It’s been a while since I wrote weeknotes. This was due to a combination of picking up more responsibilities which meant I felt like I had less time and working in teams with different cultures. In hindsight, these were red flags that I probably needed weeknotes even more to reflect on the week, hold myself to account and model working in the open.
This week I…
- Was involved in bringing together an NHS App team and programme team into a single, multidisciplinary delivery team. This felt good as it gives us the mandate to think end to end.
- Did a lot of context switching between the 2 programmes of work I’m working on. This was jarring as we’re in the middle of transition in both of them and I’m worried that if I miss some detail I’ll lead us in the wrong direction.
- Had some good catch-ups with old colleagues from pervious jobs. It felt good, and made me recognise how different parts of NHSE are from other areas I’ve worked in before. The change has felt refreshing, but can also be tiring!
This week I didn’t…
- Manage to move things forward as much as I’d have liked with the new service model we’re moving towards. After a good workshop last week I’ve felt like it taken longer than I hoped to set objectives and start making the change happen. I’m not sure why this is — probably just because everyone is very busy.
- Get as far as I’d hoped with a new direction for one of the programmes I’m leading. We’re not going in circles but getting people to agree, and ultimately making delivery happen still hasn’t happened.
This week I (re)learnt…
- I’m not practicing what I preach with user centricity and haven’t been to a UR session in weeks. I refreshed myself by going through some older playbacks but need to do better.
- The importance of going back to basics — whether its weeknotes, user centricity, or data driven decision making.
