Yet again I am writing up my weeknotes on a Monday evening — the last time in a while I hope! This week was go live for a hosting migration project, the nerves, the sweat, and the sheer joy when it went off without a hitch! Here’s a few things that we did to make that happen…

Practice makes perfect

The project began with pulling a full back up of the site out of the original hosts and sending it to the new. During this time we learnt a lot about what could go wrong, and about how the four very desperate teams would work together. From requesting the back up, to transferring it across to the new host, and finding some unwanted extra files that we needed to delete — not only did we learn how to do the work but we learnt to trust in each other too.

Building trust when there’s history (and not the good kind)

I wouldn’t go so far as to say there was bad blood when the project began, but there were painful memories, which were a little different for each in the team. The past was the past, and we had to move on, to do it we had to learn to trust each other. This had to be done over time and was one of my main focusses when I started in my 9 month post, I had a few deliverables and this migration was the biggest. Before I could even think about getting that off the ground trust had to be built. It’s not easy, it takes a lot of energy but, for me these are the things I find work:

• Be honest and say when you don’t understand / can’t deliver as quickly as hoped
• Offer to help more than you probably should
• Look for opportunities to give support to those that you will need help from
• Move everything forward with empathy and as a HUMAN.

Frameworks and methodologies are great, but shouldn’t be everything

On that final point, I must note that much of the damage to trust had been done through pursuing frameworks and methodologies over to push the work through. I cannot judge on what went before me, and the lessons that may have been learnt since. The one thing that I do know, is that by steering very clear of frameworks, terminologies, and methods that had caused damage to relationships in the past, we were able to deliver a pretty big project, with a fairly low level of stress and always with a smile on our faces :)

I end this week as I mean to begin it, energised and excited for the upcoming holiday!

For this week’s post I will start at the end of my week. Friday’s have become a haven for me recently, the time that I can spend to focus on the other wonderfully exciting opportunities that I’m getting. I use the day to plan, develop new courses, draft proposals, and sometime to rest (time for me is important too!).

Today started with a focussed 1 hour of writing with 5 others. The event was initiated by a twitter pal of mine, Emily Bazalgette, to build some accountability into our want to write more. I spent the time focusing on an article I’ve been mulling over since the start of the year — notes from conversations with those that were at the beginning of the Government Digital Service (GDS). Along with the accountability of sitting down with this group to focus some time, I’ve got a deadline to work to as I will be sharing it with a wide audience through the awesome Catalyst blog.

Accountability is much more than relying on others to give you deadlines though. So, for an extra part of the day, I planned in moments across my week for check-ins and updates. I’m using a combination of notion (and the kanban board within) and my calendar — We’ll see how it goes!

Trying not to feel overwhelmed with the opportunities

This time last year was really tough. I had only been freelance for 11 months and hadn’t spent enough time building a network beyond the small projects I’d been working on, so when the pandemic hit, and projects dried up things got really tough.

Over the last few weeks I’ve had to really consider the work I can do, and the work I want to do. It’s such a contrast to last year, and I’m often having to pinch myself. Here are a few of the things I’ve done to try to reign in the overwhelm…

• Drafted my own personal problem canvas, a list of answers to questions like; what problem are you trying to solve? and what does success look like? (I will share more detail when ready)
• Reviewed the way I run my freelance projects — chunking my time up
• Focussed in on the offer for BeMoreDigital, and how through partnerships and collaboration more can be done
• Base decisions of the opportunities I take around strict criteria; Am I excited by it? Could it help progress BeMoreDigital? Will I learn something new? If the answers to all three aren’t yes, I will think twice about saying yes to the work.

I end this week feeling in control and with a plan. See you next time x

At the end of last week I was working on a pitch for new work. It was one with a lot of unknowns — the type that as a freelancer you could kick yourself for pitching low for.

SO, I took the opportunity to review how I talk about the work that I do and took a leaf out of the books of many developers that I know. I decided that from this day forward I will work in blocks of time on projects. I feel this is a more transparent and more fair way to talk about the work I do. Here’s how I pitch it…

HOW I WORK

For the majority of projects, I work in 5 day or 10 day sprints. Chunks of time that I can dedicate to focus on the problem that you need to be solved. This always follows similar steps (Define, Develop, Design), but the work done in this time can vary dependent on your goals and objectives.

Define and agree the work to be done in this sprint

Design the approach to the problem

Develop a response to the problem, this could be a report, a roadmap, process flows, a tool.

At the end of each sprint, I run a progress review with clients to decide what should happen next. Has the work to date met the overall project goals? Do we need to plan in some more time?

By working in this way I ensure that my clients receive something of value at the end of each 10 or 5 day cycle. If necessary for the organisation, work can be scheduled as full time, part time, or stretched to a no less than 1 day a week — I leave this choice to you.

How do you prefer to work? Do you pitch for projects in a bespoke way or do you have a similar set up? I’d love to know!

I end this week earlier than usual to give myself time to breath and refresh. The last 27months of freelancing and contracting have been full on. At least now I am learning to recognise when taking time for me is needed — I hope I’ll keep doing that!

Conversation is powerful

I’ve known this for a long time, but this week I was reminded of the power of taking the time to talk and understand where the other person (or people) are coming from. These times are stressful, and when working in an environment where many feel overstretched conversation and actually hearing each other can be forgotten.

For months I’ve been working on a hosting migration. This project involves lots of overstretched people with mixed priorities. It’s a project that has been a long time coming, and that comes with hangovers from the past. Along the way there have been hurdles to over come and needs to meet. The biggest hurdle was solved in a simple 45 minute call.

Before the call, I asked everyone to share all the questions and concerns that they had about the project, and what the end result would be. We had questions about firewalls, ones based on mistakes of the past, ones that wouldn’t have been necessary if the proposal had been read, and others that were concerns about who would do what. Normally, many of these would be solved before projects begin, but here we have had to fix as we go.

We had a list at the start of the week of more then 15 questions — far too many to cover in the short call we’d booked. So, to try to focus these down I worked with some of the team that could give easy answers in advance. This is where the collaboration comes in…

All the questions were listed in a Google Doc. In the first round we managed to slash the number of questions and the barriers they were building by half. They weren’t hard questions to answer, nor were they ones that hadn’t already been asked and answered in other meetings, but by taking the time to respond in this way everyone felt a lot more comfortable.

Next I could share the reduced questions with the new hosting providers, they could then prep with links to documentation and know what they would be asked about.

We managed to ask and answer all of the questions, that if left would have caused frustrations with delays quickly and now remain on track for the migration project. This small activity reminded me of why approaching work with empathy and humanity is one of the most fulfilling and successful approaches I know of. The frameworks are great, but they’re worth nothing without an added dose of humanity.

I ended the week feeling exhausted, I completed drafting this feeling tired. I am enthused for the future, but very much in need of some rest.

New projects on the horizon

I often get excited at the prospect of new projects on the horizon, even though many are similar to what’s gone before. Even with this similarity each of them comes with their own unique challenges and questions to ask and answer. This week I got the chance to embark on a proposal for a new project with a simply wonderful charity. I hope to be able to share more of this, if I get the gig of course!

#DoItMakeItShareIt — done

I woke up this morning with new energy, all thanks to a simple challenge from my friend and freelance colleague Tom Watson to make something and share it all in the same day. The idea is to reduce the hesitancy that we quite often face in making something perfect. So, in response to the challenge I turned a recent seminar into a BeMoreDigital SHORT. The idea behind these is to offer super short courses, designed to take less than an hour, to introduce concepts and best practices with the ability for applications of the lessons to happen straight away.

I did it! The first SHORT from BeMoreDigital, Measurement and Evaluation for Communicators is now live. For the first week (until 5th March) up to 20 people can access the course for just £5 using the code testpilot20.

I end the week feeling enthused, energised, thankful and excited. Maybe it’s the sun, maybe it’s time to focus on my own projects.

That was an incredibly long week (the fact that I’m finding the time to draft this two days in to the next week certainly tells all). What a week of two, very long halves, it was!

Smashing it out the park

For months, I have been working on a project process with people from across different teams. This week we got to a point where we had a list of steps that we could share more widely. After so long of working, and testing, and meeting, to have something tangible that could be shared more widely just felt great.

Automation hic-ups

Wednesday was the first Charity Power Hour of 2021, I was really excited, it was the first one ever that was fully booked. But then, my automations failed (well most of them).

As with all things that go wrong and at the end of my projects I ran a quick little retro (this time solo) to work out where improvements needed to be made. One of my favourites do to in a group is Three Little Pigs (because it’s based on a fairy-tale it just feels that little bit nicer), but as I wanted to share this more widely I returned to the good old Trello board.

Then, Thursday came…

Fires, fires, everywhere!

Alongside the project process I have been planning the migration of hosting for a huge website. The current set up is really old and creaking, with all of the issues that that comes with. Well, all the issues started to happen at once… it all seemed to be fixed by Friday late afternoon (sigh of relief) but alas, by Monday most of the issues had resurfaced.

Writing to meet deadlines

All of the above, meant that my plan to work on an article for CAST each evening was pushed further and further back. I had promised delivery by Friday, but with all this going on my head was far too full to start thinking about writing, so, I asked for an extension and managed to send it across late last night. I really hope it was worth the wait.

I ended last week feeling exhausted, I continue into this week looking for a break.

2 big presentations and a few things on my mind

This week has been coming and building since around mid Jan. At that time I realised I was going to have to develop a report to help push things along for the org that I’ve been working in since June 2020. Oh, and around the same time I was approached to deliver a ‘lunch and learn’ (at 7pm UK time) for the Task Force for Global Health.

Talking about the importance of measurement and evaluation.

Yes, it was a very long day on Tuesday, almost 8–8 but it was so great to be able to share my passion for data driven decisions, and how the power of measuring and evaluating Comms activity to the 25 professionals that joined the lunch and learn hosted by the Task Force.

As with all talks I give, I like to make sure there’s a thing to do. So, rather than just talking about the values of measuring and evaluating, and highlighting a few key points, I walked them through a simple measurement template that can be adapted to most activities. It starts with the objective, and then looks at the work done, and the results of that work.

Recently I’ve been working with some data and evaluation specialists, so I asked them “what do you wish your Communications Team knew about measuring impact?”

They said:

I wish that everyone thought about how their activities can be measured first, before they do anything. That way I can help and advise better.

Measurement isn’t all about the metrics of engagements and outputs. It’s about the change and the outcome of the action(s). I wish the contribution of the comms activity to be properly attributed to the change made.

The message got through! The Q&A was filled with sharing ideas of how to plan measurement at the start and how to think about the weight of impact the activity brings.

10 minutes to try to effect big change

I’ve been in post as a project manager for close to 8 months now at a huge membership organisation. It’s been a great opportunity to really get my teeth into some major projects and to help start to shape their next digital steps. Thursday was the day when I had 10 minutes to share some home truths and to share 6 things that had to be done in order to move forward. The best thing about this? I got to use my new favourite meme!

Like many orgs, they face the difficulties of project based funding and the constraints that brings. After testing and making sure the service you develop is fit for purpose, and you’ve paid for the thing to be built, for many the money runs out. What about the ongoing costs? And no, I don’t just mean the hosting. A digital product and service has a life cycle and that should be understood and properly planned for. We can’t continue to pay for a thing to be built and expect it to stay healthy — you wouldn’t buy a pet and expect it to survive if you stopped feeding it. Sustaining and maintaining cost, but the value of the spend far outweighs (of done well) your expenses. More on this in an article soon!

A little distracted

This week is the last week that work full time on that contract I mentioned. I move down to 4 days a week so that I can start to re-focus some time on BeMoreDigital. Maybe because of the excitement, or the pent up bits of work that must be done I’ve been a little more distracted than usual. I hope that the list I’ve just written for next week will really help to focus me again.

A end this week feeling exhausted, distracted, and knowing I’ll likely sit down at this desk again tomorrow to try to eek out the words promised for an article I’m working on.

Reusing and repurposing materials

I’ve been developing things to help train, mentor, and educate for quite some time now, and this week I was really able to see the progress made, not only in my understanding of a subject but in the ability to reuse learning tools created long ago. Some would perhaps call this cheating, but isn’t it because of my experience and expertise that I am asked to work on the projects I have and give the training sessions I do? Why shouldn’t I use these to my advantage too?

Improving iteratively

With each time that I am able to reuse and repurpose previous materials I am able to improve on what’s delivered, and the messages shared. Last year for example, I gave 2 talks on measurement and evaluation that were arranged pre-lockdown 1, but delivered in the first weeks of remote working.

In the time since I have developed and tested a six week online training course, delivered more than my share of zoom workshops and with that I have honed and developed new skills. It was such a delight to be able to revisit the same subject and repurpose the activities while I planned for a session on measurement and evaluation that I’ll be giving to a group of NGO Comms people early next week.

Getting ready to drop the mic 🙏

In the coming weeks I will be finishing up what has been my longest project contract since going freelance (I’ve been part of the team almost as long as I’ve been in some perm jobs!). I’m in a really great position to, as a consultant, deliver some truths about the way in which digital products are designed, delivered, and managed in the hope that change can come to the team that will remain. As part of this work, I’ve been speaking to people about the start of GDS (article likely to be published soon) to collate the strategies and tactics deployed in the early days that started the necessary change.

First sessions to build new short courses

It’s been a while since I’ve been able to spend some time thinking about BeMoreDigital and what it could become. It was so great to make a start on a new collaboration with Emma Wilder from Beyond Profit to share the things that trustees, and charity leaders need to know about Digital.

I end this week feeling ready for the weekend, and excited for the future.

Moving from serving to strategy

I’m writing an article right now to explore the moment that I see as the starting point of many digital transformation projects… the move from providing a service to being a strategic voice that has moved beyond communications and touches they way that things work.

To help explain, here’s what I mean by providing the service ; getting an email out, scheduling a tweet, providing a graph filled with data… in a way, doing because it’s is required and or requested of you. In this position you struggle to push back and ask, why?

In this instance the strategic voice I refer to is the shift from providing a graph filled with data, to explaining that data and enabling it’s interpretation to help the organisation make decisions. In it’s best, this could be developing a webservice instead of an information page, so that the person using your site can take action easily and do what they need to get done. Getting to this almost mythical space can be a long and slow journey for many.

What I’m interested in is the move from drafting a web page as it was shown in a word document to using skills and expertise gained from experience writing for the web to ensure that the page meets the organisations goals, and delivers for the person visiting. How do organisations get to a point where they can begin to be user led?

Can you help?

I’d love to hear your thoughts on the root to this, based on your experience.

• What were the moments that you feel mark the path to how you and your team were able to become more strategic in your use of digital?
• What ally’s did you make along the way and how did they help?
• What was the biggest challenge at the start of your journey? Do these challenges still remain?

Measuring impact of offline communications

At the end of last week I was asked to run a short session on measuring impact of offline communications. Last year, I ran a similar session for a similar org — this year I’d like to up my game a little. So, I’m looking to find out what you (my fellow digital / impact / data peers) which your communications team knew about measuring impact?

Here’s a few treasured finds I’ve been given already:

I wish that everyone always thought about how their activities can be measured first, before they do anything, rather than ask if it can be measured after they did it.

That way I know about it and can advise on if in fact it can be measured, and if not, what they need to do in order for it to be measured.

Understanding of ‘Attribution versus Contribution’ and ‘Output versus Outcomes’… like the worlds most boring celebrity death match for impact nerds like me :)

Along with what’s wished for, I’ve also been given some great tips to share:

Main advice, — the more you move measurement away from metrics around engagement — and onto the change (in policy, behaviours, support) that it creates the more you can understand the impact of your activities...so focus on the means, as opposed to the ‘ends’

In my previous job, we did some thinking about this and produce the following toolkit https://www.odi.org/features/communications-monitoring-evaluation-learning-toolkit
The section of indicators by channels helped us a lot.

What are the principles that I work too?

As I wind up a project to develop a process for an org to follow as they develop new digital tools / make improvements on their current stock, I’ve been drafting some principles that they can work to. Which led me to think about drafting my own. Here’s the start of this new WIP:

Problem first

I am led by the problems to solve. Sometimes these may be multiple and complex — we cannot solve all problems in one go.

Iterative and consistent

As I cannot solve all problems in one go, I break problems down in to smaller more manageable chunks of work with defined outcomes.

Person led

In my investigation of the problem, I understand how that shows for the person with the problem. Observing, learning, and testing how any changes and improvements (or new services) might make things better.

Repurpose, re-use, and recycle

Where possible I will not invent new solutions. In the first instance I look to digital things that are already created and explore how they may be used as part of the solution.

Purposeful and practical

Gone are the days (maybe they were never really here) when a large chunky document can be actioned on. The world moves too fast to spend time drafting reports and strategies that will be filed away. My work is designed to be put in to practice.

I end this week feeling a little sleepy yet focused.

Stakes in the ground — moving to new things

At the end of last week / the start of this I put a stake in the ground, so to speak, and put an end date to a contracting role I’ve been doing since June 2020. I took the short (then three month contract) to help balance things out after the initial slump of work due to covid. It was all a bit too exciting to stop working on, and so when the offer of extension was given, I took it. But, these things can become perpetual. I just had to take the opportunity given to put a pause in that, to focus on building BeMoreDigital, and other projects on the horizon.

Not only has that helped me plan for the next few months, it’s really helped focus on what needs to be done and blur out the many distractions.

‘ A really quick question’

On Monday I was asked a really ‘quick question’ — how can we create a poster template to test and see if QR codes might be a good way of helping people access our services?

As always, this quick question took a little longer than the person posing it thought. With it came a few more questions;

• What devices and tools will people have to use the templates and add QR codes to their posters?
• How much do you want to be editable in the template?
• How will people generate their QR codes?

The risk with this ‘really quick question’ was that the solution to problem posed — at first glance — really was quite simple:

Design a poster that people can insert a QR code to, and get them to ask a central team to generate the codes. But, without process (my favourite) this could quickly become messy. Here’s the super simple solution we built to test and see if QR codes might be a good way of helping people to quickly access a service…

• A typeform to capture the requests
• A sheet collating those requests
• A templated email containing a link to a canva template (as well as word doc templates)

What we want to test ;

• if, since Track and Trace, people are more likely to use a QR code to access a service
• if the people using the templates are comfortable with using a canva template instead of a word doc template

We’ll see how that one turns out!

Bite sized chunks to help keep on pushing

I don’t know if its the perpetual monotony of lockdown, or the more longtail projects that I’ve been working on this week but I have honed my focus on bite sizing actions to make sure that I can recognise progress. At these times, we all need a Dori on our side right?

Some bigger questions…

Last week, I reached out to help my client answer those really big questions we all (those that work in digital across charities and NGOs at least) have about what it takes to transform ways of working and evolve to teams that deliver digital services — aligned and cross functional. I had three incredible chats with some truly inspiring people. Once I have digested, I will be sharing well beyond the client I am working to support right now. These are questions we all have, and I’m lucky enough to be getting insight from some people who have a lot to share.

I end this week feeling positive and ready to do more.