Liked
The satisfaction of seeing our successful lunch and learn series come to an end!
Enjoyed writing Wenglish social posts, normalising and promoting the language across our social media.
Lacked
Personality! Let’s work in the next sprint to add a sense of character to our work.
Learned
The value of discovering staff's opinions on topical issues r.e. AI
Gemma here! This week we held our monthly Communicating Digital Community of Practice. We used the session to discuss topics we may want to cover in future sessions. We had 5 external attendees from organisations including DVLA, Powys Teaching Health Board, Audit Wales, Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council and Welsh Government.
The UCD team have been doing some research into existing communities across Wales and how they are run. I wouldn’t say Communicating Digital is a true community of practice as at the moment, it’s led by me.
Ideally I’d want the community to run itself and decide on topics, speakers etc so I’m going to send out a survey as a follow up to find out if members want to get more involved in running of the group. It will also be a chance to ask those who didn’t attend what topics they’d like to see covered. There’s a lot of cross over with our other communities so I’m going to work with the UCD team to find out how we can create a clear purpose. It was a really useful session which shows that quality over quantity is ok.
Hi Mike here! When we find out there is a new person joining the organisation, there is always a buzz and excitement within the comms team. This week we have been busy preparing for the arrival of our new Head of Tech - a hugely important role for us and the wider public sector in Wales.
Now with any new arrival coming into the organisation, it is our responsibility within the comms team to make sure this is communicated with our internal and external audiences. And so the content you see appear on our website, newsletter, social media profiles, local media outlets or internal comms channels doesn’t just happen by chance, it takes careful planning and preparation by the whole team to execute this on time.
With every new appointment we work closely with our recruitment partners to gather as much information on the person joining the organisation. Who are they? Where have they come from? What skills and experience they bring? When do they start? This normally would have been presented to us in a form of bio or statement of purpose. However, the real game changer for us this time round has been the opportunity to meet the person behind the job title in advance of them starting. During our Teams call we found out little nuggets of information like what drew them to the role, what their interests are outside of work and how active they are when it comes to blogging and posting on social media. This has provided us with far richer content than a one pager word doc could every achieve. Will we have the time to do this with every new starter? I honestly don’t know. What I do know is that it has definitely helped us to gain a deeper understanding of why they were appointed and enable us to present the very best version of our new Head of Tech for our audiences. We look forward to sharing the results with you soon!
Mike again here! I know we are encouraged to work in the open here at CDPS but Dolenni Digidol is something which I’ve very much kept under the planning radar for the last few months. So what is it Mike? And what’s it all about? Well in short, Dolenni Digidol means Digital Links and the purpose of these pop-up events is to bring together public service professionals and digital experts to connect, communicate and collaborate on issues and opportunities that matter to them. The USP is that they are in-person with a regional focus and plenty of time to network with like-minded individuals. We are piloting the first of these events on Tuesday 4 April up in M-SParc, Isle of Anglesey (between 12-2pm) and I’m nervously excited!
The big concern I’ve had all the way through the planning stages is whether there is still an
appetite for these type of events post COVID? Are people prepared to get out of their virtual comfort zone and come and meet in-person on a regular basis? This first event is going to be a real marker for me but the early signs are encouraging. We have around 20 individuals signed up with representation from local councils, arm’s length bodies, and local SMEs. Are they just interested in the free food? Or are they coming in the hope of changing the way we design and deliver public services in Wales? We will just have to wait and see!
Shwmae, Alaw sy’n siarad! Finne oedd in charge o’r sbrint y penwythnos diwethaf, felly roeddwn yn gyfrifol am gynnal ein retro bore dydd Iau…
Un peth sy’n sicr, mae gan gerddoriaeth y pŵer i godi ysbryd pawb! Felly, fy nghwestiwn cyntaf i'r tîm oedd pa gân sy'n adlewyrchu eu bywyd orau? ‘That’s life’ gan Frank Sinatra oedd un Josh, aeth Charlotte am y clasur, ‘Don’t stop believin’’, a dewisodd Mike, ‘Consider yourself’ o stori enwog Oliver Twist. Mae’n wir, does dim angen rhannu’r un gwaed i deimlo’n perthyn, rydym ni’n un teulu mawr yma’n CDPS, a gwnaeth Mike yn sicr gosod naws twymgalon a hwylus am weddill y sesiwn. Roeddwn ni gyd yn barod i ddawnsio yn ôl yr energy checker!
