List the vendors the office cannot run without
Start with the services that would stop the executive's week if they failed. Include travel, ground transport, IT support, facilities, security, catering, printing, and any specialist vendor the board cycle depends on. Add the vendors that hold confidential material or access to executive systems. The list should reflect actual dependency, not the length of the procurement file. Review the list with the chief of staff before adding lower-priority suppliers.
For each vendor, write the service they provide and the work that would pause without them. A stationery supplier and a payroll provider do not deserve the same response time. Rank the vendors by the cost of an hour of downtime, not by the size of the contract. That ranking tells the office where to invest in backup contacts. Use a simple high, medium, or low rating so the list can be sorted quickly.
Include the internal owner who manages the relationship and the person who can approve an emergency purchase. A contact list without authority is only a directory. Record the backup approver for holidays and travel. The map should work when the usual owner is unavailable. Name a second approver for the weeks when the owner is traveling. Update both names when the relationship changes.
Record the contact route, not just the name
A name and a mobile number are not enough when the usual account manager is on leave. Record the main support line, the escalation contact, the after-hours route, and the portal or email address for requests. Note the hours each route is staffed and the time zone of the support team. The goal is a route that works on a Sunday night.
Test the contact details before an emergency, not during one. Send a low-stakes query through the after-hours route and see who responds. Record the response time and the name of the person who answered. A route that has never been tested is an assumption, not a control. Keep the test request harmless and clearly labeled so the vendor knows it is not an emergency.
Keep the contact map in a restricted location that the executive support team can reach without the primary assistant. Grant access to the backup and the chief of staff, and review the list of people who can open it. A map that only one person can find does not provide continuity. Check the access list after every role change and remove anyone who no longer needs it.
Tie each vendor to a contract and an owner
Link each vendor to the contract, the renewal date, and the internal owner. Include the notice period and the termination route, because an urgent change may require both. Record the billing contact and the purchase order reference so finance can reconcile the work. The map should answer who to call and who to pay. A contract link that opens the current version saves time during a dispute.
Flag the contracts that require a security review or a data processing agreement. A vendor with access to executive calendars or board files needs a different level of oversight than a courier. Note the review date and the person who approved the access. That detail matters when the relationship changes. A short note on the data flow is enough to show why the review is required.
Review the contract list before each renewal cycle rather than after a problem appears. Confirm that the service level still matches the office's needs and that the contact details are current. If a vendor has changed ownership or support model, update the map. A stale contract record is a hidden risk. Bring the renewal dates into the quarterly planning meeting rather than discovering them late.
Test the map during a low-stakes outage
Choose a routine failure, such as a printer outage or a delayed car, and use the map to resolve it. Time how long it takes to find the right contact and get a response. Note where the map was wrong or incomplete. The exercise should be small enough to run without disrupting the executive's day. Write down the start time and the resolution time so the next test has a baseline.
Ask the person who handled the issue whether the escalation route was clear. A contact who answers but cannot solve the problem is not an effective route. Record the name of the person who finally resolved it and add that detail to the map. The test should improve the document, not just prove that someone answered. If the route failed, record whether the problem was the number, the hours, or the authority.
Repeat the test for a different vendor each quarter. Rotate the exercise so the map does not only work for the most familiar relationship. Keep a short log of the tests and the changes they produced. Over time, the log becomes evidence that the continuity plan is alive. Use a different person to run the test when possible so the knowledge does not stay with one assistant.
Review the map when people or tools change
Update the map when an internal owner leaves, a vendor changes its account team, or the office adopts a new scheduling or travel tool. These changes often break the route without anyone noticing. Add the review to the offboarding checklist and the tool migration plan. A contact map is only current if someone owns the update. A named owner should confirm the update within one week of the change.
Ask the executive assistant and the chief of staff to review the map together twice a year. One person may know the informal route while the other knows the contract. The review should confirm the priority order, the after-hours numbers, and the access list. Record the date and the reviewer. Disagreements between the two versions are the most useful part of the review.
Retire old contacts instead of leaving them in the document with a note. A long list of former account managers makes the right route harder to find. Keep one current route and one backup for each critical vendor. Simplicity is a feature when someone is solving a problem at night. An archived contact can stay in the version history without appearing in the live list.
Related resources
Read also: executive support backup continuity research and executive support onboarding checklist.
Frequently asked questions
Should one assistant support the whole executive team?
Sometimes. It works when priorities are clear and executives share one operating rhythm.
What should happen before a consult?
List the meetings, inbox rules, recurring reports, and decisions that need support.
Ready to define the role?
Use a recent leadership week to scope the support that would make the biggest difference. The consultation is a working conversation, not a generic pitch.
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