Week notes 22–26th May
Wow, what a week. I’m feeling really energised, it was a very full week but I’m doing more and more of the work that falls into that sweet spot of work I enjoy and I’m good at.
Here is a round-up of this week
- On Monday, I attended a half-day management training session facilitated by Grow, they are arunning four sessions over the coming months for line managers. The first focused on what great management look like at Torchbox, using competency frameworks to
recognise growth opportunities, recognizing and identifying growth areas and facilitating effective conversations for
development. It was good to learn about some different models including the situational leadership model which outlined the different leadership styles you can execute depending on the individual or outcome you need.
I also was introduced to the action-centred leadership model which highlights the core actions that you must take to lead your team effectively thinking about the task, the team, and the individual. The facilitator suggested using language like “I’ve noticed” rather than “I feel” or “I think” when providing feedback which resonated with me too. All in all a good session, and I look forward to the next one.
2. On Tuesday, I was in London for the new project kick-off. I’m looking forward to being able to talk about this more publically but it was great to do an in person kick-off. I helped facilitate some quick-fire activities with another supplier to help kick-start ways of working, roles and responsibilities, the project plan, and identifying risks. It felt like we covered a lot of ground in a short time. This type of facilitation would have historically made me feel quite nervous, but I found myself feeling pretty comfortable taking more of a lead (dare I say, even enjoying it!)
3. I learned about the 7 hat theory, thanks Natalie Baker, and incorporated this into a mini-retrospective to work through a recent misalignment/miscommunication. Separating facts from feelings but giving room for both worked really well.
4. I featured in Jon Rhode’s 5-minute series with 🤩
5. I onboarded a new Senior DM to our team in Bristol, it was great to see so many people in the office, and I really enjoyed onboarding and sharing knowledge about how we work with confidence and clarity that I wouldn’t have been able to do a few months ago. I also got to have a posh coffee, iced latte, and a cheeky frozen margarita with three different colleagues so I call that a good day!
I also started mentoring someone in the team, I’ll be observing some of their ceremonies and providing some observations in a weekly 1:1 about areas for improvement both to the process and their own personal development.
All in all a great week, I’m covering for a project next week so will be getting stuck into a bit more project work and writing some 360 feedback reviews for the people I manage but it should on the whole be a calmer week. I’m looking forward to sharing some key takeaways from Agile Manchester and having a chat with some other DMs to review how we do status reporting both internally and for our clients, I’m excited to see how we might be able to approach this differently to reduce overhead but to continue to provide the right level of visibility and transparency for clients and leadership. I’ll report back!
If any of the above resonates with you or you’d just like a chat. Drop me a message.
Have a lovely long weekend in the sun. I’m off to Witney Pride tomorrow 🌈
