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Behind the Scenes with Tyler Daws: Operations & Training Logistics at GCA · GCA Unmuted: Voices of Virtual Education

• 0:03
  SPEAKER_01: Welcome to GTA Unmuted, the podcast where we share the stories and strategies that show how Georgia Cyber Academy makes online learning work.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_01: When people think about schools, they usually think about teachers and students.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_01: But in a virtual school, there's a whole team working behind the scenes to make sure training runs, systems work, and people have what they need to show up every day.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_01: I'm joined by Tyler Dawes, a federal programs and training logistics coordinator at GCA.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_01: Wow, that's a mouthful.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_01: His work sits right at the center of how professional learning, systems, and operations stay organized and running smoothly.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_01: So, Tyler, thanks for being here.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_01: We appreciate you.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_01: But uh as we get started, can you share a moment that you think really shows what it takes behind the scenes to make things run smoothly at GCA?
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_00: Um, first of all, thanks for having me.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and I would say, you know, what I deal with a lot is people's travel logistics.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_00: We do a lot of trainings all over the state, um, all over the country, even.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_00: And we have, you know, people constantly on the move.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I think our biggest thing is, you know, when we get together once a year, we all come back for the beginning of the year.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_00: That's our largest get together in Athens.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_00: And I think the moments that really have that moving is, you know, always having to be familiar with our travel policy, making sure everyone's covered, make sure everyone has a place to stay.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, we have over a thousand employees at most times, and making sure that uh about over half of them can stay for a week and they know where to be and where to show up is the moments that make it.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_01: So so you uh are essentially in charge of making sure about everyone's lodging, really, and and who's allowed to stay in a hotel in terms of like if GCEA is covering it or not?
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_01: Uh what do you think?
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_01: Can you kind of give us like the coordinating behind that and the problem solving that you might have to do uh a little bit in terms because I imagine like a thousand employees, like you said, all go into one place for a couple amount of days.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_01: What sort of problem solving things or coordination goes in?
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_01: Like, are you do you already start planning for that in January?
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_01: If this thing's happening in July, like when when does that happen?
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_01: Can you speak to that a bit?
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I mean, we start as soon as we as soon as we get back from Athens, we start planning for the next year basically.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_00: Um, we have to go ahead and get you know the hotel contract signed.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_00: We have to make sure that you know our numbers were lined up for what we predicted that was gonna come, or else the hotels would be upset you didn't fill all those rooms.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_00: Um but you know, you start really hitting the ground, and yeah, about this time of year in January, and um not to date what we're doing this with, um, but it's um it's like you know, just making sure that the biggest problem solving, I would say, is you know, people they have to, you know, have like normally it's like a roommate issue.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_00: So in order for you know us to cover the cost, it's gonna be they have to room with another employee.
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and it comes to matching those people, trying to figure out the best way to get everyone covered, trying to make sure, you know, everyone gets their preferences when it comes to hotels.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, we try to really every year we improve, I think, the process a little bit more of making sure people who stay longer get, you know, um first picks at, you know, who gets, you know, the hotel that's maybe closer or all these like little boring details that sound, you know, so minuscule, but like it's just I've been doing it for five years now, and each time I feel like we get a little bit better and the process gets a little cleaner.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_00: You know, we know how to send people to the right websites, we know how the right timing, we know not to send it out during testing, which is a mistake I've made before.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, it's um trying just to get everyone's preferences and you know, having to be good cop, bad cop, and you know, trying to just take care of all of our people and make sure they have a smooth experience is it's you know, it's daunting, but I think we're getting really good at it.
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I mean, if I can, I I would say that the process has become smoother over the years of just like the big logistical process of picking the hotel and the roommate.
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_01: But I'm fortunate enough to like always have my roommate.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_01: I've had a solid roommate, so it's like I don't have to stress out about that, which is nice.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_01: Um when when people think about what you have to do, this hotel piece, because you kind of brought up the hotel piece, and I imagine that's like a big part of like what you do and coordinating that and making sure it all works and goes smoothly, right?
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_01: Because PD is a huge deal for us professional development back to school.
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_01: What do you think people would be most surprised about when you think about working behind the scenes?
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_01: Like if you weren't the guy behind the curtain, like what if you weren't the guy that was there, like what all goes into it?
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_01: What would people be most shocked or surprised about, like the work that actually goes into it?
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_01: Like, would people uh would when you think about all the stuff that goes into it or has to do like um what would you want people to like know or be that you think people would be surprised about?
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_01: Like, come on, Tyler, it's just booking a hotel room, you know, you know what I mean?
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_00: I would say it's um, you know, I talk a lot about you know the Athens um trip because that's our biggest one, but the hotels throughout the year is almost um more difficult sometimes because you know you'll have each hotel is very different, obviously, and we're going to these tiny towns in the state, and um it's always having to get make sure that our payment is on file.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_00: Like that's the number one thing that always comes up is um making sure because you can call the hotel so many times, you can make sure that they have all the right documentation, but if the right person isn't at the front desk at that time, they could lose the form or whatever.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, it's it's a lot of like having to be ready at any moment, really, when there's an issue when it comes to someone come goes to check in somewhere and the front desk is like, oh, well, you know, the card isn't on file.
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_00: Um, because you know, if you stay there for a few days, you can that charge can rack up pretty high.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_00: So we want to make sure, you know, we're not putting any, you know, financial strain on anyone.
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_00: Um it's a lot of just wrangling details of making sure that everything is in place so it's smooth, you know.
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_00: You have to create this reservation, you have to um get the card on, you have to call the hotel, get the form, fill out the form, send it back to the hotel, make sure it's on file with them.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_00: Um and it's just something that sounds so simple, but when you're doing it for so many people throughout the entire year, it's so uh intense.
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I imagine there's probably a lot of little tiny pieces that if they go wrong or they're missing, everything's out of place.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_01: You talking about it kind of made me think of like all the stuff that goes into like when you're doing the mortgage process and you keep getting we need this document, da-da-da-da-da-da-da.
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_01: So it's like that, and then you just miss one thing.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_01: But what do you think it means to like really support a virtual school from the operation side?
• 8:01
  SPEAKER_01: Like, how how would you like describe or how would you define um what it means from your side of things from an operation side of things, like what it means to actually support a virtual school?
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I think you know it's it's very obviously it's very different than being in the building um with staff, because you know, we have people all over the state.
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_00: So um it's I would say it's you know, it's trying just really hard to make sure everyone is comfortable and not nervous about any part that I'm involved in.
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, because I mean sometimes it's people's first time traveling for a you know professional development, or it's you know, um sometimes you know it's their first time flying out of state for something.
• 8:51
  SPEAKER_00: And I just want to make sure that no matter what, like, you know, they don't have to have any anxiety about any step of the process and that you know they have someone as a first point of contact um to reach out to.
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_00: And I, you know, try my best to always put a positive outlook towards it and you know, make sure everyone feels comfortable that they can come to me for any questions when it comes to traveling or um, you know, any of the things that I have my hands in.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_00: I want to make sure that these all of our employees feel like they can come to me and you know, know that I'm gonna always try and help them out and not try to uh stonewall in any way, just you know, be like, you know, hey, these are the policies, this is how you get this done, this is how you can get this, you know.
• 9:39
  SPEAKER_00: I'm always trying to work with them as opposed to against them when it comes to getting what they need when it comes to all this travel.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_01: No, that's so good.
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_01: I know you, so I'm pretty sure I know the answer to this, but are you are you uh somebody that it's way easier to say yes, or it's way easier to say no?
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_01: Like when you're trying to support people.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_01: What do you have a harder time doing?
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_00: I have such a hard time saying no.
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_00: It is so against everything in my being never tell someone no.
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, and I may even kick that up the line for someone else to say no.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, I see.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_00: So saying no is tough.
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_01: So sometimes support does include saying no, but you're gonna do everything in your power to say yes or keep things rolling as smoothly as possible.
• 10:41
  SPEAKER_01: But you're right.
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_01: Sometimes like it is what it is.
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_01: Um, if you were to zoom out a bit, why do you even think if you were gonna explain to somebody like why is behind the scenes work like so crucial for a fully online school, a fully online environment?
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_01: If you were gonna try and describe, like, hey, this is why beside behind the scenes work is so important, so critical, uh, how how would you describe that?
• 11:08
  SPEAKER_00: I would say, I mean, you know, things don't run if things aren't running behind the scene.
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, I think as a virtual school, I'm sure a lot of people have the perception that, you know, they just log on to their computer and then that's that.
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_00: But there's so much that goes on, you know, um, even on like, you know, the financial side of things, you know, like we're putting in requests of, you know, we have to do purchase orders and learn new systems of how to get everything that the teachers need to, you know, be able to teach virtually.
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_00: Um it's just so much that goes on that um people who you know never even talk to us probably don't even know, you know, it's happening.
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_00: But you know, there's yeah, there's a lot of things that when you show up to Athens and you have a place to stay, and you have so many rooms that you can do and so much decor, and it looks so cool.
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_00: You know, there's a lot of I mean, we're putting on, you know, basically a convention every year, and because it's so large, and there's so many moving pieces, and each person who is dedicated to those moving pieces is trying to improve it every year.
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and I think that's what's so great about the behind-the-scenes work.
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_01: No, that's a great point.
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_01: So it's probably easy for a lot of us to take the work y'all do for granted, all of the behind-the-scenes stuff.
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_01: Um when you think about your specific job, what are the things that you're responsible for?
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_01: So you mentioned the hotels from your role of federal programs, training, logistics, all those things.
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_01: What are the things that Tyler's gotta make sure gets done?
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_01: Tyler has his hands on that he's responsible for, or is the list so long that you can't even tell us we'll be here the next 45 minutes?
• 13:02
  SPEAKER_00: Well, you know, I can give you at least the top three.
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_00: Um but yeah, it's mainly just, you know, like people uh like a lot of staff will request to go to a conference, and that process from request um to attend something to actually going there.
• 13:18
  SPEAKER_00: There's you know, so many steps in between, and it's an ever-changing process due to, you know, like I said, new systems or what the DOE is requiring.
• 13:27
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so you know, I think and I'm involved in a lot of those steps of, you know, hey, like, you know, you put the wrong quote amount on here, and we got to make sure that you, you know, the pricing is correct so we get it approved so that you can attend these things.
• 13:44
  SPEAKER_00: Um and so we put in the purchase request, you know, it goes to once it gets approved, then we start booking everything for them.
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and then you know, we have to follow up on people's re-deliveries, which is when they come back from a conference, there's they need to take what they learned and share it with their team.
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_00: So we have to make sure that that process is being followed.
• 14:07
  SPEAKER_00: Um so yeah, it's a lot of little steps, and um each one is so important.
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, you can't, it's important not to get lost in the sauce, which can happen.
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_00: But um, so I'm like, I feel like I can't even say like a main task.
• 14:25
  SPEAKER_00: It's like there's just so many tiny ones that happen through, you know, you departing from your home to going to stay somewhere and go to a conference.
• 14:34
  SPEAKER_00: It's like, yeah, there was a lot of steps that took uh that we had to take to get you there.
• 14:38
  SPEAKER_00: And I can ramble on forever, so I'll stop.
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_01: No, no, no, no.
• 14:42
  SPEAKER_01: Tell us about because don't you do a hybrid situation?
• 14:45
  SPEAKER_01: Don't you work some days at home and then some days at the office?
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_01: So uh at the GCA office in in Atlanta.
• 14:52
  SPEAKER_01: So maybe tell us like uh what what that different is there a different workload based on the environment you're in, whether whether you're at the office or not, and does that support change?
• 15:04
  unknown: Oh yeah.
• 15:05
  SPEAKER_00: Um you know, I'm in the office mainly on Tuesdays when you know ever kind of like all the cabinet members come in.
• 15:12
  SPEAKER_00: So it's good to have face-to-face with people.
• 15:15
  SPEAKER_00: I work a lot better face to face when I can, you know, get, you know, talk to you, and you know, we can um plan how to get things done.
• 15:23
  SPEAKER_00: Um person that was my uh my cat just jumped out the window.
• 15:29
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, sorry.
• 15:31
  SPEAKER_00: Um but yeah, I would say that um yeah, being in the office, you know, we it's very different.
• 15:37
  SPEAKER_00: I'm mainly in there for yeah, to support the cabinet.
• 15:40
  SPEAKER_00: I'm in there to for when we have new hires come in.
• 15:43
  SPEAKER_00: Um I'm very involved in that process of, you know, because we have new hire orientation about once or twice a month.
• 15:49
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, I make sure that everyone comes in.
• 15:52
  SPEAKER_00: I, you know, order the lunches, make sure the room is set up, make sure the office is looking great to have a first impression for the people coming in and and once again making sure they have hotels if they need them.
• 16:03
  SPEAKER_00: And um, you know, the word hotel like haunts me in my dreams, but but uh, you know, it's it's so being in the office is a totally different vibe.
• 16:13
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, when I get when I'm working from home, I get to you know focus more on you know these processes that aren't so glamorous of you know putting things in and receipts and all this other fun stuff that you know no one really gets to see.
• 16:26
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 16:27
  SPEAKER_01: When uh switching switching gears, what do you think other schools could learn, whether they're virtual or brick and mortar traditional schools?
• 16:35
  SPEAKER_01: What do you think other schools could learn from how GCA approaches this operations and logistical support kind of in your in your wheelhouse?
• 16:46
  SPEAKER_01: What do you think they could learn if you were gonna give some advice?
• 16:52
  SPEAKER_00: That is a great question.
• 16:53
  SPEAKER_00: I would say um I would make sure you have great people who, you know, I think sometimes when people are behind the scenes, it feels like they um are just you know faceless entities, basically, that you never get to really interact with.
• 17:13
  SPEAKER_00: But you need to have great people that um are back there, you know, making sure because if people don't care, then I feel like you know, they're not gonna do as great or make sure people are taken care of.
• 17:26
  SPEAKER_00: So I think like, you know, making sure you have people that care about the the students, the staff, um, even if they don't ever see the students.
• 17:35
  SPEAKER_00: Like I never see students that much, you know, but it's like it it's great that I get to, you know, have a little tiny piece in like helping out a student's future, you know, by making sure that their teachers are well, you know, educated and up to date on everything.
• 17:51
  SPEAKER_00: So I think making sure that you have people who care, even in these like not student-facing roles, is the best thing you can do.
• 18:00
  SPEAKER_01: Love that.
• 18:02
  SPEAKER_01: What do you think Tyler stands out then uh about how GCA supports its staff through the behind the scenes work, through the operations side of things?
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_01: What do you think stands out when you think about that?
• 18:17
  SPEAKER_00: I would say um our level of support.
• 18:22
  SPEAKER_00: I know it feels like I'm beating a dead horse here, but it's like I think if you ever have an issue, there's like uh there's people there to help you out.
• 18:32
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I mean, you know, like you're not here alone, you know, like you might be alone in your you know, office while you're at home teaching, but you have a whole school behind you and people who are there to support you every step of the way.
• 18:46
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that's nothing like I've never had another job where I felt like I could just reach out to someone and they could help me with any little part of the process I'm in.
• 18:58
  SPEAKER_01: And how do you think your team, because you're a part of a team though, you do do a big task though.
• 19:02
  SPEAKER_01: Like, how do you think your systems and your teamwork kind of help really support this?
• 19:10
  SPEAKER_01: Because GCA is a large school, like you said, like we are a huge school.
• 19:14
  SPEAKER_01: So what is it that your team and you do to kind of really just stay stay organized, like st stay on top and and and really be responsive?
• 19:25
  SPEAKER_01: Because, like you said, you have a lot of people that reach out and need support.
• 19:28
  SPEAKER_01: So, what is it that y'all are doing, like your systems and stuff that help y'all kind of stay organized, stay on top, be be responsive?
• 19:35
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's um it's ever improving, you know.
• 19:40
  SPEAKER_00: Like I think that this year we really went in and we created a whole um everyone's gonna go to sleep, I'm gonna say spreadsheet, um where you know, it's like it's very interactive, and we have you know so many um documents and you know, because when you like if you're a teacher traveling, for example, you might need to have the tax exempt form for your hotel.
• 20:03
  SPEAKER_00: We have links to that that we have um readily available, you know.
• 20:07
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and we have to have the receipts to make sure you know everything is squared away.
• 20:12
  SPEAKER_00: So we have um spots for that, and it's we've made the process very easy to navigate through a um we call it a conference dashboard.
• 20:22
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so you know, anyone can go on and kind of get the documents they need or the proof of attendance they need.
• 20:28
  SPEAKER_00: You know, we have so many things in place to where you shouldn't ever be looking for anything that you may need when it comes to all these conferences.
• 20:41
  SPEAKER_00: Um I think that's the best uh improvement we have.
• 20:44
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, and also we started a um travel email this uh I think it was we started it this year, or if not at the beginning of last year, where you know it's all travel questions can come to one centralized email.
• 20:56
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, if I can't get in there and answer them all, there's other people on the team who can jump in and you know help people out.
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_00: Smart.
• 21:03
  SPEAKER_01: That's smart.
• 21:04
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, do not give me access to that email.
• 21:07
  SPEAKER_01: When with that idea, yeah, no.
• 21:09
  SPEAKER_01: Um so um what do you think uh Tyler uh is the biggest lesson or just a lesson?
• 21:18
  SPEAKER_01: Leave us with this final question that that you've learned.
• 21:22
  SPEAKER_01: It doesn't have to be the biggest one, just a lesson that you've learned about like the importance of what you do, the empire the importance of behind the scenes work uh in a school.
• 21:34
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I think it's one of the biggest lessons I have learned is you know just how this can affect people's day-to-day, you know.
• 21:47
  SPEAKER_00: I think it just feels it feels great to be able to be a helpful resource.
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_00: Like, you know, I I feel like you know, my true like passion is to help people.
• 21:58
  SPEAKER_00: So like, you know, being able to be a contact with anything makes me feel great, and it's something that I've learned throughout my time here here that you know it it really does uh make a difference when you um can just support all these people.
• 22:18
  SPEAKER_00: Like you know, I had like you know, because everybody knows my name, but I don't know everybody's name kind of thing.
• 22:23
  SPEAKER_00: It's what I'm in one of those positions.
• 22:25
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, sometimes you'll have people come up to you when we're in person, and I won't, I you know, I won't remember their name or anything, but they'll come up and they'll be like, oh hey Tyler, like you really helped me out when I was in a pinch in this, and I'm like, oh, that means everything to me, you know, and it just so I like to bottle that up and just keep it with me all the time.
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_01: That's awesome.
• 22:47
  SPEAKER_01: That's so cool.
• 22:48
  SPEAKER_01: I love that.
• 22:49
  SPEAKER_01: And the thing too, uh is you are indirectly supporting students because if you were giving uh headaches to teachers all day and like them feeling like, well, I gotta get this taken care of and that, and there's always something that's a problem.
• 23:04
  SPEAKER_01: Like if you weren't letting things run smooth behind the scenes, that would give one more headache or one more stress for these teachers who wouldn't be able to support their students and teacher students.
• 23:14
  SPEAKER_01: So, like in a big powerful way, you are indirectly supporting students through you know, not giving headaches to teachers and staff.
• 23:24
  SPEAKER_00: But if I needed that ego boost, thank you very much.
• 23:28
  SPEAKER_01: No, so here's today's big idea when operations run well, everyone else can focus on what matters most teaching, learning, and supporting students.
• 23:37
  SPEAKER_01: So thanks again to Tyler Dawes for joining us and giving us a look at the work that keeps everything moving.
• 23:44
  SPEAKER_01: If this episode gave you a new appreciation for the people beh for the people behind the scenes, be sure to subscribe and join us next time on GCA Unmuted Voices of Virtual Education.
• 23:57
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks again, Tyler.
• 23:59
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you.