Posted on 27/03/2024 by Hannah Costen
It is no surprise that times have moved on from the days when Executive Assistants were known as secretaries or receptionists. The role of an EA has continued to develop and evolve to match how people work in 2024.
As we continue to see advances in technology, AI has become part of regular vocabulary but is also a term that many find intimidating, amidst the prominent fear in the working world that machines will replace many roles.This being said the rise in AI has expanded the duties of an EA; moving communications to new media, and taking over work that assistants once did, with the role now focusing on handling data, managing teams and problem-solving. In many cases, the role of an EA has been taken online with a surge of Virtual Executive Assistants becoming a popular, entirely remote role.
‘The best assistants aren’t worried about losing their jobs to AI teach; they’re focused on putting it to work for them’ – Katie Hill, 2024 for Boldly
The four tips below will help you to work alongside the evolving technology to enhance your ability at work.
Automate Administrative Tasks:
Routine admin tasks like calendar management, travel bookings and expense tracking can be automated.
Tools such as Calendly are great to help with calendar management – the purpose of the system is to act as a scheduling automation platform, that aims to eliminate the need for endless back-and-forth email chains and find the perfect time. It is a simple and effective tool that will make your job more efficient.
Real-Time Insights & Analytics:
AI can help generate real-time reports and enhance an EA’s ability to provide valuable insights which can support decision-making processes.
Sisense is an AI-powered analytics tool that helps businesses build analytics into their product, creating reports that provide insights to drive engagement and increase revenue – this is a great tool to ensure you know how people are moving around your website, in turn, leading to data-driven decisions being made.
AI Prompts:
Telling AI what you want it to do for you is considered a prompt, you can choose whether to give it a simple open question or specific instructions depending on what you would like the outcome to be.
You can use prompts on tools such as ChatGPT to save time and make goals more manageable – an example of this could be asking for the best rated product to perform a certain task or breaking down a bigger goal into smaller tasks.
Organisational Tools:
Many years ago, as an EA, you may have been required to keep paperwork filed correctly. As technology has grown, much of this has moved online, and inboxes have become a part of our everyday routines, trying to keep these organised and filter based on organisation can be tiresome.
SaneBox is a tool that helps to keep everything organised for you and could save you a lot of time; SaneBox’s AI identifies important emails and automatically prioritises them to help you stay focused.
As the role of an EA is reshaped and technology evolves it is inevitable that certain tasks will be automated, however, this should not be a daunting process. If you learn how to use AI to the best of your ability, using it as an aid to make your job easier and eradicating mundane tasks, your role can transform.
We hope the tips above help you to do just that and look forward to seeing how the evolution of the EA role will continue in the future!
To find out more about this subject click on the links below to view the articles used to write this blog:
-4 Trends Reshaping the Executive Assistant Role in 2024
-20 Best Executive Assistant Skills in 2024 for Insane Effectiveness
-The Future of Executive Assistants: Adapting to a Changing Landscape
-2023 Virtual Assistant Trends
-50 Powerful ChatGPT Prompts for Executive Assistants to Boost Productivity