistant myself. It wasn’t really a problem, because I...
Gina Joins the Authentically Successful Podcast
Gina was recently featured on the Authentically Successful Podcast, joining Leadership coach and podcast host, Carol Schultz, to talk about her journey through various entrepreneurial ventures to arrive at Athena Executive Services. Gina and Carol speak about the...
Invest in your talent
We have always been a virtual company. Our team of high-caliber, high-performing Virtual Executive Assistants are located all across the United States. Working from home is a benefit and advantage for our contractors. However, this doesn't mean they are working alone!...
Thriving during times of crisis
"If ever there were a time when executives must call on the full complement of their assistant’s skills and utilize them to best advantage, now would surely be that time." So true! High-performing EAs have always been the not-so-secret super power for their...
Finding the Time to Live a Balanced Life with Gina Cotner
Athena Executive Services CEO Gina Cotner was recently a guest on Robyn Crane's podcast, "Growing Your Financial Business...The Woman's Way". Outsourcing work or expanding your team can be scary, especially if you’ve always handled it on your own. But if you follow...
The Red Hot Chili Peppers, delegating thinking and fuzzy sweaters!
Athena CEO Gina Cotner recently had a fantastic conversation with Erin Keam on her podcast, "Erin Keam's Conversations about Closets with my Closest 1000 friends". The two talk delegation, breaking free to get back to the things you are truly passionate about, and so...
Partnership: The Key to Growth
You need partners to be able to grow, and I’ve been incredibly fortunate in this world. Meet my great friend, Dorian. Here we are five years after I founded this firm, Athena Executive Services. She no longer works for me, but we are still very close. She's now...
Moving from Delegating Tasks to Delegating Thinking
I’ve been expanding my knowledge and abilities around delegating in this last year. I consider myself an expert delegator in many ways, but there is always more to master and new things to discover. I’ve been moving myself from simply delegating well-defined tasks and...
The Joy Of Not Being Accountable
A few weeks ago I wrote this blog on how I was preparing to completely relax and recharge on my upcoming vacation. Well... I did it! I did the real work and it paid off. The Operations Manager at Athena, Jennifer Tracy, was a Rockstar. It wasn’t all smooth sailing...
Time Management Tips
Why do some people seem to get so much more done with their time than others? What is the secret to managing your time effectively? There are many answers that are unique to everyone on this topic, but we did find a handy guide about this all-important productivity...
Matthew Jarvis: The real list of what one Executive has delegated to his Assistant
This newsletter was shared by one of our clients and it really captures why one would have a virtual executive assistant: Hi, In theory, delegation should be the simplest of tasks. Simply ask/pay someone else to do it. The reality is that for most people, delegation...
‘Building Your Band’ With An Executive Assistant
Athena Executive Services Contractor, Christina Miser, was recently interviewed by her executive, Gabe Nelson, on his podcast "Solopreneur Money" . Christina and Gabe discuss the tasks that a 'band manager' (aka executive assistant) can do, and creating a true...
Doing the work to be on a real vacation
My trip to Hawaii is looming. Looming? I mean, “Yea! I’m traveling again!” but it’s all coming back to me now, the work it takes to have a real vacation. It’s really worth it and it takes work. It’s now June 9. I leave June 29. I’ll be gone for 10 days. If I want a...
The Art of Productivity
Being productive takes planning, and energy. We have all put off those things that we really wanted or needed to do! We recently read a fantastic blog post about how time, energy and attention are all at the core of being more productive, and the importance of daily...
Effective Delegation with Gina Cotner
Athena Executive Services CEO Gina Cotner was recently interviewed by Gabe Nelson on his podcast, "Solopreneur Money". The two discussed the art of delegation, Gina's path to becoming an entrepreneur and how to strike a balance between demanding and appreciative. "If...
Delegating the “Heavy Lifting”
The art of delegating can be tricky, but worth it! How do you develop the people around you to really rise up and take on more of the 'heavy lifting' of your company? Giving things 'away' can seem daunting but once you do the real work of learning how to effectively...
Delegation: It takes too long to explain what I want done!
"It takes too long to explain what I want done!" Have you ever had that thought? "I know I should delegate this, but it will take me longer to explain how to do it then it will take for me to simply do it myself!” You are correct. You are absolutely right. So why...
The Accountable Leader
Our CEO Gina Cotner frequently speaks to other Admin and Executive organizations on successfully managing expectations what accountability really looks like. Our own team of high-performing Executive Assistants are continuously trained and mentored on setting and...
Managing Expectations
Recently, Gina delivered a workshop at the amazing Empower 2020 Summit for Assistants, put on by our friends at Base. Here is an excerpt from the discussion on what it takes to truly be a high-caliber executive assistant: Managing Expectations of those around...
Questions Executive Assistants and Executives Should Ask Each Other
Great stuff again from Jeremy Burrows! Jeremy is an Executive Assistant, Author and Podcast host. In this Op-Ed for Base, Jeremy discusses effective Communication, and outlines specific questions Executives and their Assistants should be asking each other. "Think back...
Taking time off during the pandemic? But how?
“But business is slow. I’m not as busy as I once was. How can I justify Time Off?” Time Off is for your overall wellness. And you have been taxed during the pandemic. You have been taxed mentally, emotionally and perhaps financially and physically. It has been a...
Tips for Effective Delegation
Coaching our clients and Executive Assistants on effective delegation is one of the most important things we continue to do. Delegating with intention keeps a partnership strong and productive. We like this article that outlines 7 tips the author finds effective....
The Leader Assistant
We've been looking forward to the launch of this book! Our CEO, Gina Cotner, had the honor of writing a recommendation for The Leader Assistant, that is included on the inside pages. She was also interviewed by author Jeremy Burrows on his podcast last year, The...
Managing people remotely
Athena has always been a work-from-home company. 100% virtual, from Day 1. But what does it take to manage your staff from home? There’s a lot that has come out in the last week or two on tips for working from home. But how do you manage your team, while sitting...
The Power of a Brilliant Assistant
Business legend and entrepreneur, Sir Richard Branson, knows a thing or two about effective delegation and what it takes to succeed. This article is from a few years ago, but his points still ring true. Having a smart phone is great, but having that right-hand person...
The productivity issues we now have, due to real-time-all-the-time communication
Very interesting article about “the problems with real-time-all-the-time communication,” and the value of “asynchronous communication,” which is when you send a message without expecting an immediate response. “This trend toward near-constant communication means that...
Delegate Effectively
Enjoy this great podcast about delegating effectively! We love Asian Efficiency and learned a lot from this particular episode. If you don’t have an hour to learn about delegation, check out the podcast cheat sheet and pick a section that sounds good to you! Perhaps...
CEO Gina Cotner featured on The Leader Assistant Podcast
Our CEO Gina had the pleasure of being interviewed by Jeremy Burrows, on The Leader Assistant Podcast. Gina and Jeremy discuss what it takes to be a virtual vs. on-site Executive Assistant, time management and other tips, and how to set yourself apart as a...
I’m going to have a balanced life – as soon as I find the time- Part 7
Ok, so now back to my request that you do this project by the end of the month. Many people can’t say if they can do that or not. When you’re out of money you start bouncing checks. However with time, we have some crazy notion that we can keep squeezing things...
I’m going to have a balanced life – as soon as I find the time- Part 6
You may be saying to yourself, “Yes, of course Gina, my CALENDAR IS clearly my check register for Time. Duh. That’s where I would look to see if I had time for that project." I know some of you have amazing calendars. Online. Color coded. Filters that can be turned on...
I’m going to have a balanced life – as soon as I find the time- Part 5
The point here is to get that you’re SPENDING. You know, you talk to your kids about spending money. You maybe talk to them about overspending or "living within their means". Or maybe you are having these same discussions with your spouse or partner. We’re pretty...
I’m going to have a balanced life – as soon as I find the time- Part 4
While we all woke up today with different amounts of money in our checking accounts, we all woke up with the SAME AMOUNT of time. It’s not like I get a 32 hours in a day and you get 20 hours in a day, and you get 35. You, like everybody else, get 24 hours in a day,...
I’m going to have a balanced life – as soon as I find the time- Part 3
Ok, well, as odd as it may seem, I’m going to give you a new way to think about Time by talking about MONEY. Unlike Money, Time is something you cannot make more of. I’ll probably say that 3 more times today. You all have different amounts of money in your checking...
I’m going to have a balanced life – as soon as I find the time- Part 2
A balanced life is different for everyone. It’s personal and individual. One could say that star athletes or famous musicians, have not lived a balanced life (thousands of hours of their life spent mastering their craft), but I suspect in many ways, it gave them the...
I’m going to have a balanced life – as soon as I find the time- Part 1
So the title of this presentation is, "I’m going to have a balanced life - as soon as I find the time". You are, aren’t you? As soon as you find the time, things WILL GET balanced, yes? Today my intention is to give you a new access, or a new perspective, or a new...
Do you want control, or do you want time?
Delegating is going to require that you give up some control. That’s just how it is. So you can keep control and keep all that stuff on your plate that is truly not the best use of you. Or you can let go of a little control and start to reap the benefits of...
Live a balanced life once you have the time
We are delighted to share that our CEO is giving a talk on one of her areas of expertise this month! She is speaking about scheduling and living a balanced life as the luncheon speaker for the Women Business Owners organization on March 28th in Bellevue, WA! A...
Do you or your team have Hurry Sickness? Are you spreading secondhand stress?
Do you feel there is never enough time? “The anxiety that comes with running around to meet demand after demand has been proven contagious in group settings—and secondhand stress is a serious factor in breaking down meaningful communication and producing effective...
Which overdraft fee are you paying on your life?
Money can be made. Time cannot. If you blow $5,000 in Vegas you can earn it back. If you had a day recently where you were overwhelmed and took on too much, and it left you tired and cranky and not great with your kids or your staff, and it gave you a migraine, you...
Hate your inbox? Outsource it. Here’s why and how.
Hate your inbox? You’ll love this article! Here’s an excerpt we love: Managing your own email inbox is a bit like consuming empty calories; you are busy but not efficient. In fact, a 2016 survey by Adobe found that working people in the United States spend over four...
What to Delegate? Stuff I’m great at? Maybe.
Thank you Shawn Blanc for once again brining sanity to a fast-paced overwhelming world. We love this blog of his that starts with the actual definition of "Overwhelm”. What are some things that you’re great at and don’t like doing? The Very Definition of...
5 SIGNS THAT YOU ARE READY FOR AN ASSISTANT
This is an interview of our CEO, Gina Cotner, about the signs that you are ready for a part-time Executive Assistant. We love this interview so much we wanted to share it with you again.
Podcast from our CEO on Delegation
Gina Cotner, our CEO, was recently interviewed by Matthew Jarvis of the Perfect RIA on the world of Delegation. The Perfect RIA (Registered Investment Advisor) is an organization started by Micah Shilanski and Matt Jarvis who both have financial advisor practices....
Is it worth it to delegate?
I can do it faster myself. It's going to take me longer to explain what to do, than it will take for me to do it myself! No one will do it like I want it done. No one can do it as well as I do. I tried delegating before. It didn’t go well. Sound familiar? Those...
Reduce the burden of delegating: check in often
To those who need to delegate: you know you need to delegate more! This is the year to give away that low-level stuff you waste time on! We know you say to yourself, “But it’s going to take me longer to explain what to do than it will take me to do it myself!”...
Are EA’s worth the trouble?
We invite you to read the views of the five high-profile founders in this article, as well as the view from their EAs. We particularly love how the EA for Dropbox’s founder feels she is still teaching him how to use an assistant in the first place. We can relate!...