A day in the life of a global program director

Hi, I’m Pauline Blanchet, and I’m a global program director at Acclaro. I’ve been working from home since 2015, when I moved to Los Angeles after working in Acclaro’s San Francisco office. I now work from France with a global team and mostly U.S.-based clients, so my schedule often flexes to keep communication moving along. While I do miss in-person meetings and interactions with colleagues, I’ve learned to collaborate across distance and motivate myself.

Morning check-in

I start my mornings checking emails and messages I missed from the U.S. team after I logged off the night before. If I can answer quickly, for questions like setting up a rate or reviewing a quote, I usually take care of it right away. If an answer requires more brain power, I’ll wait until later in the day. Thinking about time zones and how people’s various locations impact an on-time delivery and how we can report on it is best after more coffee!

Next, I focus on answering questions from project managers and customers in Asia and Europe. I might need to set up a process to submit a project using one of our connectors or plugins, investigate how to better track spending or brainstorm a different workflow for client review of a multimedia project.

A brief break (keeping life on-track!)

Depending on my workload, I’ll work for a couple of hours and then take a break to run errands, do housework, exercise and prepare lunch and dinner.

Afternoon meetings and planning

I get back to work around 1 or 2 p.m. and focus on bigger initiatives. People are starting to wake up on the East Coast, which is easy to tell from the number of emails that begin to flow in!

I collaborate with colleagues and provide feedback on ongoing projects through Microsoft Teams or Zoom. My afternoons are usually packed with meetings, because that’s when my working hours overlap with the East Coast team. In between meetings, I reach out to existing clients to check on translation quality, work on forecasts for the upcoming months and check in with project managers and other teammates on specific projects. I often view my job as trying to foresee issues that haven’t happened yet, working to ensure they don’t happen and having a plan if they do!

Toddler time, dinner and wrapping up the day

At 7 p.m., I take a break to read two, three or five books to my 3-year-old twins, Raphael and Lucas. I help them brush their teeth, and we sing two, three or five songs before bed. I eat a quick dinner with my husband before I get back in front of my computer around 8:30 p.m. On my busy days, I can have another hour or two of meetings, and I usually stay online until 10 or 10:30 p.m. to work with project managers so I don’t delay any projects.

My days are full, but I appreciate all the advantages and flexibility that working from home gives me and my family.