What I’ve been doing
I went to see Take That at The O2 last night. I took my Mum (at her request) and it was a good night (I always love live music and pop is very much my genre). Take That are (in my humble opinion) never going to be a group that set the world alight. They’re highly experienced (34 years in the business / touring) and they’ve clearly been able to adapt through time but they are also comfortable with who they are, who their audience are, and absolutely delivered what the audience wanted. There’s something about just stripping everything back and being clear on the basics.
In work it’s been a very disjointed week with non-work stuff disrupting my flow. I’m not a fan of weeks like this but around it I have been moving forward some project management tasks and working on: financial information for a due diligence process for a funder; end of year accounts; social media posts of website updates.
It’s been a week of good space for discussion too. We started the week talking about our approach to monitoring, evaluation and learning and ended on “the dark side of public participation”. I led a fundraising session this morning and was really clear about what we needed to get out of it - and from my perspective we got it - but I definitely could have been slicker in my facilitation.
What I need to take care of
Next week is only three days long but I want to max them out. I want progress on some stuff that’s been sitting on my TODO list for too long - a reserves policy, a honorarium policy, getting our budget sheets set up for 2025-27, and setting up the new year’s quarterly reporting Trello cards.
The due diligence submission must also be finished, monthly reconciliation, and progressing the draft annual report.
What I’ve been inspired or challenged or moved by
I’ve been holding these reflections for a while and think I’d describe them as “learning” rather than inspiring or challenging. I wanted to capture some points from the logistics for our ‘Datafied’ online workshop and our residential resources for deliberation Design Lab.
- Paracetamol and a COVID test are now important additions to my “engagement” bag. I needed these in our face to face session (for a participant) and didn’t have either. I was able to source some but only through the generosity of others.
- Large online sessions can impactfully use a shared workspace (such as Miro) to see lots of ideas flowing at the same time - but providing some tips (e.g. how to turn off seeing everyone else’s pointers) can improve the experience for those less used to working at that scale.
- It takes a long time (I’m still not quite sure how when it is a 1:1 transaction) for 100+ people to move into Zoom breakout rooms - ensure this is factored into the timetable (and think about how often you want to do it as a result).
- Having someone dedicated on logistics at a residential can feel like a luxury but it really allows everyone else to focus on what they’re there for - facilitators, participants, visiting experts. Event the best organised events need flexing over a two / three day period - having someone dedicated to ensure the experience is great for everyone, helps.
- Being in an organisation that intentionally works with care is a joyous thing and how that was felt / received was noted in some feedback. I get much pleasure in being able to work in this way.
What I’ve been reading
Still no reading this week but I’m going away this Bank Holiday this weekend and am determined to really get into a fiction book.