COOL THINGS / INTERACTIVE / PLAYBOOKS
Working Together
A practical playbook for executive assistants and executives to agree how they’ll work together. Compare what you expect from the role, decide which responsibilities and decisions can be handed over, and make time to discuss workload, communication and development. You’ll create a working agreement to refer to as the partnership grows, including how you want to use AI.
Free to use from start to finish, with no signup. Fill it in here or print a blank copy, and print or save a PDF with your answers whenever you like.
What you’ll create
Your day-to-day working agreement
On page 15, you’ll record the arrangements you’ll need most often: your check-in, how requests arrive, who covers when someone is unavailable, and your first priorities. Keep a copy somewhere you can both refer to it.
- Write the agreement together, using the decisions you’ve made in the exercises
- Keep the earlier pages for details about responsibilities, permissions and workload
- Revisit it each quarter, or sooner when something needs to change
Your working agreement
One page you both keep. Pages 8 to 14 hold the detail behind every line of it.
Both of us have read this page and agree to work this way.
Our approach
What you need to agree on
Agreeing on the work is only part of the conversation. You also need the background to make decisions, permission to act, and enough time to do the work well. These four areas guide the exercises and give both people a way to raise what they need.
Share the background behind requests, what matters most, and what a useful result looks like.
Define what the executive assistant can decide independently, where approval is needed, and what access the work requires.
Include recurring work and preparation, agree on availability, and decide what changes when another priority is added.
Agree how you will share feedback, raise concerns and support development, with commitments from both people.
How to use it
From individual preparation to a shared agreement
Complete your own two preparation pages before you meet. Think about how you work, what you expect from the role, and what you need from the other person. Choose the points you want to discuss. You do not need to share every personal note.
Compare your expectations, then agree on responsibilities, communication, workload and AI use. Try your decisions against three common situations, including conflicting priorities and an approval that cannot wait. Use one shared screen with one person recording your answers, or work on paper.
Complete the working agreement with the arrangements you have chosen and any actions still needed. Save or print it for both people. Keep the supporting pages nearby when you need more detail.
Prepare separately, then discuss what helped, what became difficult, and what needs to change. Review the workload and direction of the role as well as the day to day arrangements. Update your agreement and set the next review date.
Inside the playbook
Which pages to complete and when
An introduction to the approach, how to use the exercises, and what to keep or print.
Your working style, the contribution you want to make, and what you need to do the role well.
Your priorities, how you work, and the support and decisions you want to hand over.
Agree on the work and how you will handle it, including decisions, workload, feedback and AI. Record your working agreement on page 15.
Each person prepares one page. Then review the partnership together and agree on changes for the next quarter.
Type into the answer fields and use the prompts to guide your conversation. Short notes are fine. Record what you’ll need to refer to later.
Answers are saved in this browser so they are here when you come back. They are not sent to us and do not sync between devices, and anyone using the same browser profile may be able to see them. Save a PDF to keep a separate copy. Start over clears the answers saved here.
Choose the pages you need, either blank or with your answers. Print them or save a PDF. Check which pages you’ve included before sharing your copy.
Plan your first conversation
Set aside time to prepare and meet. Start with the points that matter most to each of you, and record the arrangements you’re ready to commit to. You can return to the agreement as you learn what works.