February summary
Last month really felt like things were starting to get real for me. Once you have a date to work backwards from, you start filling in the days and weeks with actions, and very quickly you realise you probably should have started on one of those key actions last week!
Spending time getting clear on what matters most — and how we move together with all the relevant stakeholders at the same pace — has been important, even if it hasn’t always been easy. Some days were genuinely challenging. But that’s where the shift happened for me: moving from mobilisation to momentum. The energy and early conversations with service teams began to turn into completed actions, and that’s when it started to feel tangible. A few themes stand out for me.
🍂 What’s starting to change
There’s growing clarity on direction. Teams are increasingly able to see how their work connects to wider organisational goals, rather than feeling like isolated pieces of activity.
Decision‑making is becoming faster and more joined‑up. It’s not perfect — far from it — but it is improving, with fewer loops and clearer ownership than before.
There’s also been a noticeable shift towards outcomes. More conversations are moving away from outputs and deliverables alone, and towards the difference we’re actually trying to make for residents, colleagues, and the organisation.
📖 Learning as we go
Progress has come in small steps, but borrowing a slogan from a well‑known supermarket… every little really does help. That said, moving towards an end‑project milestone doesn’t mean everything suddenly runs smoothly.
February, in particular, has reinforced some realities that I’ve had to consciously rewire my thinking around when working in the public sector: capacity is finite, trade‑offs are unavoidable, and not everything can move at once.
Being honest about those constraints has helped me adjust my own expectations, slow down where needed, and work more collaboratively. What’s genuinely encouraging, though, is how openly these conversations are now happening.
There’s a shared understanding emerging that responsibility doesn’t sit with one team or role — we all have a part to play in how our residents are supported and served.
🔭 Looking ahead
As we move into the weeks, days, and even hours of detailed go‑live planning, keeping momentum really matters. We’ve maintained focus through a clearly communicated temporary content freeze, resisted the pull of other projects and discussions, and continued to invest in ways of working that have helped the Digital Service team move towards a more agile environment.
We’ve also shared regular updates as the work has evolved through a targeted content migration sprint Teams chat. This has helped ensure subject matter experts are clear on exactly what is going live at the end of March. Alongside that, we’ve been deliberately shining a light on shared responsibility — making sure content is up to date, accurate, and relevant isn’t a one‑off task, it’s an ongoing commitment.
✍🏽 Final reflections
The work ahead is significant, but so is the opportunity to do things better, together. This is only the start. We know there will be gaps, missing information, and broken links — but accepting and managing that risk is part of the reality of working in the public sector, and something we’re consciously leaning into rather than avoiding.
Thank you to everyone who has leaned in over the past month!
💯 Digital legends of the month:
- who: co‑designer of TCP/IP; widely known as a ‘Father of the Internet’.
- fun fact: often seen in a three‑piece suit—he’s famous for his classic style at tech events.
- who: creator of Python, emphasizing readability and simplicity.
- fun fact: named Python after the comedy troupe Monty Python.
- who: theorist and cryptographer; co‑invented zero‑knowledge proofs.
- fun fact: received the 2012 Turing Award with Silvio Micali.
January summary Photo by Kaleidico on Unsplash Now I don’t know about you, but January felt like two halves; the slow, steady pace back into work mode…quickly followed by a realisation that everything needs to ramp up! Last month had been about scaling, sharpening, and shifting gears as we started moving heavily into our content…
December summary Man sipping cappuccino in a cosy café Trying to recall what happened last month (or should I say last year!) feels a bit foggy. I’m sure you know that pre-festive break feeling where emails and Teams messages start to reduce, and out-of-office replies outnumber actual work-related updates…I certainly welcomed the opportunity to switch…
Continue Reading From the Digital desk: learning in the open
Photo by Patrick Perkins on Unsplash November summary One guidance that I’ve leaned into more last month was saying “no”. It’s been difficult at first as it’s not in my nature, however with a vital deadline approaching, drive and appetite building internally, it’s been a key factor in steering the project with various stakeholders. On…
Like
Love
Haha
