Driving success: the impact of our operational support team

Most people know them as 'Floats', but we feel that Operational Support is the best way to describe the team that keeps the wheels turning for the business while our EAs are out of office.

Our Operational Support EAs are a global team based in the UK, Europe and the US. We are continuously growing and developing, working collaboratively with the wider EA team, to provide seamless support to our Partnership, as well as supporting the business with ad-hoc projects and initiatives.

Why did we implement Operational Support?

We wanted to provide dedicated cover for when our static EAs were out of office, so they didn’t return to overflowing inboxes, outstanding tasks and wishing they had never gone away!

When EAs cover one another and double their allocations, this results in additional workload and limited capacity to carry out their own allocated role to a high standard.

We found the above had a negative impact on the team and wider business, a lack of consistency when dealing with requests, and uncertainty for our colleagues and clients.

How does our Operational Support team work?

Working in a uniformed approach, our Operational Support EAs work from the EA's inbox, which provides a streamlined service to our Partners, clients and teams, working as if their EA was still here. Folders in the inbox clearly mark tasks that have been completed or outstanding for the static EA to quickly pick up on return.

We implemented an additional email pool system, with dedicated inboxes in the UK, Europe, US and APAC that all members of our Operational Support team have access to, for any ad-hoc requests or overflow of tasks.

What challenges did we face building out this team?

Partners can be sceptical when being supported by an EA they don’t know. We overcame this by aligning our Operational Support EAs to our Sectors, so they would only cover Partners from one Sector within the business. This enabled strong relationships and trust to be formed with our Partners, and to allow our Operational Support EAs to deepen their knowledge of their specific sector, which in turn helps with their support.

What is next for the Operational Support team?

This team has been operating successfully for two years, and it’s great to hear feedback and see the positive impact this team has had on the business.

Our Operational Support EAs resilience, dedication and passion is insurmountable. They are quickly becoming the go-to team across the business, which speaks volumes to the hard work they have put in and working collaboratively to make the role at Baringa such a success!

The success of our global Operational Support EA team reflects our vision of becoming a truly borderless Baringa.

We hope this has given you a good insight into the operational heart of our EA team. How does your organisation deal with cover when EAs are out of the office? What could you implement to make cover easier for you to be out of the office?

About the author:

Karen is our Operational Support EA Lead and has been with Baringa for three years. Karen is married with two children, loves holidays with her family in the Carribean and is a keen photographer.

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