Treecreate notes #07
The week started on a really positive note with a virtual catch up with our team’s lovely content designer Diana Pham. We have very similar ways of working and approaching work and it was great to connect. One of the highlights going into the office pre-lockdown was seeing my Canberra colleagues f2f and I have missed this interaction. Catching up with Diana was a really big reminder how important it is to take time to check in with each other, especially when we are all working from home.
One of our divisional managers encouraged us all to share pet pictures and as a result, there is an awesome video set to Sister Sledge’s tune “We are Family.” I really appreciate the culture of our workplace and the leadership of our SES in making it a fun place to work, even during the challenges of lockdown.
It was also really wonderful to have a shout out from Jordan in his weeknotes and am enjoying how people in our program are sharing their experiences. For example, our fab delivery manager Kate McAlister also joined the weeknotes crew this week. I look forward to following her contributions and reflections on our work.
On Friday I had my second dose of Pfizer and have been a bit sore and tired. I am happy that I am now immunised and encourage everyone to go get the jab :-)
In other news — we kicked off Meeting of the Waters: Locative Media Oceania yesterday which is really exciting and the culmination of a year of planning. Ngunawal Elder Wally Bell gave us a powerful Welcome to Country which many of us found very moving.
Most of the participants in Australia and New Zealand are familiar with this protocol and it was a wonderful way of welcoming to people who may not have experienced a Welcome to Country before. Thank you Wally!
What I did
The week started with finishing off some synthesis of our second round of research and having a cross-team retro. It have been a very valuable learning opportunity, not just to learn from the participants, we have also learnt a great deal about each other’s work. Anthony Winning, my equivalent in the Export Profile Account (ERA) team facilitated a great session which ended with us having a big virtual hug ❤ Working across teams on research is an approach which has a lot of value — it reduces the angst around finding participants, brings our work more into alignment and builds strong connections with colleagues. In my happy place ❤
The first round of research has now been consolidated into a report which is fantastic. Anet our ace service designer took the lead on this research which focused on meat processors and industry bodies. Once Anet handed over all her notes work in the Miro boards, I worked with Diana to bring it all together into a slide deck. It is looking pretty good and now we have something we can share back with our business areas and the participants, as well as a baseline to inform our private beta.
I also spent some time reviewing the MVP of our Service Delivery Handbook for the Capability team. It is designed with two audiences in mind — regulatory people who are new to working in digital teams, and experienced digital practitioners who are new to the department and/or public sector. It is a great start and includes ways of working and the values that we work towards. Bravo team!
Another highlight this week was a workshop we did in the User Research Guild. Ruth led a fun activity where we went on a roadtrip to identify our values, ways of working and what gives us energy. It was fun and really positive team building exercise.
Was also good to have a late Friday call with our Research Ops lead Brigette — to discuss recruitment. This has been a bit of a challenge for the researchers and we need to talk to people in the food export industry to understand their pain points and build great products and services.
What I learnt
Never underestimate the importance of good sleep! I have not been sleeping very well the past couple of weeks and it was really impacting my headspace. I have really been trying to get some good sleep habits going like going to bed early, getting up at the same time and trying to avoid too much screen stimulation before bed. I am not perfect at any of these, but will keep trying!
What I read
I have started to read papers which have helped to inform work at the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. Their efforts at developing an Establishment-based Risk Assessment model is world leading and our team will be working closely with the Dairy Export Assurance Program to further Australia’s efforts in this space. Quantifying the impact of food safety criteria included in the Canadian Food Inspection Agency risk assessment model for food establishments through Expert Elicitation was my starting point and I will work my way through the other papers over the next couple of weeks. This is not my usual choice of topic but very relevant for me to build a better understanding of how we can learn from this work.
And one more thing…
If you are interested in keeping up with the events for the Meeting of the Waters: Locative Media Oceania, check out our YouTube channel for session recordings.
