A Day in the Life of a Director of Operations
May 21, 2020
I wake up at 4:45 am to let my dogs Max and Kita out, then I hop on my Peloton for a quick ride before getting ready for work. I am usually the first to arrive at the office; this gives me some quiet time to focus on catching up on emails and responding to my clients before the hustle and bustle begins. After I am caught up on emails and client correspondence, I create my checklist(s) for the day. I am a bit of a checklist junkie! My checklist is a two-part list. I have a personal checklist for my meetings and projects and another checklist for updates on the Program Manager’s meetings. As part of my weekly checklist, I sit with each Program Manager and Coordinator to discuss their meeting updates. This helps to ensure that hotel contracts are signed, meeting registration is moving along, A/V is finalized, menus are completed, and that all special touches are added. Also on the weekly checklist is to hold an operations team meeting. The team takes this opportunity to go around the room so that each Program Manager can discuss upcoming and past programs and share experiences. At MPW, we are always trying to stay ahead of the curve and current with technology and innovation, sharing trends and ideas amongst the team is crucial for success. In my role, I liaise with all departments from Graphic Design, Contracts & Sourcing, IT, Accounting, and Compliance, which keeps us all connected and informed. We have an internal IT team that creates our proprietary registration system and applications. This allows me to be involved as a Subject Matter Expert (SME) for our new programs and applications. Throughout the week, I manage/review our Audio-Visual account relationships, to ensure that we are staying current with our meeting equipment and software. In this industry, the biggest struggle is finding enough hours in the day to fit it all in. You must have a knack for multi-tasking, or better yet live and breathe it. I am so fortunate to do what I love every day!
