A Day in the Life of a Community Manager
What does a typical Friday look like for a Community Manager at Runway East? We asked our superstar CM Bethany what it entails.
A day in the life of a Community Manager at Runway East, London
A typical Friday:
8:00 am
I always try to get to site early in the hopes that the tubes are quieter (live laugh love the London Underground) but most importantly so that I get ahead of the morning coffee machine queue and have time to have a quick chat with my team before we set off on our morning jobs.
8:30 am
Once 8:30 hits, the Community Associates will be busy setting up the ground floor breakout space and making sure the reception area is in tip-top shape. They will then start making their way through the other floors, ensuring everything is set up and ready for the members. This gives me the chance to cover the front desk, catch up on some emails and chat with members as they arrive on-site.
I can be a bit of a chatterbox so having time in the morning to talk to lots of people (even if it is multiple conversations about the weather) is always a good start to the day!
9:00 am:
Once the site is looking good, we have our daily team meeting. This is where we plan our day and raise any challenges that may pop up. This is the perfect time to make sure my team are all on the same page and know what the goals for the day are.
Fridays are our quietest days on site so we use this time to plan for the next week. One of the weekly tasks we do is a ‘Big Fat Friday Set Up’. This is where the Community Associates will do a very thorough walk of the building and make sure that everything is stocked up and ready for the coming week.
While the team is doing this, I book myself a meeting room (in the hopes of avoiding any distractions) and have an admin ‘power hour’ where I clear out my inbox as well as update my slides for our team meeting that we have at 10:30.
10:30 am:
Our Friday team meeting serves as a reflection on the past week, highlighting successes, identifying challenges, and noting any unfinished tasks that need to be carried over to the following week. Together, we also take a deep dive into our KPIs to ensure we’re on track for the quarter, pinpointing weak areas that require extra focus.
This meeting is extremely valuable as it gives me insight into our team's progress week on week. It also serves as a reminder to the Community Associate on how their tasks all lead to the success of the building and keep our members happy.
Spot checking and refills
11:00 am:
Straight after our meeting, I will complete a spot-check of the building. Each week I pick different meeting rooms to check as well as the kitchens and bathrooms. This is a great way to ensure site standards and also to pick up on any repairs that need to be done.
12:00 pm:
While the rest of the team goes to lunch I will cover the front desk, at this time we usually get an influx of post so I will log and store all the parcels in our post room. I will also check in visitors, make access passes and monitor the site inbox.
1:00 pm:
1 pm means it's lunch time and my current Friday fix is Pizza Union! I have quite an unhealthy obsession with their nduja pizza at the minute.
One of the things I love about working at the Bloomsbury site is that Runway East HQ is based there which means I can go to lunch with people from other departments. We are a very sociable bunch and it's great being able to have lunch with the HQ team!
Snacks for the team!
2:00 pm:
After lunch, I grab another coffee and start tackling my own to-do list. As Fridays are usually a bit quieter it gives me the opportunity to catch up on all admin as well as have a look at our compliance ledger and book anything that is coming up. I tend to situate myself in the main breakout area for this part of the day, as it makes it easy for both the members and my team to be able to grab me if they need anything.
3:00 pm:
Probably the only reason we have some members come in on a Friday… the Drinks trolley! We have an airline trolley that at 3 pm on a Friday we load up with both alcoholic and soft drinks and take it into each office. This is another great opportunity to connect with members, ask about their weekend plans, chat about any issues they might have, promote any events we have coming up, and generally foster the sense of community we have on-site.
5:00 pm:
Once 5pm hits, usually with a “how is it 5 pm already?! " we start shutting down the site. We do this every day but there are some extra steps on a Friday to make sure that the building is extra secure over the weekend.
Once the close down is done and we have discussed our weekend plans in great depth we head to the pub for ‘Friyay’. This is a chance to catch up with other Runway East employees and have a debrief of the week, all while getting a cheeky free pint ;).
