In this month’s update, I want to share how things are going now that we are entering a very busy period, both in ALT’s year and my coaching business. Reflecting on the past month at ALT… This month at work has been incredibly busy, but also included a wonderfully relaxing week of annual leave! May is the month in which we review progress made in Q1, finalise our annual accounts, start working on our Annual…
Tag: #virtualteams
In February I shared the news that I will step down as ALT’s CEO this September to focus on my work as a coach. This is a monthly update on how things are progressing from my perspective, sharing some of the experiences along the way. Reflecting on the past month at ALT April had a very busy start indeed, as it was time for this year’s OER Conference. No matter how busy it was, OER23 was a…
A month ago, I shared the news that I will step down as ALT’s CEO this September to focus on my work as a coach. It’s been a hectic few weeks since the announcement and I want to take a moment to step back and reflect. In 2018 when ALT started to work as a virtual team, we shared monthly updates on that transition and what we as a team learnt along the way. Just…
At the moment, a lot of my work is focused on the upcoming OER23 Conference. OER23 is the 14th annual conference for Open Education research, practice and policy is organised by ALT, the Association for Learning Technology, in partnership with UHI, the University of the Highlands and Islands. OER23 will bring together the strong Scottish Open Education movement and international participants to leverage our shared expertise for change in policy and practice. The conference will…
I am always on the look out for new tools or resources for coaching, and I want to share this one I recently came across in a blog post by Laura Vanderkam: It’s called a ‘List of 100 Dreams’. If this is a new concept, then head over to Laura’s blog to read more about the original exercise from Career coach Caroline Ceniza-Levine and how Laura has used this exercise as part of her work…
At this time of year, it’s easy to focus on ever busy work schedules instead of activities that help with balance. Here in Cardiff the weather is dreary and grey, and not particularly inspiring even in the lightest hours of the day. Leaving my desk and screens in favour for a proper break feels much easier on sunny days. When I came across a book called Gone for Lunch: 52 Things to do in your…
I’ve really enjoyed reading Laura Vanderkam’s Tranquillity by Tuesday: 9 Ways to Calm the Chaos and Make Time for What Matters. From an anthropological perspective, it’s interesting to read a book rooted in the experiences of a group of people putting the productivity and time management ideas into practice and I especially enjoyed reading why things did and didn’t work for particular individuals. I found it helpful to read about their experiences alongside the expert…
In my last post, I reflected on the benefits of a monthly newsletter as a tool for reflection and monitoring progress. For example, I shared how looking at my blog posts for the month gives me a chance to think about aspects of my work I have enjoyed and want to do more of, things I’d prefer to spend less time on, what I want to focus on in the coming month and what is…
I am really excited to share a glimpse at my next project: How to… Lead Virtual Teams – a course in ten podcasts. What is it like to manage a virtual team and to lead an organisation from home? How can you not only meet budget targets and KPIs but balance business needs with employee happiness and wellbeing? My aim for Leading Virtual Teams as a book was to explore current practice in succeeding in…
As I am writing this, I am on a delayed train with wet feet, hoping to still make at least some of the meetings that I got up in the dark for this morning. Working from home permanently does have downsides, but on days like this it’s hard to feel that wading through flooded roads to the train station before 7am is worth it. The folk around me on this train are frantically trying to…