By Karen Biscopink, DoubleDutch “Manager of All Things Detail-Oriented” and Executive Assistant. Writer and book critic at conceptualreception.blogspot.com
There are a million reasons to love start-up life, not the least of which is that no two days are ever the same. Filled with remarkable, passionate people, DoubleDutch headquarters is constantly a-buzz with innovation. It’s a lot of hard work, a lot of excitement, and a lot of collective success – a combination that means we all really enjoy being at the office.
What a lucky office manager I am, in that my co-workers are hyper-collaborative and enthusiastic. The shift from big corporate life to DoubleDutch was a massive change, no doubt. But the collective brainpower of this creative group made the transition one of the most exciting adventures of my life. Here, I’ve found a playground for my patchwork background, so my time at work is really rewarding.
“A Day in the Life of an Office Manager” is the ultimate moving target. While Monday morning might see me working with Jen to plan our upcoming event, The Mission Startup Social Club, the afternoon will involve drafting statements of work for big-name customers, and calendaring analyst briefings with our co-founders. The Safeway order (containing team favorites of coconut water, trail mix, and string cheese) likely shows up in the midst of a recruiting session, and someone calls with a last-minute change on their flight home.
Pride, one of DoubleDutch’s latest apps to hit the stores, has been an impeccable tool for task prioritization. Pankaj can ping me from NYC with that urgent travel request. Aaron can nudge me about a project that’s coming down the pipes, and I’ve immediately got an idea of what bookkeeping projects will be on my plate later in the week. Regardless of whether someone needs rescuing or just administrative back-up, I’m in the loop and one step ahead, without having to scan through days of email chains. With so many projects on my plate, this is worth its weight in burritos.
What’s more, Pride has a gamification aspect that makes my jill-of-all-trades status super-satisfying. I get points for checking in to so many different projects, and I’ve been steadily climbing the leaderboard to get some serious clout for all of my gear shifting.
Here’s to keeping the machine well-oiled and having fun in the process!
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