Partnering with CDPS has been a great opportunity to practice some new ways of working and has been an exciting opportunity as civil servants to work closely with independent researchers, and both teams have learned a great deal from working together.
Working in the open
The Well-being of Future Generations Act tells us that we should work in partnership and involve people. Working in the open is a natural development of those principles. We’re using show and tells to tell stakeholders about our work and to get feedback. Anyone with an interest can join, hear what the project team is up to, make a comment or ask a question. A great way to engage stakeholders and generate ideas.
Our last show and tell was a great experience. It was an opportunity for Welsh Government, CDPS and local government colleagues, as well as representatives from the taxi and private hire vehicle trade and other interested groups, to get a first-hand insight into our research project and what we were hoping to achieve. It was a great example of a more transparent government and policy-making process, and it was useful to get input directly from stakeholders.
Working in sprints
The project has been organised into a series of 2-week sprints. A sprint is a short period where the team works to complete specific objectives. There’s not much planning but a lot of doing.
Working in sprints was a new concept to me, but it allows the whole project to be split up into more targeted sub-projects with clearly identified deadlines, helping to maintain a high tempo of work throughout the project’s lifespan.
At times, it’s felt a bit chaotic and sometimes I’ve wondered how the tasks will get done. But the team has worked at great pace, been inventive and flexible and achieved a huge amount.
Trello
Trello is a tool for managing the work. Simple, visual, and shared by the whole team. It’s a great way to plan and manage work. Everyone can use it to see what needs to be done and to share their progress.
Slack
Slack is a messaging tool that allows team members to chat with one another individually, in small groups or as a whole team. Slack messages are a quick and easy way to keep in touch and have largely replaced emails amongst the project team.
Stand-ups
Working in sprints would not have been possible without the stand-ups where Welsh Government and CDPS would meet twice a week to discuss progress, plan next steps, and highlight any blockers. These meetings were invaluable in ensuring everyone was on the same page, and provided consistent opportunities for colleagues to get help and advice on any issues they were facing.
Overall, we’ve been really impressed by the new ways of working we’ve experienced. We’ll definitely be using some of them again.
Working in the open is one of our Digital Service Standards for Wales.
If you’d like to find out more about working in the open, join our communicating digital community of practice.