my job, the never ending to do list
It seems there is some confusion as to what I really do at my job. My official title is Catering Assistant. However, if you look at the hierarchy of positions at my hotel you would see that I am the only assistant/secretary/random tasker in any department. This means that a lot of little things fall on me. This also means that while I do have some tasks that I do everyday, every week, or every month, I also do a lot of random ones. So in an effort to make this a better world, I took a couple days and wrote down everything I did. I also realize that this is a very long list. I've took the liberty of coding for you. Blue are things I do daily, Red is as needed but happens often, Green is as needed but not often, Black is a one time event. Also, this way if you really don't care about the description part, you can just skip over that.
This is my desk (before and after another David Hill edit)
Thursday, December 18, 2008
- Turn 15 contracts definite (When a sales or catering manager gets a signed contract back from a client I have to give it another once over to make sure all of the details are correct. Then I am the one turning that booking definite in the system. Fifteen is actually a lot more that I usually get in one day, this took me 2 hours.)
- Deposits with Mary (I hold the second half of the cash bank code. The accounts payable person and I open this bank every morning and ensure that all of the deposits that should be, are there.)
- Answer incoming calls (All of the calls going to the sales and catering department come to me first.)
- Enter forecasted numbers in the slip report (The slip report keeps track of what the managers expected for income and what actually happened. I had to enter the numbers from those 15 contracts that went definite.)
- Daily adjustment (Every day I get a report of all the adjustments made throughout the hotel the day before. Some of these need to be entered in another system, and that’s my job.)
- Showroom setup (When a sales manager needs to show a room to a client I find a good one in the morning and prepare it for the appointment.)
- First Trinity question (I wrote this on my list and now I’m not sure what the question was. But First Trinity was a client we had coming in that weekend.)
- Confirm AV bills are correct (We get all of our audio visual equipment and service from another company. When they bring me the bills for an event I compare it with the information we have to make sure we are charged correctly.)
- Enter definite numbers in the slip report (Remember the slip report from earlier? This time I entered what actually happened.)
- Close out purchase orders in Starsource (Starsource is our program for office orders. When we receive an invoice for a particular order I have to go into the system and basically mark it as received.)
- MACSSA adjustment traces (One of our clients gets a discount on their AV equipment. I made a note for myself (a trace) to do this adjustment after each of their events for the coming year.)
- Email brides about name change and their websites (I set up a website for clients where their guests can make room reservations within their block. This day I had to email the brides informing them there would be a wait on the websites due to the name change.)
- Accounts receivable checks (Any checks that we get in the mail go through me first. All I do with these though is make a list of them and pass the information on to the interested parties.)
- Run check approval (I sent a few checks through our authorization system. This was one of those random tasks that just took a minute.)
- Stuff envelopes (Because of the hotel’s name change we were sending out letters to about 500 clients and about 800 vendors. I was put in charge of stuffing, sealing, addressing, and sending out these letters. It took me one hour to stuff (just stuff) 211 envelopes. You do the math.)
- Take notes at the operations meeting (Every Thursday all of the managers/directors at the hotel have a meeting. I take the notes.)
- Email notes to Joyce (After the operations meeting I type out the notes and then send them to my GM. She approves them and I can send them along to every manager/director/supervisor.)
- Talk to Liz about office order (I put in all of the office supply orders for the hotel. I think she received a wrong item this time, so I had to call for a return.)
- Showroom shutdown (It’s nearing the end of the day by this time and that showroom that I set up earlier in the day needs to go back.)
- Print Daily Events and distribute (I print the report for events that are happening the next day and give them to necessary persons.)
- Print postings and door cards (These are what the public sees as far as daily events. They go to security who will post the information overnight.)
- Print pre-order menus (The next day we had a client who wanted their participants to order lunch. I printed the menus and bring them down to banquets.)
- Spoke with Terry about excel forms (I was having an issue with my formulas not calculating, my director of operations took a look at it, he couldn’t tell what was wrong either.)
- Walked client through filling out a credit card authorization form (For some reason this client didn’t know what information to put where, even though it was clearly labeled. Sometime people are slow.)
- Make sales kits (Sales kits contain all the information a client would need to know about planning an event at our hotel, I typically have about ten on hand. They also have the catering options.)
- Print Change Log and distribute (Any changes that a catering manager or I made to a current event is on this report.)
- Walk Daily Events and Change Log down to Banquets (Every day at the end of my shift I walk down to the banquet department and post that Daily report and the Change Log for the next day.)
- Change Log entries in BEO book (We keep all of the banquet event orders in one big binder for the month. Any changes that happened, I also change on the hard copies.)
Thursday, January 8, 2009
- Deposits with Mary
- Took message for August wedding (One of our catering managers was out all week. This was one of her clients who is ready for a contract to be sent to her. I also made a change to her event.)
- Look up group commitment (Sales managers don’t have access to look up how many reservations have been made in a particular block. I do, so I’ll look up this information whenever they request it.)
- Set new hours (My hours were cut, however I got to make my own schedule. So I sent it on to my manager.)
- Folders for definite contracts (I had to find a bunch of folders for accounts that I didn’t get to the day before. Definite contracts go into their account folders and then into a manager’s drawer.)
- Mailed out contract and other letters (Anything that needs postage on it, I do that and then send it out.)
- Answered call about name change (Just a random caller asking about our name change and what it means.)
- Enter rooms forecast on Daily Focus (The Daily Focus is a report put out by the HR department. It just shows what events are happening, whose birthday or anniversary it is, and the forecast for that day. Once I get the 11 day forecast from our revenue director, I put that information in this form.)
- Email about bookings (This one I can’t talk about…)
- Took inquiry call (Since I am the first point of contact for the department I take inquiry calls. This is anyone looking to book space or a block of rooms. I get some of the initial information, and then hand it off to the correct manager, depending on days and markets)
- Turn two contracts definite
- Create new account (One of those contracts that I had turned definite was a new client, so I put the information into the system in order to create an account for them.)
- Make door cards (Needed more for that day’s event)
- Daily Adjustment
- Enter forecasted numbers in the slip report
- Sales manager rental tracking (Monthly I print a report that shows what events a manager had the previous month. Then, looking at room rental alone, I enter those numbers in a different report. This determine if a manager has bonuses for the month.)
- Make group reservations (The person who takes our reservations was gone this day. So I took care of this task.)
- Guarantees (Typically done every day. I call the contact for events that are three days out and find out how many people they are expecting. Also a time to get any last minute information we may need.)
- Email groom about website issue (I was trying to set up a website for this wedding and he wrote a two page story on how they met. It was cute, but way too long to fit on the website.)
- Talk to Joyce about office order (I have to run the office supply order by my GM every month before I submit it.)
- Submit office order (Everything was fine! So I sent out the order. We got it the next day, which I think is a record.)
- Distribute On Own Group Report (Every week the director of operations puts together a report as to what groups may be using our restaurant for meals. I just need the managers to sign off on it, then I distribute.)
- Email guest confirmation numbers (Those reservations I made earlier? The manager wanted me to email the client the confirmation information.)
- Accounts receivable checks
- SPP Points (SPP is our loyalty program. I am in charge of awarding points to our clients once their event is over and paid for.)
- Gather website information (I have a few more clients who want websites set up for their group blocks.)
- Distribute starred BEO (OK, every Tuesday I put together the “Pack” which contains all of the next week’s events and their BEOs. Any BEO that is not ready to go out gets starred on the daily report. Once they are ready to be sent out, the BEO is starred (matching up the two) and sent out.)
- Make comp reservation (We have a client who contracted for some comp room nights, I had the privilege again to make these reservations.)
- Put up additional restroom signs (There was a big event going on that day which required that we open up a couple guest rooms so that those bathrooms could be used. Apparently nine stalls is not enough for the ladies.)
- New phone list for Anna (Anytime there are changes on our phone list I’ll print a new one and give it out to everyone in the hotel with a phone. This day just one of the managers needed a copy.)
- Take notes at operations meeting
- Email notes to Joyce
- Print Daily Events and distribute
- Hold sales managers hand (This one is silly, but one of the managers needed some very elementary things explained very slowly.)
- Lower group rate (A conversation with one of our clients led me to make the decision to lower their room rate.)
- Took marathon phone calls (My phone started ringing unusually off the hook.)
- Print postings and door cards
- Print Change Log
- Walk Daily and Change Log down to banquets
This is my desk (before and after another David Hill edit)
Thursday, December 18, 2008
- Turn 15 contracts definite (When a sales or catering manager gets a signed contract back from a client I have to give it another once over to make sure all of the details are correct. Then I am the one turning that booking definite in the system. Fifteen is actually a lot more that I usually get in one day, this took me 2 hours.)
- Deposits with Mary (I hold the second half of the cash bank code. The accounts payable person and I open this bank every morning and ensure that all of the deposits that should be, are there.)
- Answer incoming calls (All of the calls going to the sales and catering department come to me first.)
- Enter forecasted numbers in the slip report (The slip report keeps track of what the managers expected for income and what actually happened. I had to enter the numbers from those 15 contracts that went definite.)
- Daily adjustment (Every day I get a report of all the adjustments made throughout the hotel the day before. Some of these need to be entered in another system, and that’s my job.)
- Showroom setup (When a sales manager needs to show a room to a client I find a good one in the morning and prepare it for the appointment.)
- First Trinity question (I wrote this on my list and now I’m not sure what the question was. But First Trinity was a client we had coming in that weekend.)
- Confirm AV bills are correct (We get all of our audio visual equipment and service from another company. When they bring me the bills for an event I compare it with the information we have to make sure we are charged correctly.)
- Enter definite numbers in the slip report (Remember the slip report from earlier? This time I entered what actually happened.)
- Close out purchase orders in Starsource (Starsource is our program for office orders. When we receive an invoice for a particular order I have to go into the system and basically mark it as received.)
- MACSSA adjustment traces (One of our clients gets a discount on their AV equipment. I made a note for myself (a trace) to do this adjustment after each of their events for the coming year.)
- Email brides about name change and their websites (I set up a website for clients where their guests can make room reservations within their block. This day I had to email the brides informing them there would be a wait on the websites due to the name change.)
- Accounts receivable checks (Any checks that we get in the mail go through me first. All I do with these though is make a list of them and pass the information on to the interested parties.)
- Run check approval (I sent a few checks through our authorization system. This was one of those random tasks that just took a minute.)
- Stuff envelopes (Because of the hotel’s name change we were sending out letters to about 500 clients and about 800 vendors. I was put in charge of stuffing, sealing, addressing, and sending out these letters. It took me one hour to stuff (just stuff) 211 envelopes. You do the math.)
- Take notes at the operations meeting (Every Thursday all of the managers/directors at the hotel have a meeting. I take the notes.)
- Email notes to Joyce (After the operations meeting I type out the notes and then send them to my GM. She approves them and I can send them along to every manager/director/supervisor.)
- Talk to Liz about office order (I put in all of the office supply orders for the hotel. I think she received a wrong item this time, so I had to call for a return.)
- Showroom shutdown (It’s nearing the end of the day by this time and that showroom that I set up earlier in the day needs to go back.)
- Print Daily Events and distribute (I print the report for events that are happening the next day and give them to necessary persons.)
- Print postings and door cards (These are what the public sees as far as daily events. They go to security who will post the information overnight.)
- Print pre-order menus (The next day we had a client who wanted their participants to order lunch. I printed the menus and bring them down to banquets.)
- Spoke with Terry about excel forms (I was having an issue with my formulas not calculating, my director of operations took a look at it, he couldn’t tell what was wrong either.)
- Walked client through filling out a credit card authorization form (For some reason this client didn’t know what information to put where, even though it was clearly labeled. Sometime people are slow.)
- Make sales kits (Sales kits contain all the information a client would need to know about planning an event at our hotel, I typically have about ten on hand. They also have the catering options.)
- Print Change Log and distribute (Any changes that a catering manager or I made to a current event is on this report.)
- Walk Daily Events and Change Log down to Banquets (Every day at the end of my shift I walk down to the banquet department and post that Daily report and the Change Log for the next day.)
- Change Log entries in BEO book (We keep all of the banquet event orders in one big binder for the month. Any changes that happened, I also change on the hard copies.)
Thursday, January 8, 2009
- Deposits with Mary
- Took message for August wedding (One of our catering managers was out all week. This was one of her clients who is ready for a contract to be sent to her. I also made a change to her event.)
- Look up group commitment (Sales managers don’t have access to look up how many reservations have been made in a particular block. I do, so I’ll look up this information whenever they request it.)
- Set new hours (My hours were cut, however I got to make my own schedule. So I sent it on to my manager.)
- Folders for definite contracts (I had to find a bunch of folders for accounts that I didn’t get to the day before. Definite contracts go into their account folders and then into a manager’s drawer.)
- Mailed out contract and other letters (Anything that needs postage on it, I do that and then send it out.)
- Answered call about name change (Just a random caller asking about our name change and what it means.)
- Enter rooms forecast on Daily Focus (The Daily Focus is a report put out by the HR department. It just shows what events are happening, whose birthday or anniversary it is, and the forecast for that day. Once I get the 11 day forecast from our revenue director, I put that information in this form.)
- Email about bookings (This one I can’t talk about…)
- Took inquiry call (Since I am the first point of contact for the department I take inquiry calls. This is anyone looking to book space or a block of rooms. I get some of the initial information, and then hand it off to the correct manager, depending on days and markets)
- Turn two contracts definite
- Create new account (One of those contracts that I had turned definite was a new client, so I put the information into the system in order to create an account for them.)
- Make door cards (Needed more for that day’s event)
- Daily Adjustment
- Enter forecasted numbers in the slip report
- Sales manager rental tracking (Monthly I print a report that shows what events a manager had the previous month. Then, looking at room rental alone, I enter those numbers in a different report. This determine if a manager has bonuses for the month.)
- Make group reservations (The person who takes our reservations was gone this day. So I took care of this task.)
- Guarantees (Typically done every day. I call the contact for events that are three days out and find out how many people they are expecting. Also a time to get any last minute information we may need.)
- Email groom about website issue (I was trying to set up a website for this wedding and he wrote a two page story on how they met. It was cute, but way too long to fit on the website.)
- Talk to Joyce about office order (I have to run the office supply order by my GM every month before I submit it.)
- Submit office order (Everything was fine! So I sent out the order. We got it the next day, which I think is a record.)
- Distribute On Own Group Report (Every week the director of operations puts together a report as to what groups may be using our restaurant for meals. I just need the managers to sign off on it, then I distribute.)
- Email guest confirmation numbers (Those reservations I made earlier? The manager wanted me to email the client the confirmation information.)
- Accounts receivable checks
- SPP Points (SPP is our loyalty program. I am in charge of awarding points to our clients once their event is over and paid for.)
- Gather website information (I have a few more clients who want websites set up for their group blocks.)
- Distribute starred BEO (OK, every Tuesday I put together the “Pack” which contains all of the next week’s events and their BEOs. Any BEO that is not ready to go out gets starred on the daily report. Once they are ready to be sent out, the BEO is starred (matching up the two) and sent out.)
- Make comp reservation (We have a client who contracted for some comp room nights, I had the privilege again to make these reservations.)
- Put up additional restroom signs (There was a big event going on that day which required that we open up a couple guest rooms so that those bathrooms could be used. Apparently nine stalls is not enough for the ladies.)
- New phone list for Anna (Anytime there are changes on our phone list I’ll print a new one and give it out to everyone in the hotel with a phone. This day just one of the managers needed a copy.)
- Take notes at operations meeting
- Email notes to Joyce
- Print Daily Events and distribute
- Hold sales managers hand (This one is silly, but one of the managers needed some very elementary things explained very slowly.)
- Lower group rate (A conversation with one of our clients led me to make the decision to lower their room rate.)
- Took marathon phone calls (My phone started ringing unusually off the hook.)
- Print postings and door cards
- Print Change Log
- Walk Daily and Change Log down to banquets
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