October 15th, 2021
In the spirit of transparency and candour, Kevin and Jill publish weeknotes reflecting on the what and why for their team.
Jill's notes
Short week, short (and late) notes.
We continued to deep dive into BC Parks digital services, including fulsome digital asset management. Lots of work has been completed over the last two years on digital asset management, and it remains a struggle — the summary do not try and host a SaaS product to get around PII rules. Just find one that fits, or use it in a compliant way. There is light, some good work by the team, and we've discovered some compliant options. Now on to security, privacy and procurement.
I spent some time with Sam Terani and the Regional Operations leadership to understand how to improve internal communications. Namely, sharing knowledge and repeatable guidance. For example, relevant links, how-to guides for systems, and standard templates.
Rundown
- I reconnected with Catherine Chernoff for some friendly advice and an update on the new proposed operating model.
- Jeff Price at the PSA and I chatted about a planned revamp of the learning centre's Business Case Planning course. This course could be incredibly valuable, and I'm looking forward to working with my colleagues across gov to level this course up. Defining problems and articulating compelling, evidence-based solutions corporately— what more could a girl dream of!
- I'm looking to lean into CAS funding submission to provide support and a digital and service transformation lens to program-based submissions. This, to me, is the goal. How can we support program areas when they apply to fund to understand what might be required to deliver a complete (and often digital) service.
- Sat in on a technical whiteboard and brainstorm for soil relocation reporting. It reminds me how many intelligent people we have in the room, and I'm looking forward to iterating this product as policy and regulation are finalized.
- I ventured to the office a few times this week and ran into several colleagues. It was nice to connect and create space for that.
Musings
The week was busy with talks of the future, new structures, and realignment to new opportunities. Though, in the end, not much changed, it sure took a lot of time and energy to think through. A good reminder that not all thoughtful decisions result in measurable change.
Finally, I committed this week — and now openly — to study up and get my PMI-Agile Certified Practitioner while I'm close to agile teams and it's fresh. Targetting 100 hours of study then test time. Wish me luck.
Kevin's notes
Still out of office — he is returning on October 27th, 2021, leaving Jill without an accountability partner so that she published her weeknotes late.
