šŸ“… Weak note for 8 November 2024

I have not been feeling great for a few weeks now – generally run down I think although occasional bouts of toothache aren’t helping. This week has been particularly bad – like wading through treacle whilst being quite grumpy. I apologise to everyone who has come into contact with me šŸ˜¬ Due to this, I’ve not managed to get a post out this week yet, so consider this a week note rather than a daily one. #

Having just had a moan, I do feel like I had a couple of breakthroughs in some of the more strategic, sector-wide work I am doing at the moment. Broadly speaking:

  • Councils have too much to do
  • Digital and tech is very much in the space where workloads could be shared without undermining the local magic that councils provide
  • However, sharing all but the most commoditised of technology will require harmonisation and standardisation of process, and service design
  • New models need to be found to incentivise the right behaviour – i.e. adopting standardised processes and technology.
  • These could be led by councils themselves, sector bodies, central government, maybe even private sector suppliers. Indeed a mix of models is probably a good thing.

Not ground breaking particularly perhaps, but it’s nice to have a rather complicated thing summed up in a handful of bullet points. Need to write this up into a proper blog post. #

Speaking of that kind of thing, this report focusing on universitiesā¬ˆ is basically exactly what I am taking about for the local government sector. We’ve never really had a nice, professional articulation of these ideas in this format, I don’t think. Anyway, lots to learn/steal here. #

An extremely useful looking AI risk assessmentā¬ˆ shared by the Wildlife Trust. #

Online collaboration remains a sticky problem in a lot of ways. MS Teams has become the default option in almost all use cases, but it’s a massive pain to configure a lot of the time. People end up resorting to email, still! I’m playing with a little bit of tech to fill that gap between email and Teams, when a quick – almost disposable – online group is needed. If you have a use case, drop me a line and I’ll show you around. (This isn’t a money making thing, more a localgov.blog style scratching an itch thing) #

This is greatā¬ˆ, I like the idea of slightly asynchronous online events. #

Speaking of online events, Nick has one coming up later this month on the role of process management in cultural changeā¬ˆ, featuring some fab council speakers. #

šŸ“… Daily note for 30 October 2024

Am thinking again about the structure of my blogging here. I’d much rather than the individual paragraphs in these daily notes existed as posts in their own right, as well as being collected together for the whole day. That way I could publish each item as soon as I type them in, rather than waiting til the end of the day. Main inspiration here is Dave Winerā¬ˆ, while CotĆ©ā¬ˆ does it but keeping the posts separated rather than presented as daily collections. #

Richard Pope (again!) on services that work harderā¬ˆ. #

Dave Rogers: Toxic Technologyā¬ˆ. Not come across this before (how!?) but Sarah Drummondā¬ˆ linked to it so thanks to her šŸ™‚ #

Paul Maltby: Why public sector procurement needs a serious rethink to deliver on the promise of AI and techā¬ˆ. #

Sharon Daleā¬ˆ shared TidyCalā¬ˆ on LinkedIn – basically Calendlyā¬ˆ but more flexible and a lot cheaper. I have set mine up hereā¬ˆ. #

šŸ“… Daily note for 24 October 2024

Patient records and the NHS Appā¬ˆ – or why this stuff is really, really hard. #

Southwark Councilā¬ˆ have made some interesting design decisions on their new LocalGovDrupal website.

A week note from Catherine Howeā¬ˆ should always be celebrated. #

A gobbet from a piece I’m drafting for a project:

Consolidation, harmonisation, standardisationā€¦ call it what you will. The opportunities however are boundless, but to take them we have to all agree on the central premise: councils have too much to do, and everyone will be better off if they can focus on what really matters to local people.

#

4 ideas for the digital centre of governmentā¬ˆ from dxw. #

The role of Transactive Memory Systems in great teamsā¬ˆ by Emily Webber.

Daniel Wegner introduced the term ā€ transactive memory Systemā€ in 1985 as a counter to more negative perceptions of group behaviours.

Transactive memory is like an index of where to find things rather than knowing them yourself.

#

šŸ“… Daily note for 4 October 2024

Jukesie shares his ideasā¬ˆ for the new Digital Centre Design Panelā¬ˆ. They are very sensible. #

Steveā¬ˆ has shared a really good looking intro to product management courseā¬ˆ – it’s online and free. #

How government defines a serviceā¬ˆ (via Neillyā¬ˆ)

When we talk about a service, we mean all the things that government collectively provides to deliver an outcome for all of its users, through any path a user takes to reach their goal.

#

I love Giles’ list of internet inspirationsā¬ˆ. #

Nice roundup post of interesting thoughts and linksā¬ˆ from my favourite anonymous local government blogger. I do like this freewheeling style, a link here, a thought there. Feels natural and authentic, and is the kind of thing I have been aiming for in this notes of mine, too. #

šŸ“… Daily note for 2 October 2024

Daily noting is rare at the moment, largely down to being busy, about which I should not complain! Lots of very interesting work, working with new people – which in itself is quite tiring. #

LocalGovCamp last week felt different – more positive, ambitious, optimistic than it has been for a while. In one session Theoā¬ˆ mentioned that with the new government it feels like we have a window now to make some serious change happen in the sector. The last thing we want to be doing at LocalGovCamp ’25 is mulling on what could have been. He’s right. #

I am pretty certain the answer to this problem (how can digital stuff help councils make things better for local people while not going bust?) is based on changing the focus on what constitutes the local bit of local public services. Much of what happens behind the scenes has no positive impact on people’s lives. Let’s find ways to share the burden of those things, and let councils focus on where their local context, and democratic accountability, really makes a difference. #

Phil wrote upā¬ˆ his LocalGovCamp experience. #

As did Carlā¬ˆ. I’ve missed Carl. #

Lloyd has been making some fun vlogs recently.ā¬ˆ #

Jerry Fishenden: “Forms? Where weā€™re going, we donā€™t need forms!”ā¬ˆ #

šŸ“… Daily note for 18 September 2024

Am looking into intranets at the moment for a customer. If you have any good stuff to share, please do let me know! Have already heard from Essex County Council and of course Eleanor’s wonderful postā¬ˆ on the topic too. #

Also I’m really interested in stories from local government folk about their experiences trying to implement GOV.UK components like Notify, Pay and so on. Am keen to learn more about what sorts of things are more likely to work than others… #

Kate Tarling has a free email based course called “From silos to servicesā¬ˆ“. Sounds like something you’d be mad not to take advantage of. #

“3 non-tech principles for decommissioning legacy systemsā¬ˆ”:

Decommissioning and replacing a legacy system is notoriously challenging. You need some serious technical credentials to navigate a complex legacy landscape and create a new solution that is both flexible and future-proof. All while maintaining business as usual for the people that use them.

But technical prowess is not the whole story. Replacing an existing platform is only as successful as the people who will be operating the new solution. And thatā€™s often forgotten.

#

“Blame culture isnā€™t what I used to think it isā¬ˆ”:

Blame culture exists when people feel like they have to explain their actions, and always their failings, as caused by something outside of themselves. This thing happened because that person didnā€™t do something, they say. Or some other thing didnā€™t happen because thatā€™s just how it is around here. None of this was caused by my actions, they suggest. That is a culture of blame.

The opposite of a culture of blame isnā€™t a culture of accepting mistakes, itā€™s a culture of accepting responsibility. You can see the absence of a culture of blame in the sense of agency people have. When people show initiative and take risks, when they approach problems with ways they can contribute to solving them, when they take control of things within their influence, thatā€™s when there is no culture of blame.

#

šŸ“… Daily note for 17 September 2024

How Rushmoor Borough Council set out to understand and resolve the issues preventing an effective and efficient freedom of information request serviceā¬ˆ. #

Have ordered a copy of Platformlandā¬ˆ, Richard Pope’s book on government digital services. Am looking forward to reading it and nodding. Lots of people have their copies already and seem to be enjoying it. #

Work on the rebrandā¬ˆ is progressing – there’s not a lot holding me back now really, except nerves. Which is daft! Who cares, after all? Only me really. #

I use a Blue Yetiā¬ˆ microphone at my desk, and it really does have a positive impact on audio quality, which is great. But it also takes up a lot of space, so I have ordered a microphone armā¬ˆ to see if that helps declutter things a bit. #

Needed another browser (I like having different accounts in completely different browsers, rather than multiple windows of the same browser. I get easily confused!) So I went for the DuckDuckGoā¬ˆ browser. It’s really good – nice and fast, and all the privacy stuff is good although I’m not overly worried about that stuff. Definitely recommended. #

šŸ” Moving house

Well, we have moved. It wasn’t an entirely joyful process, but we got everything shifted on the Friday 6th and by teatime Saturday most things were in their rightful places. It’s a bit galling because this is very much a temporary, interim, move, until the house we really want to live in becomes available. So, we can’t get too comfy. #

We were without broadband until last Friday (13th), and there’s no 4g signal on my phone in the house. The only network with any coverage at all round here is 3, so I bought a SIM on moving day, whacked it into a venerable mifi type unit and we tried to all to work from that for a week. It was slow going, and the application that didn’t cope at all was MS Teams, interestingly. #

I went to find somewhere with wifi to work one afternoon. Managed to find myself in the one Costa in the world with worse wifi than the house did at that time. #

We’ve moved to West Winch, a small village in Norfolk, just to the south of King’s Lynn. Funnily enough, King’s Lynn is where I started my local government careerā¬ˆ, as a housing benefits assessor back in 2003. The online process to sign up for council tax worked a treat, so well done, Borough Council of King’s Lynn & West Norfolk! #

The other weird thing is that, like Lloyd’sā¬ˆ, this blog is 20 years old this year. And when I started it, I was living in… King’s Lynn. The circle closes. #