Weeknote 2024.20
Lots to do with planning this week, using Microsoft Planner, looking further ahead to the rest of this year and next year, technical roadmaps, and of course one-to-ones.
Saturday
Back in March, Greater Anglia trains had a special offer on day returns, so I booked tickets to travel throughout their region for the eligible three months, and today was my last discounted journey, to Clacton-on-Sea.
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While there was no hint of this when I booked my tickets or even when I visited, it has since been in the news quite a lot, so I am just going to say I had a long walk along the beach and took many photographs.
Sunday
This is the third or fourth year I’ve done no-mow-may and it’s been interesting to see what grows when you do nothing. For the first few years it was predictable, I got long grass and dandelions, this year I got yet-to-be-identified bushy blue flowers and bright yellow flowers on long stems. As its now June, I cut just enough to get a garden table and two chairs in the shady spot created by my holly tree. (https://www.plantlife.org.uk/campaigns/nomowmay/)
Monday
It was great to see so many updates when I opened Microsoft Planner. Its proving to be a useful way of sharing what we are doing, particularly where an activity crosses service areas. We are currently working with an event-horizon of about three months, and I hope to gradually extend this, so it encompasses the whole annual service plan.
Tuesday
Looking at my diary, I expected a day of dashing from one meeting to the next, so it was a pleasant surprise that it all passed quite calmly. A lot of discussions booked for half-an-hour took less than 10 minutes, and still didn’t feel rushed.
Wednesday
I spend a lot of my time working on what’s happening now, in the next few weeks, and occasionally the next few months, so it was good to discuss longer term plans for the rest of this year and the start of next year.
Thursday
In many ways a reflection of Wednesday’s discussions about the next year and beyond, this time focussed on our technology roadmap. It’s always a balancing act, matching almost unlimited ambition with finite resources.
Friday
The usual rich mix of meetings today, the highlights are always the one-to-one discussions with colleagues. We are getting to know each other now, so the conversations are feeling more natural to me, and with a lot of the mundane details are on our Planner, so we can focus on what matters most.
Track of the week
It’s a tricky choice this week, I often know what my track of the week is within a day or two, this time it required an end of the week play-off to come to a decision. And its Maxed Out by Bayker Blankenship, someone I hadn’t heard of until now. https://open.spotify.com/track/3DnsQ5O4uJw3MlYgvBJSCq?si=f4f68e3665734f49
