Temperatures Rising: Preparing for the Trip

As Boston attempts to emerge ever so slightly from the deep freeze and record snowfall that has engulfed the city this winter, the EMBA 27 teams are gearing up to visit much warmer temperatures as we prepare for our international trip to Santiago, Chile and Lima, Peru. Our class has a somewhat unique situation in that we have chosen to visit the same locations as our comrades in EMBA 26. This has proven quite helpful as we have had plenty of opportunities to converse with Alumni and gain critical insights into what is important, what is not, and establishing a strategy for the trip.

Preparation for this excursion has been as charged as any other portion of the program. In the few weeks after our third, and final team of the program was established, we were obligated to create a team charter, perform in-depth analysis on different countries, provide multiple comprehensive yet succinct presentations of our findings, and work together to begin forming a concept for our international trip and Capstone project. Our team quickly embraced efficiency!

Establishing industry meetings in our host countries has proven a daunting task. Now just 10 days out and we are finding ourselves struggling to put firm meeting commitments on the schedule. With such a significant number of great contacts, we thought we would be able to get on the map quickly. But with only two confirmed meetings and many irons in the fire, beads of sweat may begin taking shape on our foreheads soon… It is definitely heating up.

Meanwhile, back in our “real” lives, we are each preparing our organizations and families for our 8+ day excursion abroad. At the start of each team call we share accounts of preparing lists of things that must be done, training others to take on the extra work-load, working insane hours to complete as much as possible, and trying to figure out how to cram in a few extra hours of quality time with loved ones.

This is a nerve-wracking, yet exciting time for our team, and we are savoring every moment of it.

Marjorie Nelson is an EMBA 27 student and part of the healthcare team for the capstone project. Marjorie is the Director of Manufacturing at GeNO LLC in Cocoa Florida.