Some of us have been fortunate to recently take a short breather. I don’t know about you but it has felt like the last twelve months suddenly concertinaed in on themselves and there was a real need to pause. I am conscious as lock down eases we are moving into yet another phase of change…
Many people are racing towards a business planning deadline, either to meet a funder’s requirements or because we will shortly be moving into a new financial year. Here’s a very quick checklist to help fine tune the final elements: The Executive Summary: does it genuinely give a good overview of your strategy and approach? If…
Three great pieces of research came out this week on what the pandemic is teaching us and its longer term impacts. Great material for anyone looking at their longer term plans. Post Pandemic Places New research from Demos looks at the place based opportunities of remote working and flexible The COVID Decade: understanding the long-term…
It’s an anniversary like no other for a year like no other. If this had been a scenario in one of my futures workshops two years ago, I suspect we might all have thought it fanciful and overly apocalyptic! Like everyone I spent much of yesterday reflecting on what I have been through personally, and…
Respond, recover, reset: the voluntary sector and COVID-19 NCVO, Sheffield Hallam and Nottingham Trent have just released the latest instalment in their ongoing research which includes lots of good insights into how the voluntary sector is being impacted and changed. The future of giving – and what have we learned during the pandemic? New research…
Given that there is ‘nothing is as practical as a good theory’ (Kurt Lewin) we thought it might be helpful to round off our current foray into re-thinking teamwork with a few of the more common models that have been developed to help explore team effectiveness. We are not suggesting that these are perfect, by…
Being more radical: how to stay relevant and deliver the mission in our hyper connected digital world Recent charity research from PwC and the Chartered Institute of Fundraising focused on three key themes: learning to pivot, making effective alliances, and making the most of mass participation. The report includes some good questions to ask. Charity…
More resources to think with Centre for Cultural Value has just launched a new resources site in partnership with the AMA. First up is a ‘how to ..’ guide on developing a research question, which is definitely a common theme in our work at the moment. Budget 2021 analysis If you want to get past…
Climate not culture Sometimes (organisational/team) culture and climate are used interchangeably as if they referred to the same thing but they don’t, although they are connected. Culture has many definitions. One of our favourites is Hofstede’s Simply said, culture is how you were raised. It developed while you grew up. With a computer metaphor, culture…
Inspired by the current debates around how history is (re-)researched, understood, used, and misused. Black historical figures Black historical figures who shook the world, from a warrior queen to a Mexican president Votes for Women The Museum of London have launched a virtual exhibition building on their great show in 2018/19 documenting the campaign for…
Thinking about authority and empowerment in your team can be illuminating and has a range of benefits from improving decision making to increasing access and diversity. It can also be challenging so needs to be done with care and consideration. We outlined a number of prompts for this section in the teamwork canvas we shared…
WOW UK The WOW UK Festival will run from 1 to 21 March. There is a full and varied programme of events online. Tickets are pay what you can from £1. Corita Kent During the pandemic I have kept returning to the work and writings of American printmaker, Corita Kent, for inspiration, energy, and hope. …
Ways of working are like the scaffolding on a building that is being put up or renovated. The scaffolding is not the work but the complex network of steel pipes, couplers, braces, ties and ledgers make the work possible, safe and productive. Most of our knowledge about how to work in teams is learnt through…