Reflect to develop, not just report
3-minute read
Taking stock?
Does your work have complex elements? Do you work with lots of different groups? Are you able to look back and pick-out the trends and patterns?
At Habitus Collective, we perform many tasks in a week with several different organisations. Attempting to think back about what was significant can be difficult, especially when approaching the end of a month or a year. What moments were key to where we got to today? How do we sift between activities and look at where the milestones, insight and significance happened?
Our solution? Embrace how Twitter works and KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid).
Moment of the week
Every Friday at 4 pm, everyone in the team writes a maximum of 280 characters on what one thought, activity, or connection was their ‘moment of the week’.
At the beginning, it was tricky to be really specific. Yet, over time we've all become better at thinking about that one moment (whether good or bad) that impacted our week. Each moment of the week is completely open to the rest of the team, letting everyone know where we were and why we felt that way.
We use an Excel sheet that just has week-ending dates on the top row, and a list of team member names in the first column – keeping it simple.
“Great feedback on our Knowledge Mobilisation work this week. Clients responding that they like and can use our content in everyday programming. Specifically the images capturing complexity. Ecstatic that we’re reaching our goals. Continue to aim for this type of feedback!”
“At my limit on Thursday, but quickly bounced back. A lot of work to do, but hope frontloading means less work later. Leaning on team at times like these is important.
Thanks for your support this week, Peter.”
“Engagement from local residents I was interviewing this week was good. Some of the stories were challenging to hear, though the common theme was they felt listened to.
I found joy from that when speaking with them.”
Honing-in on that real bit of insight makes us much more aware of what the positives are, what requires more attention, and whether our actions week-on-week are aligned with our strategic aims. Looking back at the comments over a longer period means we are better placed to deal with concerns before they become problems. And, to the best of our abilities, continue to do/create the right environment for those things that have been highlighted as working well.
The advantages
We’ve shared this approach with our clients. One client in particular has been able to use this concept to make reporting back to their major funders easier. Especially for those activities where only qualitative approaches are possible.
However, that’s only the external benefit. Internally, the process opens-up the team.
The significance of performing this task weekly, is that you get better at reflecting as a team, on your own and each other’s activities. It lets you see the patterns of your work, how your team deals with stress, and identifies when times when more support is required. And on the other side, it helps identify the successes worth celebrating together and know what to look for when people in your team want to celebrate them. That's critical.
Often we miss the small wins that help make the bigger wins possible. This approach allows you to acknowledge those, rather than just moving on to the next problem or challenge to be tackled. Recognising wins leads to better team morale and helps you all realise the good that you are doing.
Habitus specialises in providing practical, engaging and lasting solutions for mental health.
We are accomplished in peer research, co-production, action-based and anti-oppressive research and evaluation. We are experts in helping organisations to engage wider community participation in their projects so that their work is more inclusive and impactful. Through this approach we are dedicated to increasing lived experience leadership.
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