Member resources
36 practical templates, checklists and guides for executive and personal assistants. Built by PANSA, ready to download and use in your role.
All 36 resources are free to download for paid PANSA members. Browse what is inside here, then sign in, or join the network, to download them.
Books & reading
A curated reading and buying guide for administrative professionals: books written for assistants, a Joan Burge collection, and picks on confidence, productivity, communication, leadership and AI, with the PANSA Essential 12 and where to buy in South Africa.
Checklists
Two-page checklist for board and committee meetings at companies, NPOs and school governing bodies: annual planning, agenda and call for papers, pack compilation and secure distribution, logistics, the day itself, and minutes, action log, resolution register and record retention. Includes the South African Companies Act points assistants need to know.
Checklists
A two-page, tick-as-you-go checklist covering inbox, files, OneDrive and SharePoint, calendar, Teams, tasks, browser, phone, security, AI tools, your professional presence and digital wellbeing.
Checklists
Two-page checklist in five phases (before day one, week one, days 1–30, 31–60 and 61–90) covering delegate access and systems, learning priorities, stakeholder mapping, a working rhythm, quick wins and a structured 90-day review conversation.
Checklists
A two-page checklist for planning international trips in phases: passports, visas and electronic travel authorisations, vaccinations, insurance, bookings, the final 48 hours, travel day, while away and the return. Includes South African notes and official links.
Checklists
A two-page checklist for EAs and PAs: headline formulas with examples, an About-section structure, achievement bullets, skills, certifications, recommendations, Featured, privacy settings, Open to Work and a “google yourself” footprint review.
Checklists
A two-page cybersecurity checklist for assistants: why you are targeted, phishing red flags, CEO fraud and invoice-change fraud, a verify-before-you-pay procedure, MFA and passwords, delegate access, travel and public Wi-Fi, and exactly what to do if you clicked.
Checklists
A one-page weekly routine: three minutes each on inbox, calendar, tasks, files and a final reset, with a 12-week habit tracker and space for next week’s three most important outcomes.
Checklists
A two-page site-inspection checklist with write-in scores and notes: access, accessibility, capacity, rooms, AV and Wi-Fi, power backup, catering and dietary, safety, accommodation, and the contract terms and hidden costs to question before you sign.
Forms
Editable Word form for the traveller's names as in the passport, passport and visa details, loyalty programmes, seat, meal and room preferences, preferred suppliers, voluntary medical and dietary information, emergency contact, payment notes and travel-policy rules, with a POPIA handling note and consent.
Forms
Excel expense claim that prints on one A4 landscape page: claimant details, cost centre, receipts with category, VAT (incl. or excl. toggle and rate input), currency and exchange rate converted to Rand, a mileage log with a rate-per-km input, totals and an approvals block.
Forms
Editable Word questionnaire covering communication and interruption rules, calendar rules and your accept/decline authority, email delegation, a decision authority matrix, VIPs and gatekeeping, travel, personal preferences (voluntary and POPIA-aware), working rhythm, pet peeves and confidentiality.
Guides & how-tos
A curated, verified guide to professional associations worldwide, the Global Skills Matrix, the 23 learning portfolio areas, development platforms and industry media, with a simple 90-day plan for career development, networking and personal digital organisation.
Guides & how-tos
Forty tested, tool-neutral prompts for email, meetings and minutes, calendar and travel, research, documents, events, Excel and career development, each with [placeholders] and a tip. Opens with safe-use rules (POPIA, approved tools, verification) and the anatomy of a good prompt.
Guides & how-tos
A practical guide to writing at work: bottom line up front, subject-line formulas, six before-and-after rewrites, tone for writing upward, on behalf of your executive and to VIPs, South African formal letter layout, a proofreading checklist and how to use AI responsibly.
Guides & how-tos
A practical guide to managing an executive's calendar: principles, a colour-coding scheme, a meeting-request triage table, buffer and travel rules, time-zone handling from SAST, recurring meeting audits, focus time, naming conventions, wording for declining, double bookings, Outlook delegate etiquette and a weekly look-ahead routine.
Guides & how-tos
A practical guide for assistants: the YYYY-MM-DD – Project – Document – Version convention, version rules, characters and path lengths to avoid in OneDrive and SharePoint, an executive-office folder tree, a OneDrive vs SharePoint vs Teams decision table, attachment naming and a one-page cheat-sheet.
Guides & how-tos
Guide to hosting visitors and VIPs: pre-visit briefing, security and parking, arrival and reception, a meeting-room readiness checklist, hospitality, forms of address, precedence and seating, gifts and declarations, departure and follow-up. Ends with a one-page VIP visit planning form.
Guides & how-tos
A practical guide to taking minutes: choosing verbatim, action or narrative minutes, preparing, listening for decisions, recording votes and declarations, the 48-hour routine after the meeting, resolution wording, a bank of neutral reporting verbs, confidential sessions, and POPIA notes on recordings and AI tools.
Guides & how-tos
A plain-English guide to POPIA for executive and personal assistants: the eight conditions, special personal information, events, CVs, ID copies, minutes, WhatsApp groups, direct marketing, cross-border travel bookings, breaches, a do and don’t table, an event-registration checklist and a GDPR comparison.
Guides & how-tos
The full 12-section digital declutter for assistants: inbox, files, OneDrive and SharePoint, calendar, Teams, tasks, browser, phone, security, AI tools, professional presence and wellbeing, with a principle for each area, tick boxes, notes space and a progress log.
Templates
Editable Word document with 30 numbered email templates in ten groups: scheduling, protecting time, chasing, writing on behalf of your executive, events, travel, suppliers, difficult messages (apology, delay, escalation), internal admin and out-of-office replies.
Templates
Excel workbook to record achievements as they happen: situation, action and quantified result, impact category, hours and Rand saved, evidence, feedback and the skill demonstrated. A summary counts your wins by impact and quarter, and a STAR guide helps you write them up.
Templates
Excel tracker for actions and follow-ups: source, owner, due date, priority and status dropdowns, a days-overdue column that calculates itself, overdue rows highlighted, completed rows greyed out, and a summary of counts by status. 100 ready-to-use rows.
Templates
Excel directory with sheets for internal contacts, external stakeholders and VIPs, suppliers (category, account number, rating and a contract-renewal alert 60 days ahead) and South African emergency numbers to localise. Includes a POPIA note on keeping personal contact data.
Templates
Editable Word CV for executive and personal assistants: profile, core skills, achievement-led career history, qualifications, memberships and technology, in a single-column layout that applicant tracking systems can read. Includes a CV writing guide with bullet formula, power verbs and SA vs international norms.
Templates
Editable Word template: a one-page daily briefing (schedule with papers and purpose, decisions needed, items for signature, calls to return, deadlines, travel notes and heads-ups) and a one-page weekly look-ahead for planning the week ahead with your executive.
Templates
Editable Word business-continuity template: role overview, executive profile, daily, weekly, monthly and annual tasks, recurring meetings, key contacts, systems and access (without passwords), filing locations, suppliers, standing instructions, a confidential-matters protocol, open items, “who to call when…” and a handover sign-off.
Templates
Excel event budget with 41 pre-loaded line items across ten categories: supplier, quoted, actual, variance, VAT (handles amounts entered incl. or excl. VAT, and non-VAT suppliers), payment status and PO and invoice numbers. A summary sheet totals each category, adds contingency and shows cost per attendee.
Templates
Excel master timeline with 74 pre-loaded event tasks across seven phases, from six months out to the post-event debrief. Due dates calculate from one event-date cell; status dropdowns, overdue and done highlighting and a progress counter are built in.
Templates
Excel run sheet for the event day with a header block (event, date, venue, MC, key contacts) and timings that cascade when you change a duration. Pre-filled with an example half-day conference programme, plus a supplier contact sheet.
Templates
Editable Word itinerary for executive trips: trip summary, day-by-day overview, flights, accommodation, ground transport, meetings with addresses and contacts, emergency contacts, a documents checklist and time-zone and currency notes. Pre-filled with a Johannesburg–London example to overwrite.
Templates
Editable Word template for formal minutes: attendance, quorum, declarations of interest, numbered minutes with discussion summaries and resolution wording, an action log and the chair's signature. Includes a one-page guide to minute-taking good practice.
Templates
Editable Word agenda with purpose, desired outcomes, timed items with owners, pre-reading and decisions required. Includes guidance on building agendas that keep meetings on time.
Templates
Excel workbook: rate yourself on 23 capability areas (AI and Copilot to cross-cultural communication), see your biggest gaps ranked automatically, build a development plan and keep a CPD log of hours, providers and certificates.
Templates
Editable Word workbook for your performance review and pay conversation: self-review with evidence, how to benchmark your salary, your value statement, ask, range and walk-away, non-salary alternatives, objection planning, script openers and a follow-up email.
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Professional bodies, South African training providers, free online courses, Excel training, CV review tools and interview practice — all vetted and grouped by what you need.
