Weeknote 3rd March 2023

What did I do to make a difference this week

This week I have been working with the team to use my role in the organisation to bring influential senior stakeholders into our inclusive design work. This is not only because their role is important to embedding this work , but also because inclusive design helps deliver the work they are responsible for and supports the digitisation of the NHS.

I also found a way to solve a problem for a team in the wider business looking to approach their work in a user centred way and I also met with colleagues in a partner organisation tasked with bringing a user centred mindset to design internal support services. I had a call with a health care practitioner looking to get into the user research field and linked her with colleagues who have done similar. I spent time in the office had lots of ad-hoc chats with people I had not seen in a while that I otherwise would not have, made connections, created links, informed and was informed.

I continued to work through the organisational restructure proposal with colleagues across the business both within our new directorate and those working in directorates not in consultation yet. I also linked people together working in similar areas so they could understand whether roles with seemingly similar job titles were indeed similar or not.

On a personal note I finished couch to 5k. For the past 9 weeks I have stuck to 30 mins 3 times a week on this running programme. I hate running but have found that it is a form of exercise that seems to get me through periods that I know are going to be stressful. I have done couch to 5k before as a way to prepare my body for operations too. This time I started it as I knew it was going to be a difficult start to the year both at work and outside of it. It has been hard to get in a session during the working week but I have stuck to it as is impacts positively how I am both inside and outside work. I tend to just let my mind go to where it needs to rather than listen to music so it has made a difference to me and my time to reflect. This has impacted positively how I am both inside and outside work.

What I need to do to make more of a difference

I might need to hold back on my excitement about some work that the UCD ops team have been doing that will not only help colleagues find information and support they need but will also free up a lot of the scarce UCD ops capability we have. I think I need to wait till we have tested it out a bit more before Sam allows me to shout about it but it is one of those tangible things that shows the value of having UCD ops capability, something that is often hidden from sight. UCD ops is an enabler, not the shiny shiny thing shouting ‘here I am, look at me’. This means the work and the value often goes unseen and can be misunderstood as a luxury rather than the foundations of the work which if removed will lead to the UCD capability you have crumbling. So we need to shout more about the value and look for more of these more tangible examples.

Now that I have reached my goal of completing couch to 5k, I need to make sure I still take that regular time out to keep myself healthy physically and mentally. I still need to stick to my 3 sessions a week.

I also need to figure out how to create the space for writing weeknotes and have that time to reflect at the end of the week rather than at the beginning of the next. It is harder to write them after switching off over the weekend.

Next week

• International Women’s Day
• Assurance work
• Secretary of state ask work
• Face to face working with Sam and Tero
• Meeting with a local trust about UCD
• Annual lecture to mammography students about the BRCA genetic mutation