Solo to team

I commenced my Digital Curriculum Manager role on 6 March 2023, then in late Spring I became a two-person team.  Enabling me to progress with my wider strategic work in our healthcare higher education digital curriculum.

Me - "Our Digital Curriculum Team is growing and I am looking to appoint a proactive and seasoned #learningtechnologist. It is an exciting time to join us, and you will have the opportunity to shape our approach to digital #healthcare #HigherEd. https://vacancies.ntu.ac.uk/Job/JobDetail?JobId=12316. Closes 8th May."

When I shared the vacancy for the first and second recruitment rounds.  It was really warming to receive such comments from the education community.

First round: 

• Lou Mycroft - "Anyone interested from #OER #FemEdTech circles? Dan is a brilliant person to work with!"
• Kayte Haselgrove - "You would get so much support and such a great experience working with Daniel Scott-Purdy. Check the job out if this is your thing"

Second round:

• Bridget Bircumshaw - "Job opportunity for a #LearningTechnologist based at Clifton Campus, Nottingham Trent University - I lived on Clifton Campus during my PGCE - fond memories. 😊"
• Amy Underwood - "An exciting opportunity to join the growing team at the Institute of Health and Allied professions and support our future NHS"

I successfully recruited to the post, Digital Curriculum Support and Developer, on the second round between July- August 2023.  However in the near future, through continued department and curriculum growth, I'll need to recruit for another full-time person.  Though I will be certainly be making use of our internship scheme again.  

Only recently have I been able to fully get hands on with my newish leadership and management role.  I maintained two jobs; part of my new one and still doing my previous one, until my new colleague was finally in place in October 2023.  Creating a team culture and dynamic, and establishing our team purpose and profile, while induction a new member is challenging to balance.  The recent course leader consultation will help progress things further, once outcomes are analysed and reported by my new colleague.  As there is a few activities linked to that, both in priming our team and future digital developments.  My vision is building up, but it will take time and I need to be patient with that.  As a two-person team, including Godson Uma.  Therefore I have produced the brief document below of our team purpose and responsibilities.  In the effort to help articulate and clarify to colleagues on what we do and who deals with what etc, as well as what we offer as individuals.  Encouraging staff to familiarise themselves with this and use in any staff inductions.

I received the following comments on the document.

• Anne Felton, Head of Department - "Thanks for producing this, I think it’ll be really helpful. It would be great to get it on Sharepoint as part of the induction too."
• Jo Rutt, Principal Lecturer - "Thank you for this - it outlines the roles well".

EDIT:  In November 2024 I produced the short video below 'So, what are the Digital Curriculum Team?', as part of my strategy and the first in a series, to profile the Digital Curriculum Team in all its guises.  Many of our academic staff haven't worked with learning technologists before or know how to work with them.  Despite knowing what we do.  How can they best engage with us as: innovators, mediators, translators, problem solvers, creators, curators and shapers.

As part of the team set up there have been other changes to support our dynamics, which I'll most likely share in future blog posts.  Below is one I produced to outline who attends what meetings, whilst illustrating the presence we have across the department.

I will update on the team development and activities, and reflect on the team development and my leadership and management in a future blog post.  But linking on from the latter, I attended the following on 5 September 2023.

ALT Annual Conference 2023

The first day keynote that I attended in-person, "Things cannot be made simple" delivered by Anne-Marie Scott.  Her emotive story that was underpinned by leadership was highly relevant.  It left me with lots of thoughts and inspiration on how I can develop and shape my leadership as I transition from solo to a small team.  Anne-Marie discusses what she thinks is the core of her leadership practice between 1:00:24-1:05:52.

I resonated and was inspired by a few of the following points:

• Lead by developing others - create conditions so that others can do their best work.
• Pick the priorities that move the needle - if there's limited means and resources where can we move the needle most.
• People will always hold you up for not prioritising the things they need the most.  Accept people will have strong opinions about your choices and decisions. Success it not about pleasing everybody.
• Gather up the work as a team, make lists, and enable teams to contribute to my lists.
• Make explicit links to peoples work to the bigger picture.
• Leave a bit of space for the unexpected.
• It's ok to have the answers, but enabling teams to connect with others internally and externally for them.
• Ensuring there is space to act in the uncertainty.

Lisa J. Scott on Twitter bulleted some key points:

"- thank colleagues
- celebrate wins
- build resilience
- embrace diversity
- teams of teams (matrix working)
- working together
- leadership as practice of care
- no need for heroes
- people are the real infrastructure of our universities"

Continued:

"- accept complexity
- nothing is pre-determined
- space to speak and be heard
- find visions for future
- imagine multiple futures
- reduce fear factor
- pick priorities
- where can we have most impact
- prioritise time to quantify impact
- adjacent possible
- small wins"

I also resonated with fellow ALT community member John Brindle, Learning Design Manager, when introducing myself to him.  He is relatively new to his role.  We both discussed our inclusive approaches in bringing people into our conversations.  Rather than going off and doing something and presenting this to people.  Creating a joined up collaborative approach.

EDIT:  In May 2024, a lecturer responded to an email I sent about developing further Makaton H5P Speak the Word content types.  Following the one I co-created with the lecturer for the International Nurses Day 2024.

Farai Pfende, Senior Lecturer in Learning Disabilities Nursing - "Thank you so much for your encouragement.  It is really lovely to have our own digital support team.  I hope to find time for some really good student stuff."