Building an Executive Assistant Approval Routing Matrix

executive assistant approval routing matrix

Create an approval routing matrix that helps an executive assistant send requests to the right authority without creating shadow approval power.

Inventory requests by consequence

List the recurring requests that cross the executive office: contracts, travel changes, hiring actions, public statements, system access, gifts, customer exceptions, and spending. For each type, identify the governing policy and the consequence of a wrong approval. Do not start with people's names. Roles and limits survive reorganizations better than a spreadsheet built around whoever answered last month.

Distinguish approval from coordination

An assistant may gather documents, check completeness, schedule reviewers, remind an owner, and record the final answer. None of those actions necessarily grants authority to approve. Write delegated limits in plain language, including thresholds, exclusions, and expiration dates. If the route is unclear, the assistant should escalate to the policy owner rather than infer authority from urgency.

Design the fallback before it is needed

Name a backup for travel, leave, and emergencies, then state when that backup becomes active. Some requests can wait; others may move to a different officer under a continuity plan. Keep legal, finance, security, and people approvals in their governed lanes. A senior title does not automatically make someone the right substitute for a controlled decision.

Audit permissions against the matrix

Compare written routes with actual system access. Remove approval permissions that exceed the role and fix routes that force employees to bypass policy just to complete ordinary work. Review exceptions with the control owner and update the matrix only after formal delegation changes. The assistant should be able to show who approved a request, under which authority, and where the record lives.

Review the operating result

Keep a simple change log beside the matrix. Record who authorized each routing change, when it takes effect, and which system permissions must follow. During a reorganization, compare open requests with both the old and new routes so nothing disappears between owners. Train backups with real but sanitized examples, including a request that must be returned. The clearest sign of a working matrix is not speed alone; it is a request reaching valid authority with a record others can verify.

Questions to settle

Should the matrix include dollar limits?

Include limits when policy uses them, but do not publish sensitive internal controls outside their approved location.

Can urgency change the approver?

Only an established emergency or continuity rule can change the route.

When should access be removed?

Remove it when the delegated duty ends, the role changes, or the stated expiration date arrives.

Source and service boundaries

Organizations can review our executive assistant support, read the delegation matrix guide, or contact our team about governed executive support. Source: NIST least privilege glossary.