Two in a row, eh? :)
What am I proud of this week?
- On Monday we launched the grant application service we were building last week. Launch days are full of trepidation and excitement, as however much testing you do there’s always a voice in the back of your head telling you something will go wrong. Most things worked, a handful of things required our attention, and I’m proud that we turned around most of the fixes same-day.
- I seemed to find a more manageable pace for the second half of the week, keeping my to-do list ticking over one item at time. This was particularly important this week with two members of the team on holiday and another rapid build on the horizon. It felt good to wake up on Saturday morning with a bit of spring left in my step.
- I’m getting better at accepting credit for my work. I think it’s the combination of being British, female, and working in a role that’s all about supporting the team that mean that I’m very quick to brush off compliments. This week when people said nice things to me I said ’thank you’ and moved on; no mutterings, explanations or apologies.
What did I learn this week?
- Time away from the immediate problem at hand sparks my creativity. With the encouragement of my manager I set aside a few hours for email-off, DMs-off, focussed learning time. I spent some of that time learning the basics of HTML (I have no aspirations to become a developer right now, but I find in delivery/product it’s useful to know a little about a lot of things), and my unconscious brain got to work. Later that day I came up with my best work of the week: a rudimentary model for predicting grant application numbers.
- A roadmap is a tool for conversations. Almost exactly a month ago I asked the twittersphere for their recommended reading on roadmaps, and used what I learned to draw up a sketch roadmap for our product. Very rapidly those plans had to change as we took on three consecutive Covid-related projects. Having the roadmap has allowed me to have conversations about moving or dropping features to accommodate the emergency projects, without squeezing more work out of colleagues who have already put in herculean shifts this year.
- I’m rediscovering writing as a reflective practice, some of which I’m sharing with you here. I’ve always found writing difficult, as I strive to find the perfect words to articulate what’s going on in my head, but the more I write the easier it gets.
What’s next?
Two more service launches in two weeks; one of which is fully built and ready to go, another which we start on Monday.
I’m gearing up to take my second Salesforce certification exam. I’m not as prepared as I’d like to be, as the emergency projects have consumed most of my revision time, but having postponed it once already I’ve decided to go for it. Worst case scenario is I fail and try again in the New Year.
In creative endeavours, this would usually be my busiest time of year, preparing for Christmas concerts. Sadly those will not be happening this year, so instead I’m embarking on a tailoring project and considering casting on a festive jumper.
