An executive's inbox is not a to-do list. It is a stream of other people's priorities, and if it reaches the executive unfiltered, it sets their agenda for them. Triage is the set of rules an EA uses to decide what the executive sees, when, and in what form, so that their attention goes to the things only they can do.
Agree the rules before you touch anything
Triage on someone else's behalf only works if you have agreed the boundaries together. Before you start, or when you take over an existing inbox, have a short conversation with the executive and write down the answers.
- What can I reply to without asking? Scheduling, logistics, acknowledgements and routine requests are usually fine. Anything committing money, people or the executive's opinion usually is not.
- What should I never touch? Many executives want certain senders or topics left entirely alone: their board chair, a specific investor, legal correspondence, personal email.
- Who are the top stakeholders? A short list (ten to fifteen names) of people whose messages should always reach the executive the same day.
- How do you want to see things? Some executives like flagged emails in the inbox; others prefer a daily summary and an empty inbox.
- What about confidential matters? HR cases, legal matters and anything involving named individuals' performance or health need handling in line with your organisation's policies. Agree whether you should read them at all.
Record the answers in the Inbox Triage Framework and revisit them after a month. The first version always misses something.
The four buckets
Every incoming message goes into one of four places. The labels matter less than using the same ones every day.
- Executive action. Needs their decision, signature, judgement or personal reply.
- EA action. You can handle it fully on their behalf, within the agreed boundaries.
- For information. Worth knowing, no action. Filed, and sometimes summarised.
- Archive or delete. No further value.
The aim is to make bucket one as small as possible without hiding anything the executive genuinely needs to see. A useful test for each message: if the executive never saw this, would anything bad happen? If not, it probably belongs in buckets two to four.
Decision rules
These rules decide the borderline cases. Adapt them to the executive, but keep them explicit.
- If it takes you under two minutes and is within your authority, do it now. Confirm the meeting, send the document, forward to the right person.
- If it is from a top stakeholder, it reaches the executive today. Even if it is routine. They will want to know it arrived, and you may not know the background.
- If it has a deadline, it goes in the diary before it is filed. A reply due Friday becomes a 15-minute slot on Thursday, or an item in the morning brief.
- If the executive is copied for information, it does not need their attention unless you would brief them on it anyway. Most "cc" email is noise; some is a warning sign. Judge which.
- If you are unsure whether you can reply, send a holding reply and ask. A short acknowledgement buys time without committing anyone.
- If it is sensitive, do not summarise it in a shared document. Flag it directly to the executive and keep it out of any daily digest that others might see.
A daily rhythm
Triage works best in sweeps at fixed times, not as a constant trickle. A pattern that suits many executives:
- Early morning sweep (around 08:00 to 08:30). Clear overnight messages, flag anything for today and feed it into the Daily Morning Brief.
- Midday sweep. Deal with replies to the morning's messages, and catch anything urgent that has arrived.
- Late afternoon sweep. Close out what you can, queue items for tomorrow and send the executive a short list of what still needs them.
Between sweeps, keep notifications on only for top stakeholders and genuine emergencies. Checking constantly makes you slower and does not make the executive faster.
Weekly maintenance
Once a week, ideally on Friday, review the executive-action bucket with the executive. Anything more than a week old should be either done, delegated, diarised or dropped. Archive information items older than a month. Check that mailbox rules and filters still match the agreed priorities, especially after a reorganisation or a new project.
Let the mailbox do some of the sorting
Rules and filters will not replace judgement, but they can take the predictable volume out of your sweeps. Useful ones include moving newsletters and automated notifications into a reading folder, highlighting messages from the top stakeholder list, and routing internal system alerts (expenses approvals, HR system notices) to a folder you check once a day. Review them every few months; a rule set up for last year's project can quietly hide this year's important sender. If you have delegate access, check with IT which rules you are permitted to create on the executive's mailbox.
Presenting what needs the executive
How you show the executive their inbox matters as much as what you put in it. Three common approaches:
- Flags in the inbox. Simple, but relies on the executive opening email, and flagged items pile up.
- A folder per bucket. Clear, but the executive has to remember to look.
- A short written digest, once or twice a day. Takes more of your time but uses least of theirs.
For the digest, lead with what needs a response and keep each item to a line:
Needs you today:
1. Finance Director: approve the revised Q1 budget (attached, two pages). Due by 17:00.
2. Chair: wants 20 minutes this week on the CFO search. I can offer Wednesday 08:30 or Thursday 16:00.
3. Head of Sales: asking whether you will join the customer dinner on the 14th. I've said you'll confirm by Friday.
Handled: 14 scheduling replies, 3 supplier queries passed to procurement, 2 speaking invitations declined.
The "handled" line is worth including. It shows the executive what you have dealt with, which builds the trust that lets you deal with more.
Replying on the executive's behalf
When you reply as yourself on their behalf, make it clear who is writing. The Holding Email: On Behalf Of template covers the most common case, an acknowledgement while the executive is away or considering the request. A shorter version for everyday use:
Thank you for this. I've passed it to Sarah, who will come back to you directly by Thursday. If anything changes before then, please let me know.
Declining is often the most valuable thing you can do for the executive's attention. The Polite Decline Email gives a structure that closes the request without closing the relationship. Agree with the executive in advance which kinds of invitations you can decline without asking (most conference speaking requests, many vendor meetings) and which you must check.
Edge cases
The executive replies before you do
It happens, particularly with executives who check email on their phone. Agree a simple signal: if they have replied, they mark it read or move it, and you leave it alone. If they have only read it, it stays in your sweep.
A message is urgent but outside the rules
Use judgement and tell them afterwards. A press enquiry, a safety issue or a legal deadline should reach the executive (or the right specialist team) immediately, whatever the rules say. The Press Inquiry Holding Email is useful for buying time while the communications team responds.
You make a mistake
Sooner or later you will send something that should have been checked, or file something that mattered. Tell the executive promptly and plainly, say what you have done to fix it, and adjust the rule that let it happen. Most executives forgive mistakes far more readily than surprises.
Covering someone else's triage
If you are covering a colleague's executive for a week, use their rules, not yours, and keep a short log of anything unusual. An Annual Leave Handover Brief is the right place for those rules to live.
What good looks like
- The executive sees fewer than a couple of dozen messages a day that need them, and each one is clearly labelled.
- Top stakeholders get a same-day response, even if it is a holding one.
- Nothing with a deadline relies on someone remembering it; it is in the diary.
- The executive knows what you have handled, not only what you have passed on.
- The rules are written down, so a cover EA can follow them on day one.
Templates for this workflow
- Inbox Triage Framework: record the buckets, decision rules and sweep times you agree with the executive.
- Daily Morning Brief: turn the morning sweep into a single page of priorities and asks.
- Holding Email: On Behalf Of: acknowledge a message while the executive is away or considering it.
- Polite Decline Email: turn down invitations cleanly without damaging the relationship.
- Press Inquiry Holding Email: buy time on media enquiries while the right team responds.
- Annual Leave Handover Brief: pass your triage rules to whoever covers while you are away.