Weeknotes E29
Hi, I’m Colin a product manager working at the Department of Health and Social Care. Each week I’m going to keep a running update of the work I’ve done & things I’ve learned along the way.
My current priority:
Supporting the Healthy Start private beta.
Here are some of the more interesting and shareable things that happened this week. Other more mundane things also happened…
Replies to pre-paid card supplier day
So we did the pre-paid card supplier day last week and this week we got some responses. I’m not sure how much I can say as I’m not a procurement expert yet (although I’ve been working with them a fair amount in 2018). I want you the reader to know it is going well. More updates in early Jan.
Interviewing
Lots of the this week was dedicated to interviewing. I got to work with Zuz for the first time. Also be on the panel with colleague Hilary. Both an absolute delight to sit with and hear them ask brilliant questions to candidates. I like listening to smart people, then shamelessly stealing their good behaviours and ideas. I voiced my opinion on the best candidates, we made a decision together. I feel good about it.
Parliamentary Digital Service catch-ups
I loved my time at PDS. The mission was great and something I’m still passionate about and most of the people I met remain close. A tight knit gang. We had a couple of get togethers this week. Cheese and wine and leaving do’s (there has been A LOT in 2018 - a signal something is squiffy).
Former colleague Dan wrote a thing about PDS and its current state of affairs. Given I still care, I’ve had lots of what is going on floating around in my head. It’s reaaaaal messy and I think Dan’s response was commedably measured. I’m not into public shaming and lots of voices are not in the mix. Much to be learned from this.
Sharing across Gov and understanding procurement world
I had the Home Office asking how we ran our pre-paid supplier day after Crown Commercial Service (CCS) put us forward. Had a few exchanges and passed on what we did and learned. They are also working on something we need to explore further. I continue to traverse the land of Government and not see silos.
In relation to this I’ve been trying to iron out who is responsible for what in procurement world between our department and CCS. We were potentially sitting between two teams and two processes but avoided that nightmare I think and all seem happy to follow CCS rules moving forward.
Last reverse mentoring
Our department/our team runs a reverse mentoring scheme. I had the last one with my Deputy Director chum. It was fun, he’s making changes to the way he works and is a really nice individual to boot. Been a good experience for me and we are assisting our teams goal of building the departments “digital” capability.
I’ve sent him a survey to review his experience but he’s keen to still meet for chats and coffee so I’m going to take it wasn’t an awful experience. Likely I’ll have a new mentee in 2019 and I am hopeful they will be just as much fun to chat with as the first!
Open data
I promote and push for openness, transparency and welcoming scrutiny of Government and its actions on pretty much every weeknote. I’m pleased to say that awesome colleague Isaac, new team member Matt and I have put our money where our mouth is and have unleashed a Healthy Start uptake map.
Yes, it’s sort of ugly, i know people want the raw data, I know it’s not the most accessible yet BUT…. after spending time listening to local authorities and reading about Healthy Start needs were identified…
- a recent report wanted the scheme to publish more reports on its performance
- local authorities find it hard to know who is on the scheme in their area
- they want stats so they can measure their own success and make the case within their local authorities for extra funding or help to increase uptake
- they wanted to see how they were performing in comparison to their neighbours
Well, here you go. A first stab. A very small victory. As a department and team we didn’t get here automatically, it has taken time, trust and effort to be more transparent. It’s a journey and we are making progress. I promise more will be done.
Research plans
It’s Xmas eve as I write this. For the last few hours I’ve been rummaging in my brain to help the team refine the future research plans for our work. It’s really fun to think about all the fun ways we’ll learn and improve the service in 2019. Lots of questions to answer. More hurdles to identify and overcome. Bring it on.
Ohh and…
… Hope all readers have a wonderful festive period!
What I’ve been reading
- These NASA posters are so beautiful they make me ache.
- History of Stripe, the payment platform.
- Taylor Swift is watching you.
- Paid-for podcasts a $7 billion industry in China. Top 3 categories of paid content are culture, kids & family and self-growth.
- Banning sweets at check-out causes families to buy a fifth less unhealthy food.
- Terrence Eden asks a thoughtful question on who owns your medical images. Good question!
- Chatting about digital government in Parliament. Lots to like- fund teams not projects, tackle government department silos and having a backbone to make change.
- Army spends £113 million on a website and is 52 months late. Could of employed a lot of multidisciplinary teams for that type of money.