4.21 — weeknotes — Happy Pride!

Well I think that four day weekends should definitely become a thing. Having a three day week last week and then the long bank holiday weekend as part of the Platinum Jubilee celebrations was excellent and needed! However Monday of this week was really hard so I’m very pleased it is Friday.

Last week was in the office for a couple of days. It is always really good to see colleagues from across the organisation and spend time together. On Wednesday we had the afternoon with our cloud and platform team. Some of these colleagues hadn’t been in the building since before the pandemic and therefore haven’t seen each other face to face for two years. We spent the afternoon together, complete with Nick’s doughnut wall!

We did a number of things with the team to get them to reflect on the last 12 months and start to think about coming together more as a team, thinking about some of the technology and processes that they think needs to change so we can build into the work plans. We also put into practise a bit of learning I had from my Level 7 course. We got them to write a mini story about the team, in the style of Pixar. I was worried it was going to fall flat on its face but have to say the team really threw themselves into it. Some great short stories!

The weekend saw the Queens platinum jubilee celebrations and was really nice to see the way in which the nation came together to celebrate the Queens reign. Four days of amazing events and a lot of red, white and blue.

Started this week with the Digital Inclusion Group, with our new Lead for this area, and she did an amazing job — completely in at the deep end and really got colleagues together. Great session, and lots to do to reshape the Commitment.

Colleagues this week went to Microsoft on Tuesday to look at the hybrid meeting technology available, as we start to think about what we need for the future. A great session I am told…

I was in Hounslow House on Wednesday. Met up with a GP in Hounslow who has some great digital aspirations for his practise — so thinking about what we can do there together. Also spent some time with the Leader as well — talked about some of the work we are doing as well as ensuring that the new members were happy with their new equipment and having a look at the kit in Hounslow House. Have to say the team has and is, doing a great job equipping the new members with their tech!

We had a really positive Big Conversation this week, which was a joint meeting with the Colleague Disability Networks for both Hounslow and Enfield. It really was inspirational to hear from colleagues about their journeys and their challenges and more importantly how they are overcoming them. Truly inspirational.

We have a great set of Colleague Networks at Hounslow, and June is Pride Month — celebrating lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning and plus (LGBTQ+) communities all around the world. Often the phrase, ‘bring your whole self to work’ is used and it is so true — creating the environment and the culture where you are able to do that makes so much difference.

Happy Pride!

Tune of the Week: Gloria Gaynor — I Am What I Am.