TLDR: In your first week, get access set up, learn how your executive likes to work, and audit what's already on the calendar before you change anything.
Write every preference down in one place, agree on how you'll make decisions together, and make one small win visible by Friday.
The checklist below covers all of it, day by day.
Before day one: access
You can't do much without the right access, and chasing it down in week one wastes days. Ask for these up front:
- Calendar delegate access with permission to create, edit, and delete events.
- Email delegate access, or at least an agreed way to see scheduling threads.
- Access to any other calendars they use: a personal calendar, a board calendar, or a second company.
- Contacts and VIP list: board members, investors, direct reports, family, and anyone who always gets through.
- Tools: the video conferencing account, the booking tool, the travel account, and the expense system.
Day one: the preferences conversation
Book 45 minutes with your executive in the first day or two. This conversation will save you dozens of small mistakes.
Questions worth asking:
- Working hours. When is the earliest and latest you'll take a meeting? Is that different for internal and external meetings?
- Time zones. Where are you usually based, and how often do you travel?
- Meeting lengths. What should a default 1:1, a pitch, or an intro call be?
- Buffers. Do you need time between meetings, and before or after anything in particular?
- Protected time. What's off-limits? Deep work blocks, workouts, school pickup, and Friday afternoons are common.
- Priorities. What are your top priorities this quarter? Which meetings should always win a conflict?
- Who gets a yes. Who can I accept for without asking? Who always needs a check first?
- Meals and travel. Do you want lunch blocked? How much travel time should I hold before and after flights?
- Communication. How do you want questions from me: Slack, text, a running doc, or a daily check-in?
Write the answers down the same day, while they're fresh. You'll come back to them constantly in the first month.
Days two and three: audit what's already there
Your executive's calendar already reflects years of decisions, some intentional and some accidental. Look at the next four weeks and the last quarter before you change anything.
Check for:
- Recurring meetings. Who owns each one, is it still needed, and is the length right?
- Conflicts and double-bookings in the next two weeks.
- Meetings with no agenda or no clear owner.
- Time zone mismatches, especially on events created while traveling.
- Old holds that were never released.
- How much time went to their top priorities last quarter, compared with everything else.
Keep a list of what you find, but don't cancel anything yet. Bring the list to your next check-in and decide together.
Day four: set up your system
Now that you know the preferences and the current state of the calendar, set up the tools you'll use every day.
- Color coding by meeting type so you can read the week at a glance.
- Templates for the meetings you'll book most, with the right length, location, and video link.
- A scheduling message you can send quickly, with times in the other person's time zone.
- A shared place for notes on recurring requests, VIPs, and decisions your executive has made.
Day five: show one win
By the end of the week, fix one thing your executive will notice. Clearing a conflict they were dreading, adding a buffer before their hardest meeting, or giving back an hour from a stale recurring meeting all work.
Then send a short Friday note: what you did, what you found, and two or three decisions you need from them. It builds trust fast and sets the rhythm for every week after.
How Vimcal EA helps with a new executive
Vimcal EA is built around working one executive's calendar at a time, with that executive's preferences, time zone, and working hours remembered. When you take over a new calendar, you set those up once and Vimcal applies them every time you schedule.
A few other things help in the first weeks:
- Calendar audit. Review the last quarter by meeting type, attendees, recurring meetings, and more, and see how much time went to each. You can model changes, like shortening a recurring meeting, and export a one-pager to review with your executive.
- Private notes on events that only you can see, for the context you're still learning.
- One-click handoff if you're taking over from another assistant, so preferences and context come with the calendar.
- Fast switching between executives if this is your second or third, with each executive's settings remembered.
FAQ
What should an executive assistant do in the first week?
Get calendar and email access, have a preferences conversation with the executive, audit the existing calendar, set up your system, and deliver one visible win by Friday.
What questions should I ask a new executive about their calendar?
Working hours, time zones, default meeting lengths, buffers, protected time, top priorities, who can be accepted without checking, and how they want to communicate with you.
Should I clean up the calendar right away?
Audit it right away, but change things only after you've reviewed your findings with your executive. Some odd-looking meetings exist for good reasons.
How do I keep track of an executive's preferences?
Write them down in one place on day one and update them as you learn. In Vimcal EA, each executive's preferences, time zone, and working hours are saved and applied when you schedule.
Try Vimcal EA
Start a free Vimcal EA trial and set up your new executive's calendar in an afternoon.