Delegate Your Holiday To-Dos to Your Assistant

Preparing for the end of the year is time consuming—from wrapping up the details of Q4 to reflecting and strategizing for 2021. Add in planning for the holidays and your schedule may seem more hectic than ever.

Thankfully, your assistant can help take this seasonal work off your plate. One key to delegating tasks is understanding the types of to-dos you can share or pass off. We’ve compiled a list of common end-of-year and holiday tasks that executives commonly delegate to their assistants to inspire you to regain your time and enjoy the holiday season without stress.

Start gifting

Your assistant can make an initial list of people you’d like to send gifts to—family members, colleagues, neighbors, delivery personnel, etc. They can also brainstorm ideas for gifts and create a spreadsheet with pricing and links to their finds. Your assistant can take care of companywide gifts or donating to specific organizations. They can even poll your colleagues or team to see what branded items they may have been wishing for or what charity is important to them.

Arrange virtual gatherings

With holiday parties and gatherings limited to virtual events, you’ll need a creative edge to pull off a fun remote celebration. Ask your assistant to think about how to structure the event based on the preferences and size of your company. Whether you participate in virtual group games or simply have a toast, your assistant can schedule the party making sure to include the proper details (like conferencing links!) in a thoughtful invitation.

Keep track of new contacts

How many people have you been introduced to this year? Your assistant can go through all of your meetings and email correspondence and add those new contacts to your LinkedIn so you don’t lose them. If you’ve joined any new online networking groups, your assistant can pull a list together, so you can see who you’d like to reach out to or connect with before the new year.

Send end of year assessments and surveys

The end of the quarter is typically the trigger for sending employee engagement surveys and for managers and teams to go over performance assessments. Your executive assistant can own the communication aspect of this project by sending reminders across email and Slack. Some companies find it helpful to create organization- or team-wide incentives for 100% participation. Your assistant can then collect, synthesize, and send the results to you.

Schedule health appointments

Dental check-ups, COVID testing, and regular health exams may be important to wrapping up the end of the year. Your assistant can make and schedule appointments on your behalf and research where you can get rapid testing done, if necessary.

Set up a personal holiday

It’s easy to get caught up in the whirlwind of the final two months of the year and forget to take vital time for yourself. Your assistant can help you identify a time/day to dedicate to focus time—whether you use that to set goals, reflect on the ups and downs of the year, create new priorities, or simply relax, your assistant will take care of the fine print.

The holiday season is full of details, planning, and execution. Delegating your seasonal to-dos to your assistant will ensure you have time to focus on your work—and have a happy holiday.