Goal progress
I’m ever-so-nearly done with the two evaluation projects I’ve been working on. I need to tidy up the final reports, share them, and find time to run Q&As with the client. I’ve also almost-completed two more sprints for the two content strategy projects I’ve been working on.
There’s been some lovely, unexpected serendipity going on across these projects. One big theme has been the importance of meetings and working sessions. (This is part of what I’m going to talk about at Lead with Tempo in June, too.)
Meetings have a bad rep in a lot of organisations — people see them as a thing that gets in the way of work. But the tough-love truth is: The way a lot of organisations run meetings sucks. Good meetings — with an objective, an agenda, and thoughtful facilitation — are powerful and productive and get important work done. And they’re a really important factor in your culture and sense of connection as a team.
I’m seeing a few clients have this realisation at the moment, as they start to use meetings and working sessions to solve problems together. And I had it myself when a face-to-face interview with a client gave me a series of huge lightbulb moments in quick succession.
Blockers
Time feels like the big blocker right now. I’m working pretty long hours at the moment and it’s not sustainable. I planned to work the bank holidays (Friday and Monday were public holidays in the UK). But I ended up taking the whole long weekend off, and I feel much better for it. Oliver Burkeman’s book, Meditations for Mortals, is still front of mind and I’m reflecting on how to keep putting the key idea – focusing on ‘bold and important things’ – into practice.
Coming this week
As well as wrapping up the evaluations, I have a kick-off for a new content strategy project with a very exciting client. I can’t wait to get stuck in.
Source
- On Falling – an emotional gut-punch of a film about the human cost of next-day delivery, loneliness, and trying to survive on minimum wage.
- Conclave – I watched this on Sunday, weirdly enough. Ralph Fiennes is as brilliant as ever
- The Problem with Charity: Rethinking Giving for True Social Change, Zahabiya Husain
