How to Scope Executive Support Before Making a Permanent Hire

An investor meeting is moved forward. A visit to a new market is confirmed for the same week. The team already has someone looking after the diary, yet the founder is still checking who owns the briefing, whether the right people will be in the room and what happened to the decisions from the last meeting.

A situation like this can look like a recruitment problem. Before opening a role, I would spend a fortnight finding out what work has grown, who can take it on and how long the business is likely to need that capacity.

Spend two weeks looking at the work

Start with one leadership team or one executive. Ask the people already supporting them to note the work that repeatedly comes back to a senior leader or crosses more than one team without a clear owner. Write down the task, who handled it, who had to be chased and what would have happened if the executive had left it alone.

Be specific. “Board preparation” could mean scheduling the meeting, getting papers from four teams, checking which decisions need to be made, or following up on agreed actions. Those are different responsibilities. One person may already own the diary while nobody owns the papers and the follow-through.

At the end of the fortnight, separate the work that recurs in an ordinary week from the work created by a particular event. Look ahead as well. If the workload is tied to an integration, a leadership transition or a market launch, its busiest weeks may still be ahead. Our October Insight on how executive support changes as companies grow looks at how these responsibilities accumulate in the first place.

Give the extra capacity a clear remit

As a hypothetical example, consider a UK business preparing for its first series of US partner meetings. The existing EA knows the founder’s diary and the leadership team. Commercial leads own the relationships and the decisions. Extra capacity could own the visit itself, including itinerary changes, briefing deadlines and a single record of commitments across both time zones. Agree upfront who can move a meeting, who can contact partners directly and which changes need the founder’s approval.

When someone joins for a defined assignment, give them the context and access they need, an internal point of contact and a clear route for decisions. Agree what they will hand back at the end. If the founder still has to approve every diary adjustment or chase every decision, the team has gained a pair of hands while the founder is still carrying the coordination.

Choose the arrangement that fits the work

Experienced fractional or interim support can complement an existing team by taking ownership of a defined piece of work. An EA can keep responsibility for the executive’s diary and relationships while additional support coordinates board papers and follows up on decisions. A Chief of Staff can set the priorities and keep strategic decisions with leadership while additional support follows up with the teams delivering them. An operations team can retain its processes and reporting while interim support handles executive coordination during an integration or overseas launch.

Fractional support can fit a recurring need with a predictable rhythm. A leadership team might need experienced help with its weekly meeting cycle, board preparation and follow-through on agreed days.

Interim support can fit a period with an end point, such as cover during a recruitment search, an integration or the first phase of an overseas expansion. Agree the scope and handover while the assignment is being planned.

A permanent hire makes sense when the work needs daily ownership, sustained internal relationships and a remit that will remain once the current pressure passes. A short review can help write a better job brief by showing what the new person will actually own.

Our engagement models explain how Souza & Co. provides fractional, interim and on-location support.

Agree what should be different at the first review

Choose a small number of outcomes that reflect the problem. Are meeting papers ready by the agreed deadline? Are decisions recorded with a named owner? Has the founder stopped being the person who chases the same actions each week? Review those outcomes after a full operating cycle or the first project milestone. Then decide whether to continue, change the scope, hand the work back or make the permanent hire.

If you can name the work that needs an owner and the period you need help with, you have enough to start a useful conversation.