Insider Info

You're in a board meeting when suddenly the big boss gets a flash of inspiration. Before you know it, there are all kinds of flowcharts on the wall showing projected profits. Then comes the big question: how do you get from here to there?

Bring in the operations research analyst.

"Upper managers realize they have an objective to reach, but they don't know what it takes to build," says George Sennett. He is a business systems analyst for a major airline. It's his job to translate all those projections into something practical that the company can profit from.

It's a lot like being the building manager for a new house.

"You know what has to be built, you know the size, but you don't know how long it's going to take. So you talk to the framers, the plumbers. Once the project is approved, then it's your job to watch the budget. So you monitor the time to make sure it meets the quality controls or objective, and make sure you don't go over budget," says Sennett.

Helle Welling, is the former secretariat for the International Federation of Operational Research Societies, she says the work is a lot like organizing a busy household.

"If you invite l2 people for a three-course dinner at 7 p.m., you have to figure out when you have to put the roast in the oven so that it's ready when the vegetables are done and ready to be served," she says.

"Or, if you have five children who all have to get out of the house in the morning, and you only have one bathroom, you really have to work out a schedule."

Very few women work in this field. The emphasis on computers and mathematics may be part of the problem, although Welling doesn't see why that should be a deterrent. "I think it is a job well suited for women since it involves a lot of common sense!"

Certainly it's a challenging job, and something that keeps people busy with mental gymnastics.

"The technology changes so fast," says Sennett. "When you're looking at cost benefits and paybacks, you realize that if you wait another year to make a purchase of technical equipment, you might get something cheaper but you might also be way behind. You've got to weigh things off all the time."

Because it's such a team effort, operations research analysts usually work with a wide group of people -- from trainers and purchasers to vice-presidents and computer programmers.

But it's not always easy translating ideas into reality. Often, technology is revered as the solution to all problems -- and a simple solution, at that.

"The downside is handling the expectations of senior people," Sennett says. If the goal is to give all the salespeople laptops to increase productivity, Sennett has to make sure the software on the computers meets the company's objective.

Then he tests it, makes sure the resulting data is good, and that the company is benefiting. Sometimes that takes longer than management anticipates.

"People who are in this area need to be able to deal cross-functionally," he says. "For instance, accountants look at the work through different colored glasses than salespeople. You have to be all things to all people."

Then there are deadlines. Sennett recalls when it was his job to make sure senior vice-presidents had computers available for a big sales demonstration. That meant getting onto an airplane carrying four laptops -- the fastest way to get the information to them.

"I was like a pack mule," he laughs.

Another challenge is getting different computer systems to communicate with each other. Sennett's aim is to get the computers working on the tough questions, while the user just pushes a few buttons.

Jon Ginsberg works on contract for the U.S. Department of Defense. He works with high-performance computers used by the government to do research in such areas as satellite images.

"Through the use of databases and spreadsheets, I track system utilization, the number of hours that our systems use each month for the program, and produce graphs based on this data," he says.

Ginsberg also tracks how long it takes employees to do their work. "Basically, I'm looking at how effectively they're getting the work done, whether it's done in reasonable time and what the turnaround is." He completes that work for over 20 systems.

It's also Ginsberg's job to survey users to determine whether the systems put in place actually work. It's often a slow process.

"We asked them to fill out a survey and get it back to us by the end of February," says Ginsberg. A few weeks after the deadline had passed for the 50 surveys, only 10 had come back.

While he works a regular 40-hour workweek, Ginsberg recalls one night when the day stretched well into the night. "We were preparing the...presidential budget for Congress, and due to the volume of information that had to be provided, we had to work until 11 p.m. on a Friday to get it done. One of my co-workers had her car locked in the garage because we stayed that late!"

Working for government naturally involves tons of paperwork, which sometimes means weeks of slowdown before a project can even be started.

"The hardest part of my job is having to get work approved before sending it out of the office," Ginsberg says. "Since this is a government office, there are layers and layers of people who have to approve letters or correspondence. This can delay letters by a few weeks."

But there are pluses, too. "Since I got this job, I have become more confident in my duties and grown as a person. And through courses and other training methods, I've been able to learn more and apply what I learn to my work," Ginsberg says. "Just because you're out of school doesn't mean you stop learning and growing."