Clara Chebet

STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE Executive Email Triage & Inbox Management SOP-EA-001 Version 1.0 Prepared by Clara Chebet Role Executive Assistant Last Updated March 2025 Applies To Executive / C-Suite Inboxes 1. PURPOSE This SOP defines the step-by-step process for triaging, prioritizing, and managing an executive's email inbox. The goal is to ensure critical messages receive a response within 2 hours, reduce executive cognitive load, and maintain a clean, organized inbox at all times. 2. SCOPE & WHEN TO USE This process applies to: • Daily inbox management for C-suite or senior leadership email accounts • High-volume inboxes receiving 50+ emails per day • Remote or asynchronous working arrangements where the executive is not monitoring email in real time 3. EMAIL PRIORITY CLASSIFICATION MATRIX Classify every incoming email into one of four tiers before taking action: Priority Criteria Action Required P1 — URGENT Board members, investors, direct reports, legal, press, same-day deadlines Flag + draft response within 1 hour. Notify executive immediately. P2 — HIGH Key clients, partners, pending decisions, follow-ups with deadlines Draft response or summary. Action within 2–4 hours. P3 — NORMAL Team updates, internal comms, vendor messages, meeting requests Respond or route within same business day. P4 — LOW Newsletters, cold outreach, FYI threads, no action required Archive, unsubscribe, or delete. No response needed. 4. STEP-BY-STEP TRIAGE PROCESS STEP 01 Morning Sweep (Within 30 min of shift start) Open inbox. Scan ALL new emails. Do not respond yet — classify first. Apply Priority labels (P1–P4) to every email. Flag any P1 items immediately and notify the executive via Slack/WhatsApp. STEP 02 Draft Responses for P1 & P2 For each P1/P2 email, draft a response in a shared Google Doc or directly in the email as a draft. Leave a comment for the executive if their approval or signature is needed before sending. Keep responses professional, concise, and under 150 words unless more is required. STEP 03 Handle P3 Independently Respond to standard meeting requests, internal queries, and routine vendor communication directly. Use pre-approved templates where available (see Section 6). CC the executive on any external-facing P3 replies. STEP 04 Batch P4 / Clean-Up Archive or delete newsletters and cold outreach. Unsubscribe from recurring junk. Move reference-only emails to appropriate folders. Goal: inbox below 20 unread items by end of day. STEP 05 End-of-Day Handoff Send a 3-bullet daily summary to the executive covering: (1) Actions taken, (2) Items awaiting their input, (3) Anything scheduled/flagged for tomorrow. This keeps them fully in the loop without needing to touch their inbox. 5. QUICK RESPONSE TEMPLATES Meeting Request — Accepted: Thank you for reaching out. [Executive Name] is available on [Date] at [Time] — I'll send a calendar invite shortly. Please let me know if you have any questions. Holding Response — Awaiting Input: Thank you for your message. [Executive Name] is currently in back-to-back meetings and will get back to you by [Time/Date]. If this is urgent, please reply with URGENT in the subject line. General Acknowledgment: Thank you — received and noted. We'll follow up with next steps by [Date]. 6. PERFORMANCE STANDARDS Metric Target P1 email response time < 1 hour P2 email response time < 4 hours Daily inbox unread target < 20 items Executive time saved (weekly) 5–10 hours Daily handoff summary sent 100% of working days Prepared by Clara Chebet · Executive & Administrative Assistant · -