How we ran the One Team Gov breakfast club
by James Cattell, July 2021.
Inspired by the first One Team Gov unconference in 2017, I decided to start a breakfast club in London. The venue was Her Majesty’s Treasury building at 1 Horse Guards Road. The food was good and the company was great. We continued like this for 3 years, with Rebecca Pye taking over the reins for part of it.
At several points in that time, people asked if we could include remote attendees. But we always resisted. Then the coronavirus pandemic hit and things changed. A room in the Treasury gave way to a Zoom call, and we’ve been this way ever since.
Now on the 4th anniversary, the breakfast club is due some more change. Alexander Vince (who’s run the club during the pandemic) and I have decided it’s time to take a pause, and wait for someone else to have a go.
To that end, we agreed to document how we currently run things. So here we go.
Lead organiser
Over the whole 4 years, 1 person has always run the show. Yes, they asked for cover when they’re away, but it’s been theirs to own and iterate, with the attendees help. They add people to the calendar invite, book the rooms / manage the Zoom meetings, welcome attendees in, run the event and tidy up at the end.
If you choose to follow this model, make sure there’s a few of you to share the load. People like DavidBuck and Sam Villis in particular have always helped out when asked. Being a lead organiser doesn’t mean you need to be the only organiser. I recommend a few of you share the load.
Diversity
It’s important to invite and welcome as diverse a group of people as possible. This meant promoting the breakfast club online and in person to lots of different people and groups. Seek them out, don’t wait for them to find you. Look inside your organisation and online for staff networks and mailing lists, then figure out how to make diversity welcome.
At the breakfast club, make sure you give everyone a chance to speak. Good facilitation skills are important here.
Calendar
Having the breakfast club in people’s calendars is important. Not only can you keep a current list of everyone who’s attended, but you can also update people when things change. The calendar is owned by the One Team Gov Google account and repeats monthly on the 2nd Wednesday at 0900. You’ll need access to the account or delegated access to keep it up to date. Read to the end for access details.
Zoom
The Zoom account is owned by Nour Sidawi. The meeting is set to repeat indefinitely and we always use the same details month in, month out. We had some unwelcome visitors 1 week, so we decided to implement the waiting room. This means the host will need to login a few minutes early, then admit people from the waiting room when the event starts.
Theme
Since Alexander took over, he’s experimented with having a theme to talk about each month. The topics you choose are entirely up to you. You can email all the attendees a few days before and let them know what to expect and share any reading material in advance.
Lean coffee
Once you’ve discussed the theme, you might then want to crowd source similar topics from the audience. You give attendees a few minutes to list topics in a Google Doc, an EasyRetro board or whatever you choose. Then get people to vote on them to create a prioritised list. You then work through them 1 at a time, giving each topic 7 minutes. Keep your eye on the time and make sure you have a few minutes spare at the end of the session to thank everyone for coming and ask for future themes.
Experiment
Everything above has worked for us in the past. But it doesn’t always have to stay this way. Feel free to shake it up a bit and try new things. Make sure you listen to the attendees and invite comments when possible. I recommend bringing people along on the experiment, rather than making them feel experimented on.
Make it yours
So now you’ve seen how we’ve done it, what would you keep and what would you change? Don’t feel beholden to history. If you take this on, it’s yours to play with. Please email contact@oneteamgov.uk if you’d like to have a go, whether it’s just for 1 breakfast club or for more.
Have fun with it.
