6 Effective Communication Protocols To Transform CEO-EA Partnership

The executive and assistant partnership is greatly enhanced when a communication protocol is established. A well-developed protocol improves communication, accountability, team health and results.

Are you spending time discussing everything and not solving anything?  Too often, the executive and the assistant are busy but not productive. If you are not communicating well, your decisions and results will be below par. Trust and performance evaporate quickly if communication is poorly delivered. This creates confusion leading to mistakes, re-dos, and wasted cycles. Using effective communication channels will go a long way to solve this.

Alignment on which channel to use and for what purpose, is key.

A communication protocol establishes which channel to use for which type of communication. When put into practice, the number of communication threads gets significantly reduced.  This is because each thread is of the highest quality eliminating misunderstandings. 

LUMINI has developed a set of protocols for the executive and the assistant to follow:

1. Face to face meeting: used for moments of importance. Action items coming out of the meeting must be executed flawlessly. A face-to-face meeting is appropriate when confidential information is exchanged. Trust building.
2. Video conference: used when material needs reviewing. Attachments need explanation to be understood. Dialogue is encouraged.
3. Phone call: used for one-on-one conversations. No visual aids but need a back-and-forth Q&A session. Helpful for detailed instructions. Allows for clarifying questions.
4. Email: used when a record of the conversation needs to be kept. Contains details needed to be referenced later. Travel itineraries are an excellent use of email.
5. Text message: used for quick and simple status updates. An executive running late for a meeting can send his assistant a quick text message.
6. Collaboration tool: e.g., Slack. Best used when working in a team and needing to share files. Following a conversation thread cuts down the volume of emails. Puts everyone on the same page.

Ask yourself the following:

       *   Is all communication being routed through the proper channels?

       *   Is most of the communication being routed through the proper channels?

       *   Is some of the communication being routed through the proper channels?

       *   Is little of the communication being routed through the proper channels?

       *   Is the purpose of each communication channel clearly understood?

Adopt the six channels, understand their purpose, and keep all communication tight and intentional.

When the CEO and Executive Assistant partnership gets this right, magic happens.  Sporadic, random, and unproductive communication disappears. It is replaced by regular, purposeful, and productive dialogue using the proper channels.

If you would like to implement the communication methodology immediately, contact Jackie Ludwig at [email protected].  Jackie can schedule a time for us to chat.    Best Wishes. Sean