An HR Consulting Firm President Saved 1100+ Hours By Delegating to An Assistant

Arnaud Gilberton, the Co-Founder & President of Idoko, had a problem. He needed to spend more time meeting with clients, leading seminars, and driving company strategy. However, managing his schedule and persistent administrative tasks began taking up too much attention.

We had a candid conversation with Arnaud about how he delegated to an executive assistant to regain time to focus on expanding the business. When A Busy Calendar Gets Out of Control

As the President of Idoko, Arnaud’s responsibilities are split into three main categories:

1. Client Support & Mission Execution
2. Growing the Firm
3. Innovation & Designing New Offerings

Arnaud must spend most of his time meeting with clients, building company strategy, and hosting training seminars. However, he realized he was spending precious hours every week on calendar management alone:

Soon after launching the business, I realized that a significant amount of my time was dedicated to scheduling appointments or organizing my calendar. I found that I had a half-day per week solely devoted to organizing my time and appointments. It was quite stressful to manage this, especially since I am frequently engaged in training sessions or seminars, during which I am unavailable and cannot respond.

Once he understood how bogged down he was by calendar management, it became obvious that losing this time was adversely affecting the business: "I didn’t always have the right level of responsiveness when asked for appointments. This dynamic created stress, and as a result, my business partner and I decided that we needed an assistant.”

Delegating To An Assistant to Get Back Over 1100 Hours

Arnaud started working with his Double assistant Lucie to offload calendar management and client communication:

Lucie organizes my emails, sets reminders for urgent matters, and regularly updates me on topics I might forget. She also sets appointments directly with clients, candidates, or team members when there's a need for individual discussions. She arranges my calendar and ensures its coherence throughout the day, ensuring everything flows smoothly. It’s as if she's my second brain.

But Arnaud quickly learned he could delegate even more than schedule management to Lucie:

“Another way Lucie helps is by handling various small daily tasks very efficiently. For example, she can quickly order a phone or laptop charger if I forgot it, make restaurant reservations, find seminar locations, assist in organizing the mailing of greeting cards to our clients, prepare internal events, ensure all orders are placed when hosting clients at our office, and make sure everything runs smoothly.”

Overall, Arnaud has been able to delegate 50 hours every month, and since he’s been a Double client, he has gained back 1,147 hours so far (yes, you read that right!). This is time he can spend on his most crucial leadership responsibilities.

Meaningful Personal Support

Arnaud trusts Lucie with tasks beyond the office as well. “There are sometimes unexpected requests, and she also aids me on a more personal level, assisting in managing some personal tasks I don't have time for. As an entrepreneur, the workload is quite heavy. Whenever I have a small task during the day that might take up mental space, I delegate it to Lucie, knowing she will get it done quickly.”

Even when Arnaud suffered a difficult loss in his personal life, he was able to lean on Lucie to help with logistics: “You will have complicated moments in life. When you're not prepared for it, and you're an entrepreneur, it’s tough. In those moments, having an assistant who can help becomes extremely precious.”

When we asked Lucie about her dynamic with Arnaud, she said, “I quickly built a special and trusting relationship with Arnaud by providing support in his executive activities or private matters. Arnaud is a clever blend of demand, kindness, and humor. He will always be delighted to recommend Double to his peers, but he’ll gently remind them that his assistant is already fully booked at 100%.”

Saving Time, Gaining Peace of Mind

Since working with Double, Arnaud has been able to direct more hours to his clients, grow the business, and build new offerings. To Arnaud, Double has provided him with two significant advantages that he believes all entrepreneurs can benefit from:

Double addresses two crucial challenges. It's about saving time and gaining peace of mind. As an entrepreneur, it convinced me that these are the two most valuable things. You need to experience it for yourself.