A Day in Life of Mounia Bedran, K&A Director - Centre of Excellence (CoE)

Article first published in Construction Week Online’s June Newsletter 2023

A typical day when I’m not traveling –

6:15 am: I wake up early to spend some time with my teenage daughter, chatting about the day ahead, before she catches her bus to school.

Next, I take my morning coffee with my husband, and I read the headlines of a couple of online newspapers to which I’m subscribed.

A quick morning call to my mom, and I’m ready to head to work.

8:00 am: I start my day at work by checking and replying to emails, as well as planning and prioritizing my day.

9:00 am: As the Digital Services (DS) operations are centralized, I follow up with my teams in Lebanon and K&A branch offices by holding a number of stand-up meetings (both physically and over MS Teams) to discuss key ongoing projects.

11:00 am: This time of day varies and is dynamic. I occasionally participate in online meetings with clients, the majority of whom are in Riyadh, and, more recently, in Oman. On other days, I focus on the deliverables for my consulting work, which include developing strategies, capacity-building plans, and roadmaps.

I also review and baseline DS’s project budgets during initial project planning.

Before submissions, I audit and review a number of important deliverables and solutions in order to maintain the same standards and quality of services throughout all office locations.

As my “door” is always open to all the DS staff, I spend a lot of time answering calls, guiding the team, resolving their issues, and finding solutions to their problems.

4:00 pm: Curiosity towards the tech world is the magic ingredient that helps us stay abreast of the latest technologies and innovations, and keeps a competitive edge in our “Digital Services”. At this point of the day, client meetings are scarce, so this is when we plan the new products and solution demonstrations.

5:00 – 5:30 pm: I leave the office. On my way home, I take time to catch up on calls that I have missed while at the office. This usually includes one-on-one WhatsApp calls or MS Team calls.

6:30 pm: Once I reach home, I prepare the needed for an early family dinner.

7:30 pm: I’ve been singing in a choir for more than 2 years now – twice a week – and my daughter is the drummer of the group. Otherwise, I spend some time gardening, watering the lawn, or reading new recipes as I love cooking.

9:30 pm: I check my emails to see if there is anything urgent I need to take care of or to respond to emails from our partners in the USA – just to speed up the conversation because of the time difference.

10:00 pm: I watch my favorite TV series with my family before going to bed.