10 Tools for the Busy Executive Assistant
If you’re expected to do the work of 6 people, these tools are about to become your new BFFs.
The life of an Administrative or Executive Assistant is a never ending series of voicemails, scheduling conflicts, employee complaints, coffee runs, and last but not least, paper cuts.
While there unfortunately isn’t an app to help prevent paper cuts (unless you count going paperless as a solution), here are 10 everyday EA problems that can be solved with the help of a handy app, Chrome plugin, or Slack integration.
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1. Get back time in your day with the help of these bots for Slack
What’s worse than having to deal with an executive’s schedule? Trying to schedule a meeting between two execs. Use Meeting Bot to keep your head from exploding. Right from within Slack, you can see a person’s availability, find a meeting room, and book the meeting. It will even help you anonymously nudge people when they are late. Two thumbs up.
Need to purchase items for the office, but don’t have time to research the cheapest option? Send Cently the item and quantity you would like to purchase, and the bot will come back with the cheapest purchasing solution.
No need to remember everybody’s birthday and find the perfect gif to send out over the #general channel. BirthdayBot collects all of your coworkers’ birthdays through Slack, and then automatically celebrates that person on their special day, so you can celebrate those extra 10 minutes of your day you just got back.
Have a repetitive task that needs automating? There’s probably a bot on Slack that can help you out. Check out Slack’s directory of bots for office management for more ideas.
2. Ditch the sticky notes: Let a secure extension, such as LastPass, save your passwords
LastPass is a Chrome extension that allows you to have one master password for all of your accounts. That’s right, one password. LastPass saves your login for almost any website or app; all you have to do is press a button to log in. It’s simple, it’s secure, and it’ll save you loads of time.
It also allows you to securely share passwords with others. Read: no more emailing the intern all your very important passwords.
3. Last minute catering for meetings? There’s an app for that
These days, it seems like every week a new food delivery service is launched.
From ezCater to UberEats, GrubHub to DoorDash, Alchemista (Boston & DC only) and EatClub (Bay Area & LA only), there’s a whole slew of services that can help you save time when planning lunch for the big investor meeting next week.
And if you’re looking for optimal convenience, try the Caviar Food Bot on for size. Caviar’s Food Bot let’s your colleagues select their lunch order right from within Slack. You pick the restaurant and checkout time, and the Caviar Food Bot will make sure the order is complete and submitted on time.
Oh, and don’t forget the beverages. Sick of ordering cases upon cases of water bottles and seltzer cans each time your VIP clients are in town? Check out Bevi, the smart water cooler that offers still, sparkling, and flavored water on demand. Bevi’s white glove service automatically takes care of everything, so you’ll never have to worry about ordering LaCroix for your clients again.
For the complete list of tips for Executive Assistants, see here.
Never place another beverage order.
Meet Bevi, the smart water cooler that never runs out.
Our technicians are sent automatically, so you don’t have to lift a finger.
