Coordinating Meetings with Executives and Stakeholders

🎉 Welcome to the Course

Welcome to your journey in Driving Meeting Success as an Executive Assistant . Coordinating meetings might sound pretty straightforward, but as an executive assistant, your job is much more dynamic. You’re the person who keeps everyone connected and in sync, whether your executive is down the hall or halfway around the world! Meetings are where big decisions happen, strategies take shape, and relationships grow, so your knack for bringing people together is essential to your executive’s success and the whole organization. In this course, you’ll step into the full meeting lifecycle from an executive assistant’s perspective . You’ll see that your role is about much more than just sending out calendar invites. You’ll learn how to: Coordinate meetings across time zones for multiple stakeholders, ensuring everyone can participate no matter where they are in the world. Facilitate meetings efficiently by providing real-time support, anticipating needs, and troubleshooting issues as they arise. Communicate scheduling constraints and meeting conflicts with empathy, so all parties feel respected and informed. Follow up on meetings with stakeholders to ensure clarity, confirm next steps, and gain valuable feedback You’ll explore practical strategies, real-world examples, and hands-on exercises designed to build your confidence and skill. By the end, you'll be ready to support executives and teams with confidence, even in the most demanding environments!

Coordinating Meetings Across Calendars and Time Zones 🗓️

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📢 Communicating and Rescheduling with Clarity and Empathy

Once you’ve found a time that works, the next step is to make sure everyone’s on the same page. Think of it like making plans with friends. You wouldn’t just say, “Let’s meet sometime next week.” Instead, you’d send a quick message with the exact time, place, and what you’re meeting about. It’s the same when you’re scheduling for executives.

Send out a calendar invite and a follow-up email that spells out all the details:

What the meeting is about
When the meeting will be (with the time zone)
Where you’ll meet (in person or virtually)

For example, a clear subject line could be: “Project Proposal Meeting – Thursday, March 14, 10:00 AM CST (Zoom).” In the message body, add a note about what will be discussed so everyone knows what to expect and can come prepared.

When creating meeting invites, it is important to answer the what, when, where, and why so people will be more willing and able to come. The first 3 should go in the subject line — this will capture the reader's attention right away. The why should always go in the message body. In the example below, you will see the why is to align on the deliverables, goals, and timelines.

Email Example of communicating a calendar invite

Sometimes, plans change and you have to reschedule. When that happens, let everyone know as soon as possible. 📢 Be clear about why the meeting is moving, share the new details, and show you understand it might be inconvenient. For example: “Due to a scheduling conflict, we need to move our project proposal meeting to next Wednesday at 2:00 PM CST. I apologize for any inconvenience and appreciate your flexibility.” This kind of communication shows you’re organized and considerate, and it helps keep everyone feeling respected, even when things shift around.

As you move forward, you’ll get to practice these skills in realistic writing scenarios, where you’ll apply what you’ve learned to real-world scheduling and communication challenges.