EA - PAs in EA: A Brief Guide and FAQ by Vaidehi Agarwalla

Link to original articleWelcome to The Nonlinear Library, where we use Text-to-Speech software to convert the best writing from the Rationalist and EA communities into audio. This is: PAs in EA: A Brief Guide & FAQ, published by Vaidehi Agarwalla on October 25, 2022 on The Effective Altruism Forum. This guide was produced by Pineapple Operations; Holly Morgan is the primary author, with support from Jennifer Waldmann and Vaidehi Agarwalla (all mistakes are Holly’s own). 1. What is a Personal Assistant? What is an Executive Assistant? Personal Assistants (PA) tend to be hired remotely on a self-employed basis for ~5-10 hours a week per client. Support is generally focused on saving time in someone’s private life and is primarily administrative. Executive Assistants (ExA) tend to be full-time, on-site employees. Support is usually focused on saving and managing time in someone’s professional life and is often a mix of administrative, motivational, and generalist. For simplicity, we’ll refer to both as PAs for the rest of this post. 2. What typical tasks might a PA do? Admin and research Travel logistics Research and summarise/book top options for flights and accommodation Look into the latest rules around visas, coronavirus, etc. Procurement Research and summarise/buy top options for a particular product or service E.g. laptop, eye mask, credit card, gift, hairdresser, therapist, apartment Desk research Write/find digestible summaries of specific articles, papers, books, etc. Answer questions, e.g. “Are any organisations working on X?”, “What’s the best productivity solution for Y?” Household management In-person errands, e.g. receive/return packages, process mail, duplicate keys Find and manage household workers, e.g. cleaners, childcare, electricians Motivation and focus Check-ins Regularly run through a tailored list of questions, e.g. “What are your most important tasks this week that you're worried you won't do?”, “Can we think of any motivational hacks now to increase the chance that you'll do them?”, “What steps will you take this month towards becoming your best self?” Check that the person has started work, spent 1 hour on top-priority tasks, done 7 hours' work today, etc. or just literally stand behind them like a patient teacher while they write that aversive email Proactively address current/anticipated issues with workflows and prioritisation processes based on a deepening familiarity with those systems and the goals behind them Disruptive and 'ugh' tasks Do tasks that must be done frequently or at a specific time and so would otherwise disrupt the person’s schedule/focus, e.g. regularly check incoming messages for anything sufficiently urgent and important, take notes in meetings, try to get hold of a company that rarely picks up, buy tickets as soon as they go on sale Do/start tasks that the person finds particularly aversive, e.g. draft emails, book medical appointments Inbox, calendar, and task management Provide daily summaries of what today’s priorities seem to be (and stay on top of deadlines) Triage incoming emails and politely decline requests as appropriate Schedule meetings (with more privacy/professionalism/gatekeeping/nuance than an app) Deliver briefings before meetings and conferences Manage tasks as they’re thought of, allowing the person to quickly regain focus on their work Listen to the person’s problems without judgement :-) Generalist and miscellaneous Generalist Drawing on the Assistant’s generalist skill set, ad hoc tasks that there are no dedicated staff for (yet) Can involve generally being another pair of eyes (proofreading, being a sounding board, rubber ducking, user testing, etc.) or potentially management in specific areas (social media, recruitment, office, events, etc.) Miscellaneous This is an opportunity to add a complementary set of skills and attributes to someone’s working life So if someone is disorganised, reckless, pessimistic, etc., they could work with an assistant who’s the opposite 3. How much...