Brenda Harris, Office Manager for Healthy Buildings International Australia shares her tips for smooth logistics when it comes to routine portfolio management investigations.

She also explains how her role in dedicated office logistics aids in those not so routine occasions where our team is called upon to be on site urgently - usually within two hours...

Brenda thinks that the key elements to smooth logistics are being organised, following routines, employing consistent scheduling practices, and maintaining useful systems and processes. A good dose of overall leadership to all administrative operations also goes a long way.

According to Brenda "My role is to provide the team with a streamlined administrative system, standard operating procedures, and general support. It is vital that the team maintains the chain of custody of samples and safe custody of our assets at all times  - including equipment, vehicles and staff!".

"I have been managing the office at Healthy Buildings since October 2010 and during that time the team and I have implemented a cost effective, streamlined and environmentally efficient data control and reporting system".

"We now apply innovation daily within both our site and field based operations".

"All field work is now paperless; and our field teams can access all information from their I Pads or laptops via the internet which aids in faster turnaround of information, with less double handling and more importantly, less room for human error in data transfer".

"I provide guidance and office support for our ever expanding team, taking care of their travel arrangements, meeting management, schedules as well as maintaining administrative operations. The field teams need to be fully prepared prior to travelling to site - it's not good enough for them to get to site without the full kit needed to do the job, particularly when intra or inter state".