If you read through assistant adverts in Ghana and abroad, two tasks appear again and again: managing email and managing calendars. Executive assistant adverts talk about diary management. Remote VA adverts talk about inbox management and scheduling. Learn these two well and you can already offer a valuable service.
Why these two tasks
Busy people lose hours every week to their inbox and their diary. Important emails get buried under newsletters. Meetings clash. Someone forgets to send the documents before a meeting. An assistant who keeps the inbox under control and the calendar accurate saves the client time and embarrassment every day.
These tasks also need trust. You may see private emails and know where your client will be. Discretion, meaning keeping what you see to yourself, is part of the job, and executive assistant adverts ask for it.
The tools
The two most common tool sets are Google Workspace (Gmail and Google Calendar) and Microsoft 365 (Outlook for both email and calendar). Both have free versions for personal use and free phone apps. The ideas are the same in each, so if you learn one well you can switch to the other quickly. This roadmap uses Gmail and Google Calendar in examples because they are free and work well on phones and computers.
What this section covers
- Managing a client's inbox. How to sort email into action, waiting and reference, using labels, filters and saved replies, and how to agree what you may answer for the client.
- Managing calendars and bookings. How to schedule meetings without clashes, send clear invitations, protect focus time and handle travel or event arrangements.