Getting down to business, and some reflection and appreciation
Yesterday I did my first piece of facilitation as a self-employed entrepreneur! I had just over an hour to run an interactive Learning Needs Analysis with a multi-agency team of over twenty people (the actual staff team is much larger, but only 20-25 regularly attend team meetings). I put in hours of preparation of course - and hours of thinking about it. I used my networks to get ideas on how to do it too. This is something I would never have felt able to do in my last job as right from the start I felt that I was supposed to know all of the answers, not to be asking others for ideas).
The meeting went according to plan and in the hour or so that I had, I managed to do an introduction, go though a definition, get all of the staff to introduce themselves and then split them into small groups to work through the three questions I had put together. There was even time enough to round off the session by getting each person to say one positive thing or piece of learning thy would take away from the exercise. the session concluded bang on time! Phew!
Today I've been tying up the responses (flipcharted by each group). Of course, in my old role I'd have asked admin to do this - or at least latterly when we had admin available. Actually, it's the kind of thing I don't mind doing myself. I can listen to the radio or to music while I'm doing it. Plus, it's time for reflection and I'm thinking about the outcomes and the report that I'll be compiling as I'm doing it.
This morning I went to an AGM of another project I used to work with and who I am now doing some work for. In her summing up at the end of the meeting the co-ordinator mentioned the programme we are working on, under the title that I had given it in my proposal. Although I knew that the proposal had been accepted I didn't know the title had. The mention of the programme made it all seem official - 'hey, that's my piece of work being referred to!' The co-ordinator also praised a Bradford Council initiative that I was responsible for setting up initially and getting the funding for. This was nice too.
Another big positive from the meeting was catching up with old contacts from my former role.
It's great to be able to go to meetings like this now and just listen with interest to what's going on, without the old sinking feelings of comparison and thinking of all the things I should be doing and how I should have solved all of the domestic abuse problems in the district by now.
The more time goes by since I left my job, the more I can appreciate what I did do and how I did make a difference. I may not have sorted out the world's problems, but I did try to make a difference by supporting staff in agencies who do deliver front-line services, in whatever ways I could. And I did get some good projects and initiatives off the ground. When I was stuck in the middle of it all it all felt so negative and overwhelming. I seldom got any support or recognition from within my own team.
In all the years that I worked for local councils, in different roles, I seldom had any management support or supervision. One of the pluses of this is that I'm extremely self-motivated and good at working on my own initiative and at setting and meeting my own deadlines.
The meeting went according to plan and in the hour or so that I had, I managed to do an introduction, go though a definition, get all of the staff to introduce themselves and then split them into small groups to work through the three questions I had put together. There was even time enough to round off the session by getting each person to say one positive thing or piece of learning thy would take away from the exercise. the session concluded bang on time! Phew!
Today I've been tying up the responses (flipcharted by each group). Of course, in my old role I'd have asked admin to do this - or at least latterly when we had admin available. Actually, it's the kind of thing I don't mind doing myself. I can listen to the radio or to music while I'm doing it. Plus, it's time for reflection and I'm thinking about the outcomes and the report that I'll be compiling as I'm doing it.
This morning I went to an AGM of another project I used to work with and who I am now doing some work for. In her summing up at the end of the meeting the co-ordinator mentioned the programme we are working on, under the title that I had given it in my proposal. Although I knew that the proposal had been accepted I didn't know the title had. The mention of the programme made it all seem official - 'hey, that's my piece of work being referred to!' The co-ordinator also praised a Bradford Council initiative that I was responsible for setting up initially and getting the funding for. This was nice too.
Another big positive from the meeting was catching up with old contacts from my former role.
It's great to be able to go to meetings like this now and just listen with interest to what's going on, without the old sinking feelings of comparison and thinking of all the things I should be doing and how I should have solved all of the domestic abuse problems in the district by now.
The more time goes by since I left my job, the more I can appreciate what I did do and how I did make a difference. I may not have sorted out the world's problems, but I did try to make a difference by supporting staff in agencies who do deliver front-line services, in whatever ways I could. And I did get some good projects and initiatives off the ground. When I was stuck in the middle of it all it all felt so negative and overwhelming. I seldom got any support or recognition from within my own team.
In all the years that I worked for local councils, in different roles, I seldom had any management support or supervision. One of the pluses of this is that I'm extremely self-motivated and good at working on my own initiative and at setting and meeting my own deadlines.
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