1. Objective

This SOP governs how you own and manage your executive's calendar — not as a scheduling coordinator, but as the person who protects how their time is spent. A calendar is not a list of meetings. It is a map of your executive's life. What is on it determines what gets their attention, energy, and time. Managed poorly, it keeps them reactive, rushed, and depleted. Managed well, it gives them the focused time they need to do their most important work.

Where this SOP starts: Day one — from your first calendar audit forward.
Where this SOP ends: Never — calendar management is ongoing and daily.

Success looks like: Your executive has protected blocks for deep work that are rarely violated. Meetings are clustered into designated windows rather than scattered randomly. Buffer time exists between commitments. Your executive walks into every meeting prepared. They never discover a scheduling conflict they didn't know about.

2. Your Role & Boundaries

2a. What you handle independently

• Auditing the calendar weekly for conflicts, gaps, missing buffers, and preparation needs
• Scheduling all new meetings within the approved time-block framework
• Adding and maintaining buffer blocks between major commitments
• Sending pre-meeting confirmations and reminders
• Tracking and adding verbal commitments that haven't made it onto the calendar
• Declining or rescheduling meeting requests that conflict with protected blocks

2b. What requires executive approval before acting

• Moving or canceling a protected block
• Overriding the time-block framework for an urgent or high-priority request
• Accepting a meeting with a VIP, key client, or prospect outside approved windows
• Making any commitment about your executive's future availability to an external party

2c. What you never do

• You never fill an open calendar slot just because it's available
• You never allow back-to-back meetings with no buffer without your executive's explicit approval
• You never share your executive's calendar access with any third party without authorization
• You never cancel a meeting on behalf of your executive without notifying them first

3. The Time-Block Philosophy

Time blocking is the practice of assigning specific types of work to specific time windows — rather than allowing the calendar to be filled on a first-come, first-served basis. This is the philosophical foundation of all calendar management.

Your job is not to find the first open slot for a meeting request. Your job is to find the first appropriate slot — one that doesn't disrupt the blocks of time your executive needs for focused work.

Sample weekly time-block framework:
| Day | Primary Use |
|-----|-------------|
| Monday morning | Strategy and planning — no external meetings |
| Tuesday / Wednesday | Client calls and external meetings |
| Thursday | Deep work — proposals, content, focused project work |
| Friday | Administrative close-out and weekly review |

Your role: Work with your executive in the first two weeks to design a time-block framework that fits their actual business rhythm. Even a loose version gives you guidelines to defend.

4. The Three Types of Calendar Blocks

Protected Blocks: Non-negotiable. Deep work time, personal obligations, weekly review. Nothing gets scheduled here without explicit executive approval. These are listed in the Client Setup Worksheet.

Flexible Blocks: Available for external scheduling — but always within the designated meeting windows. Cluster meetings here rather than scattering them across the week.

Buffer Blocks: 15–30 minute gaps between major commitments. These serve as transition time, overflow space, and recovery moments between conversations. An EA who schedules back-to-back calls with no buffer is setting their executive up for constant stress.

Minimum buffer standards:
- Between back-to-back calls: 15 minutes
- Between external meetings: 30 minutes
- Before any major client presentation or high-stakes call: 30 minutes

5. Calendar Audit — Weekly Protocol

Every Monday morning (or Friday afternoon for the following week), conduct a full calendar audit:

Step 1: Review the next 7 days
- Are there any double-bookings or conflicts?
- Are there any meetings in protected blocks?
- Are there any back-to-backs with no buffer?
- Are there any meetings missing prep materials or dial-in details?

Step 2: Add missing buffers
Add buffer blocks manually wherever they're missing. This is a standing task — not optional.

Step 3: Flag meetings that need prep
For every external meeting in the next 7 days, confirm:
- Is a meeting brief needed? (See SOP-CEA-CAL-05)
- Are prep materials on hand?
- Does a confirmation need to go out?

Step 4: Check for phantom commitments
Review any notes from the prior week's calls or communications. Did your executive make any verbal commitments — "Let's schedule a call," "I'll send that over" — that haven't made it to the calendar yet? Add them now.

Step 5: Report the audit
Include a brief calendar note in your Monday morning check-in: "Calendar looks clear this week — I've added buffers between Tuesday's calls. One prep brief needed for Thursday's Henderson meeting — will have it to you by Wednesday."

6. Common Calendar Problems and Prevention

Double-bookings

Cause: Scheduling requests routed around you, or booking tools not connected to the main calendar.
Prevention: Ensure all scheduling requests go through you or through an approved scheduling tool (e.g., Calendly) configured with the correct availability windows. Audit weekly.

Preparation gaps

Cause: Meetings appear on the calendar with no context or materials. Executive walks in unprepared.
Prevention: For every external meeting, include in the invitation: who the other party is, the meeting purpose, and any documents to review. Prepare the brief 24 hours in advance.

Back-to-back spiral

Cause: Meetings fill every slot with no breathing room. Executive runs late to everything.
Prevention: Enforce buffer blocks. Treat them as non-negotiable appointments. If the calendar is overfull, identify the most moveable meeting and reschedule it proactively.

Phantom commitments

Cause: Verbal agreements made during calls never get recorded.
Prevention: Ask at the end of every day: "Any meetings or commitments from today I should add to the calendar?" Also review meeting notes for commitments your executive made.

7. Time Zone Management

When scheduling across time zones:
- Always confirm the time zone when a contact from another time zone proposes a time
- Send calendar invitations with the time zone specified in the invitation
- Use a world clock tool (worldtimebuddy.com or Google Calendar's built-in time zone support) to confirm accuracy before sending
- Never assume "2 PM" means your time zone — clarify before confirming

8. Calendly Configuration

If your executive uses Calendly or a similar scheduling tool, you own its configuration:

• Set available days to designated meeting windows only
• Set minimum scheduling notice (typically 24 hours minimum)
• Set maximum daily meetings
• Configure buffer times between meetings (set within the tool)
• Review and update quarterly or whenever the time-block framework changes

Best practice: Review Calendly bookings each morning — some executive types prefer to approve before confirmation. Confirm this preference in the Client Setup Worksheet.

9. Overscheduled Week Recovery Protocol

When the upcoming week is already overfull:
1. Identify the meeting with the most flexibility to move (lowest priority, most flexible external party)
2. Contact that party immediately: "An unexpected conflict has come up. We'd like to reschedule — would [two alternative times] work for you?"
3. Add buffer blocks between remaining meetings
4. Send prep briefs for all remaining external meetings by the morning of each meeting
5. Report the adjustments in your Monday morning check-in

10. Escalation Protocol

Escalate when:
- A VIP or key client requests a time that conflicts with a protected block and you're unsure whether to make an exception
- A recurring conflict pattern suggests the time-block framework needs to be redesigned
- Your executive's calendar for the following week is unmanageable and you need their input on what to move

Escalation format:

Calendar flag — need your input:

[Brief description of the conflict or issue]

Options: (1) [Option A] | (2) [Option B]

My recommendation: [X]. Shall I proceed?

11. Tools & Access

12. Changelog