Weeknotes Q2 Ep1

A couple of people I work with have started writing weeknotes, so I’ve decided to jump on the band wagon. Those colleagues are from a Product Director background, and so I ponder on my ebbs and flows as life as a Delivery Manager.

Some note worthy things from the past week or so:

• We’ve started to use Lattice to solicit feedback in time for our 6 monthly reviews, and I’ve had some lovely, constructive feedback from my peers. It’s really shown me that one of my core strengths is caring deeply about my team, fostering a nurturing environment that encourages transparency and honesty from both the internal team and the client.
• I’m wrapping up a build where there have been some unique challenges over the past 4 months, leaving a sense of achievement and somewhat relief. Although there have been some trying times for myself and the team, I think that it’s offered us all opportunities to grow and share our learnings.
• I’ve been stepping out of my comfort zone by running a more ‘lean’ project than our usual. Typically, there’s a lot of upfront refinement, but this project we’ve committed to baking in discovery time for future features to allow us to ‘discover as we go’. It’s not without risks, but we’re fortunate to have a very engaged client who is happy to jump on multiple calls and be present in all sorts of refinement and planning.
• I’ve been thinking about how to add more things to my toolkit as a DM, notably around UX thinking. How can I bring value to a feature discovery conversation without a UXer joining the call or someone with that expertise? Our UX Design department helpfully told me ‘it’s just something you’re born with’… 🥲 but thankfully Ellie Craven has come to my rescue with an amazing document she’s put together to get me started.
• Last week I was handed over to a new line manager, due to my previous manager being promoted out of the team. I have mixed feelings about this, I’ve built a great rapport and a stable platform with them, somewhere I can word vomit without judgement. That said, change is a good thing and I’m looking forward to working with my new line manager and figuring out the road ahead.

• I rediscovered Salem gifs

• Imposter syndrome is rife and taking on some new, possibly complex builds has left me with some feelings of overwhelm of late.
• Finally, I’ve been working with some colleagues on a new progression framework for the delivery team — something that has been a thorn in many of our sides for some time. It started with a somewhat cathartic session, listing out all the bits that don’t work, allowing us to tear it to the ground and lead to building what will hopefully be a phoenix from its ashes.

In non-work related weeknotes, I’m enjoying watching my son become an utter menace to his big sister, truly giving her a run for her money. Also something around #mumguilt and #workingmother. I want to do it all but feeling quite flappy.