EA ONBOARDING GUIDE

Key Milestone

By day 30: The EA has a complete picture of the principal's world and has taken ownership of at least two recurring responsibilities.

Establish access to all systems, calendars, inboxes, and communication channels before day one where possible.

Shadow the principal for the first two weeks. Observe before acting. The goal is pattern recognition, not performance.

Map the principal's decision-making style: what they delegate immediately, what they hold, and what they have never thought to delegate.

Identify the three to five recurring tasks that consume the most principal time. These become the first handovers.

Establish a daily check-in rhythm. Five minutes at the start and end of each day is more valuable than a weekly review.

Key Milestone

By day 60: The EA is operating independently on all administrative functions and has made at least one decision the principal would have previously made themselves.

Begin making low-stakes decisions independently. Document each one and share a brief summary with the principal at the end of the week.

Take full ownership of inbox triage, calendar management, and travel. The principal should not be touching these.

Identify the gaps: what is falling through the cracks that no one has owned? These are the highest-value opportunities.

Have a direct conversation about communication preferences. How does the principal want to be updated? What do they never want to be interrupted for?

Begin building relationships with the principal's key contacts. An EA who is unknown to the people around the principal cannot protect the principal's time.

Key Milestone

By day 90: The EA and principal have had a calibration conversation and agreed on the operating model for the next phase of the relationship.

The EA is now the primary filter for the principal's time, attention, and access. Nothing reaches the principal that the EA has not assessed.

Conduct a formal calibration conversation at day 90. What is working? What is not? What does the principal wish the EA would do more of, or less of?

Identify the next level of delegation. What decisions could the EA make that they are currently escalating? Have an explicit conversation about expanding that boundary.

Review the first 90 days against the original brief. Has the scope shifted? Does the role description still reflect the reality of the work?