Tom Oliver

Graduate

This meeting is a good chance to meet and greet a few of the Tenders and hear about what other jobs in the industry are going on. The purpose of this meeting is to familiarize the contractors with the site before they submit a tender.

6.30 AM

My alarm which consists of dozen cockatoos which have taken a liking to a tree outside my bedroom window goes off around 6 O’clock. My actual alarm at 6.30 am lets me know to jump out of bed. I grab a banana, towel and wetsuit and shoot out the door to my car.

6.45 AM

I pull into the car park at Maroubra Beach which is luckily only about a 5-minute drive away. I put on my wetsuit which is usually still wet and cold from the day before, grab my surfboard and make my way to the water’s edge.

Johnstaff - Tom Oliver - At the beach

7.45 AM

I surf in front of the surf life-saving building which has a large clock on the outside which is always an easy way to keep tabs on the time from the water. After saying one more wave about five times I hop out and shoot back home.

8.00 AM

I arrive back home and jump in the shower to warm up a bit before getting changed into my work attire for the day. Today I will be working from home so luckily I don’t have far to travel. Our current arrangement is working three days in the office with two at home. When working from home it’s a great chance to utilise those couple of hours you save from travel to squeeze something extra into your day.

8.30 AM

I grab a bit of breakie, usually porridge and open up my laptop for the day. I’ll begin by checking my calendar for the day to see what meetings have been scheduled. I’ll look at my To Do list from the day before to familiarise myself with my tasks for the day before taking a look at any unread emails which have found their way into my inbox.

Johnstaff - Tom Oliver - breakfast at work

9.00 AM

Monday normally starts with a weekly team catch-up between the Client and other Johnstaff project team members. This meeting is held on Microsoft Teams. The meeting provides a project update of where we stand to date for various items. The meeting will usually produce a number of actions for me which I capture and add to my To Do list. After the meeting, we follow this up with an Internal Johnstaff team meeting where we debrief about our weekend events and make sure we are aligned as a team for the week to come.

10.00 AM

Another weekly team catch-up meeting kicks off another one of my projects. Monday mornings are usually quite busy with everyone getting prepared for the week ahead.

11.00 PM

I jump into another meeting on Microsoft teams which is between the Architect and the Project Team. We have a good catch-up and dive into where we stand from a design point of view and reiterate any key dates.

11.30 PM

Time for lunch. Lunch tends to look an awful lot like last night’s dinner. I step outside into the park at the end of my road and soak up a bit of sun for 30 minutes while I eat away.

12.00 PM

I have a look over my To Do list and prioritize the items. I follow up with a few consultants via phone and email to ensure they are on track for their actions for the week.

1.00 PM

Time to head out to Narrabeen for a site visit we have scheduled today. I take a GoGet car which I have prebooked the night before to ensure I can snag the one which lives at the end of my street. I mix up the drive with listening to a podcast while also fielding any calls (hands-free) which come my way.

2.00 PM

I arrive at Narrabeen for a contractor’s site visit walk. This meeting is a good chance to meet and greet a few of the Tenders and hear about what other jobs in the industry are going on. The purpose of this meeting is to familiarize the contractors with the site before they submit a tender. Narrabeen’s a large site so it takes us about an hour and a half to walk around the site.

Johnstaff - Tom Oliver - meeting

3.45 PM

After the meeting finishes up and the contractors part ways, I have a quick catch-up with the other Johnstaff team members.

4.45 PM

After dodging a bit of traffic, I arrive back home about an hour later.

5.00 PM

I check through my emails to capture any important items/actions which I have missed while being out at the site. I send out a few emails to address any of these actions before creating a new To Do list for tomorrow. I have a look through my calendar for the following day to paint a rough image of how my day will shape up.

5.30 PM

I wrap it up for the day and shut my laptop off. My housemate usually arrives about the same time, and we walk down to Coogee Beach to lap in the last few rays of sunshine and sneak in a quick dip.

6.45 PM

I have a shower and make a bit of food before getting ready for social touch rugby which we play on Monday nights in Bondi.

7.30 PM

The Whistle blows. It's game time.

8.20 PM

Full-time, no silverware tonight but its more about just having a bit of a runaround and laughing. We hang around with the team for about another half an hour throwing some chat around.

9.00 PM

I arrive home and jump in the shower before having a bit of a late-night dinner. Sausages on the barbie will suffice.

9.30 PM

I start to simmer down for the night and head off to dreamland, ready for another big day tomorrow.

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