Weeknotes – series 02 episode 05

Laura’s leaving do

I’m writing these notes on my phone, on the train from Swansea to Cardiff. It’s Laura’s leaving do, so a few of us are heading to Tiny Rebel.

Another check-in with Andy

Even though I’m no longer working for him, me and Andy are continuing our one-to-ones.

This week I needed an extra one! As always, I’m thankful for his support.

Website

We’re making a website for a thing in work and it’s finally making progress, thanks to Leah’s hard work. She has that great ability to pin people down and get them to make a decision.

Often in the civil service these kind of decisions can take weeks to make, so having people like Leah on your team is essential.

Making plans for Service Design in Government

I’m speaking at service design in government next month with Kieran. We’re making headway with our talk outline and slides.

I finally sorted my flight and hotel arrangements too. Although thanks to the quirks of our self service portal I’m still not 100% sure if my conference ticket is paid for.

Note to self: completing the form that’s called "pay for a conference" does not by itself mean your conference will be paid for. Even if you have all the necessary approvals.

Snarky-ness aside, ONS really has a generous and supportive attitude to training and conference attendance.

Making plans to shadow a field officer

After a recommendation from Tom, I’m trying to organise a day when I can shadow a field officer.

These are the staff that ONS employ to go door-to-door and help people to fill in surveys.

I’m expecting that observing this activity will be an amazing way to do user research and learn about our end-users and the needs of ONS staff.

Forgot to mention my stand-up desk

I think I forgot to mention my stand-up desk in last week’s weeknotes. I’ve been using it for about 8 days so far and I’m really enjoying it.

I don’t find it too tiring. And I feel more likely to walk around and chat to people rather than email or Slack them.

I assume it’s better for my health too, but I’m certainly not noticing any adverse effects so far.