Highlights

The central achievement of my LiA this week was the launch of the caseworker feedback survey, which I have spent the previous two weeks creating. I found the process of first asking colleagues at BGH for feedback on my survey, and then actioning their constructive feedback, rewarding and important to ensure that the survey best meets the needs of the organisation. Despite the email being distributed to many caseworkers, getting people to fill in feedback surveys is notoriously difficult! That being said, I was pleased with the strong start in terms of engagement – by the end of the week, we had 75 caseworker responses with still a week remaining!

Alongside this, continuing to work collaboratively with volunteers and staff at BGH in request processing and warehouse assistance was another highlight. The opportunity to develop bonds with the amazing, purpose-driven team at the organisation is one that has inspired me in my month here, and will continue to in my remaining weeks. 

Finally, outside of work, I have continued to enjoy experiencing winter in Melbourne and making the most of what the city and the surrounding area have to offer. This weekend I attended my first AFL (Australian football) match – with admittedly very little understanding of the rules of the game! I also enjoyed wandering the famous laneway street art in Melbourne CBD and attending a ‘Christmas in July’ market, celebrating the winter Christmas experience that Australians don’t get to enjoy in their December summer heat! I also had a fantastic time experiencing the incredible surroundings outside of the city by joining a coach tour of the Great Ocean Road on Sunday, including seeing some insane rock formations accompanied by a very well-timed rainbow!

Challenges

Whilst survey engagement was higher than initially anticipated, the continuing challenge for the end of this week and the coming week will be to continue to promote the survey to receive as many responses as possible. The challenge to engage people is one I have been attempting to mitigate with various techniques of designing and distributing QR code flyers and sending follow-up correspondence, and I will continue to think of ways to boost this engagement in the coming week.

From a practical perspective, the start of this week was also challenging in that my (admittedly old) laptop charging cable broke, leaving me stressed trying to source an alternative. This was challenging, especially in that my UK laptop was not compatible with many Australian tech shops, and it requires an annoyingly specifically shaped charger! This challenge required me to use judgement to solve; given the essentiality of having internet access via a laptop for my project at BGH and my time in Australia more generally, I had to be flexible to change existing plans at the weekend and explore options to ensure I was able to continue my project with the correct equipment the following week. For those wondering, I did find one that fitted in the end – despite the fact I will now need to buy an Australia to UK charger converter for when I return home!

Using the 3Cs: Applying character, values and leadership capacities:

This week, stepping out of my comfort zone to run a mass email marketing campaign involved aspects of bravery, particularly in messaging the entire BGH leadership chat to introduce myself and ask for feedback on the survey before sending it! The response to this deepened my understanding of the importance of collaboration and humility to take others’ feedback on board – the points raised in response were so helpful as I refined the survey and were often things that I would not have thought otherwise.

Furthermore, my laptop dilemma involved judgement as I navigated potential options for solving the problem. Looking back, the character attribute ‘calm’ is something that I could have strengthened this week, but, assisted by the dimensions of drive and collaboration, I managed to find people who helped me solve the issue!

Looking forward:

This coming week will be the last open week of the survey, so the central priority will be to continue to engage as many caseworkers as possible. In preparation for my final week, I will also  research and develop an action plan for how to best analyse results and produce a coherent report collating findings, which BGH can use beyond the end of my time here.

Finally, I look forward to continuing to tick things off my Melbourne bucket list, including a planned trip to the theatre this week and hopefully going to see the night-time ‘Lightscape’ display in the Royal Botanic Gardens!