TSA and Timelines: The Art of Operational Survival
Blog | August 28, 2025
Airports are fascinating places to observe human behavior. I was recently traveling solo and couldn’t help but notice – and empathize with – all the parents navigating the chaos of air travel with young children. I was reminded of a trip that my husband and I took with our four kids (ranging in age from 9 years old to 3 months) and my parents to Orlando. It was the biggest test of logistics that I had experienced as a parent up to that point.
A broken double stroller, eight boarding passes, checked luggage, 2,000 frantic families trying to get home. All greeted by an impatient TSA agent. My focus was split between trying to entertain the kids, keeping an eye on my wandering mom (making sure she didn’t drift too far from my dad), and taking more deep breaths than I could count.
My husband and I did our best to stick to our system – I was head of logistics. I anticipated the flight going sideways with a crying child, so I stood in the back of the plane rocking the baby ahead of takeoff. My husband was head of entertainment (and the newly hated stroller). Nothing new for us. We each knew our role, anticipated problems before they happened, and adjusted in real time when plans shifted.
We weren’t just moving passively from point A to point B—it was a live, moving puzzle, and the stakeholders (aka our kids) each had opinions of their own.
Bridge to OR Operations
Running research operations is a lot like traveling with kids: success comes from clear roles, proactive planning, and flexibility when plans change. Without a system, the “trip” (aka the project) quickly becomes chaotic. Without a system, small disruptions can escalate and become unmanageable.
Leveraging system data enables us to plan for known factors, anticipate the unexpected, and keep clients informed about the impact of our quality products and field strategy.
Systems also allow us to plan for success. But what does a successful project look like? Our main KPI is always Done In Full On Time (DIFOT): all completes, on budget, and with quality. It starts by breaking the project process into manageable steps, then focusing on what matters most: Are there hard quotas? Is one vendor’s quality lower than others? Are we pacing to finish on time?
At OpinionRoute, we use our platform called the Navigator to manage our projects, systems, and data. This enables not only me, but the entire team to collectively monitor and manage project progress across all clients and all vendors in real time. This visibility allows us to track quality, quantity, and pacing — all essential to building strategic field plans and getting projects over the finish line.
Having a firm grasp of expectations, the ability to make data-driven adjustments, and a system that ties it all together is essential to achieving our end goal. Like a successful family trip, a smooth operation depends on a system grounded in preparation, adaptability, and heightened awareness of team morale when turbulence hits.