/ceos-assistance

name: ceos-assistance
description: Use when managing daily operational delegation through The Stack and structured leader-assistant standups
file-access: [data/assistance/, templates/assistance-stack.md, templates/assistance-daily.md, data/accountability.md, data/delegate/]
tools-used: [Read, Write, Glob]

ceos-assistance

Manage the daily operational delegation workflow between a leader and their assistant using "The Stack" — a batch delegation queue. This skill implements the 5 disciplines of The Assistance Track: batching, The Stack, the daily meeting, the assistant's judgment, and a weekly review. It complements `ceos-delegate`, which handles *strategic* delegation (what SHOULD be delegated), by managing *operational* delegation (HOW items are delegated day-to-day).

**Not for:** Strategic delegation decisions (use `ceos-delegate`), task tracking without a leader-assistant relationship (use `ceos-todos`), or meeting facilitation (use `ceos-l10`). The Assistance Track is specifically about the daily delegation workflow between a leader and their dedicated assistant.

When to Use

• "Add to the stack" or "stack this for my assistant"
• "Run the daily meeting" or "daily standup with my assistant"
• "Review the stack" or "what's on the stack?"
• "Weekly assistance review" or "how's delegation going this week?"
• "Show stuck items" or "what's been on the stack too long?"
• "Hand off [item] to [assistant]" or "mark [item] as done"
• Any discussion about daily delegation queues, assistant standups, or The Assistance Track

Context

Finding the CEOS Repository

Search upward from the current directory for the `.ceos` marker file. This file marks the root of the CEOS repository.

If `.ceos` is not found, stop and tell the user: "Not in a CEOS repository. Clone your CEOS repo and run setup.sh first."

**Sync before use:** Once you find the CEOS root, run `git -C <ceos_root> pull --ff-only --quiet 2>/dev/null` to get the latest data from teammates. If it fails (conflict or offline), continue silently with local data.

Key Files

| File | Purpose | |------|---------| | `data/assistance/stack/` | Stack items — one file per delegation item | | `data/assistance/daily/` | Daily meeting logs — one file per meeting | | `templates/assistance-stack.md` | Template for new stack items | | `templates/assistance-daily.md` | Template for daily meeting logs | | `data/accountability.md` | Source of leader-assistant relationships (read-only — use ceos-accountability to modify) | | `data/delegate/` | Delegate and Elevate audits (read-only — reference for delegation context) |

Stack Item Format

Each stack item is a markdown file at `data/assistance/stack/stack-NNN-slug.md` with YAML frontmatter:

id: "stack-001"
title: "Schedule board meeting"
from: "Brad Feld"
to: "Sarah Chen"
urgency: this_week        # today | this_week | whenever
status: pending           # pending | handed_off | done
created: "2026-02-16"
handed_off: null           # Date when handed to assistant
completed: null            # Date when marked done

**File naming:** `stack-NNN-slug.md` — zero-padded numeric ID, title slugified.

Daily Meeting Log Format

Each daily meeting is a markdown file at `data/assistance/daily/YYYY-MM-DD.md` with YAML frontmatter:

date: "2026-02-16"
leader: "Brad Feld"
assistant: "Sarah Chen"
items_reviewed: 5
items_handed_off: 3
items_completed: 1
duration_minutes: 15

Urgency Values

| Value | Meaning | Expected Turnaround | |-------|---------|-------------------| | `today` | Needs attention today | Same day | | `this_week` | Should be completed this week | Within the week | | `whenever` | No time pressure, do when convenient | Best effort |

Status Values

| Value | Meaning | When Set | |-------|---------|----------| | `pending` | On the stack, not yet handed off | Item creation | | `handed_off` | Discussed in daily meeting, assistant is working on it | During Daily mode | | `done` | Completed | During Daily or Stack mode |

The 5 Disciplines

The Assistance Track is built on 5 disciplines that make delegation work:

1. **Batching** — Don't interrupt your assistant throughout the day. Collect items on The Stack. 2. **The Stack** — A single queue of everything you need to delegate. Items wait here until the daily meeting. 3. **The Daily Meeting** — A structured 5-15 minute standup to review The Stack, hand off items, and check on progress. 4. **The Assistant's Judgment** — Once handed off, trust the assistant to handle it. Don't micromanage. 5. **The Weekly Review** — A weekly check on stuck items, completion rates, and delegation health.

Leader-Assistant Relationship

The leader-assistant relationship is derived from `data/accountability.md`. Look for reporting relationships where one person's seat includes assistant-type responsibilities (Executive Assistant, Office Manager, etc.).

If no clear assistant relationship is found in the accountability chart, ask the user: "Who is your assistant? (I couldn't find a clear assistant relationship in the accountability chart.)"

Process

Mode: Stack

Use when adding new items to The Stack. This is the primary way a leader batches delegation throughout the day.

Step 1: Identify the Relationship

Determine the leader and assistant. If only one leader-assistant pair exists in `data/accountability.md`, use it automatically. If multiple exist or none is clear, ask the user.

Check for existing stack items to determine the next ID:

1. Scan `data/assistance/stack/` for all `stack-NNN-*.md` files 2. Also check `data/assistance/daily/` meeting logs for any referenced IDs 3. Find the highest numeric ID 4. Increment by 1

Step 2: Capture the Item

Ask for the item details:

1. **Title:** Short description of the task ("Schedule board meeting", "Order new monitors") 2. **Urgency:** today, this_week, or whenever 3. **Details:** Any additional context or instructions (optional)

For quick stacki