(The? Is this it?) warm weather has finally arrived which has meant a weekend of outdoors – gardening, grass cutting DIY and barbecue. Fantastic. Given my limited manual skills the fact that I still just about have 10 digits attached to my hands is a total bonus.
What I’ve been up to
- Sharing is good for the soul. Got to meet up with a bunch of other digital leaders at a cross-government product leadership event to share achievements and challenges. A lot of discussion about the implications of the upcoming election.
- I also saw loads of former Government Digital Service colleagues at Interesting on Wednesday evening. In fact it felt very much like a GDS monthly all hands event from c.2015. Really great to feel the energy in the room and learn something useful about somewhat obscure hobbies.
- We reviewed our monthly performance metrics to ensure we are on track in relation to budget, people and risk management. I’ve got to hand it to Krystalla and her business management and assurance team. They’ve really got a tight rein on business rigour which is one less thing for me to worry about.
- We’ve really stretched ourselves in maturing our approach to resourcing and scheduling. Again Krystalla and team have put their metaphorical shoulders to the wheel on this and its really welcome for us to put some structure and process around how we do this.
- I got step out of the day job for a few hours in my capacity as a trustee of NASEN and participate in their regular strategy and people committee meeting. V helpful to get some perspective on how other organisations are grappling with the return to work / hybrid challenge amongst other things.
What I’m planning next
- I’m hoping to confirm the start date for Ronald’s successor as Assistant Director of Delivery and Architecture this week. This is a critical role in the digital leadership team and I am delighted we have managed ot attract a strong and experienced candidate to take over the role and lead the architecture, engineering and delivery teams.
- I’m meeting with DLUHC and Land Registry colleagues for an introductory converstaion about how we can collaborate more.
- Very excited to be invited to the House of Lords this Tuesday for the launch of Government Transformation Week (5-7 November 2024), organised by Government Transformation magazine. Its always a great series of events to engage on future Government delivery with government and industry peers.
- I and various other digital colleagues continue to have a raft of regular check ins and workshops with the consultants supporting the organisational blueprint programme. They are helping us to review and refine our current and future digital operating model, strategy and roadmap.
Long may the good weather last!
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