Development Programme Weeknotes 2 — Catalyst Connectors

Week 7 (25 — 29 January)

We’re deviating from our ‘four L’s’ weeknotes style this week, partly because we want to demonstrate that you don’t need to have a set style to writing weeknotes (a meta weeknote about weeknotes); partly I just want a change!

This week we’ve all felt a mix of a collective sign of relief and a buzz of excitement as our Development 2A cohort checkins get underway.

It’s probably stretching the definition to say we’ve been working strictly ‘agile’ since the beginning of the COVID-19 Digital Response, but we’ve certainly been iterating. Reflecting on the programme as we go along, refining and improving the process and the support we provide for charities.

As cohort 2B comes to an end, and with 2A just getting started, we’ve been in a position to reflect on the changes we’ve made that, well, just make everything that bit smoother (we hope).

This week we’ve been appreciating:

• Ochre, the new CRM system we’re using that’s transformed how we track interactions, project milestones and KPIs
• OWLs, the team supporting open working and reuse for charities and the eagle-eyed (should that be owl eyed?!) approach they’re bringing to working in the open and joining up the dots between projects
• Notion, a tool we’re using as a team for the first time, to build a handbook of resources for all the charities — as well as keeping our busy ‘events calendar’ in one place!

That’s not to say it’s all been smooth sailing. We reflected on some of the contradictions and confusions around open working. While we want to encourage and support charities to work openly, it’s important that by doing so they are contributing to knowledge across the sector. It’s also important that there’s a tangible benefit to the charities involved.

We’re aware that this is an area where we’re still learning and developing. Working on a grant funded programme, we’re keen to work together with the charities funded through the Development to develop our knowledge and understanding over the coming weeks.