Thursday, 29 November 2007

I was eager to make the most of my first chance this week to do some work in the office and so arrived at 7:00 am.

I spent some time with the organisers of Hertsmere’s Com.Unity Choir who want to explore setting up a similar open community-based choir in Watford. Such a choir could be a catalyst for some great community development work across Watford so I spent plenty of time with them offering as much encouragement and advice as I could.

Other than this pleasant interlude, I had a fairly strenuous day regaining control of my workload. It was a bit of a battle but by the end of the day (8:30 pm), I had read 150 previously unread e-mails, dealt with 100 read-but-not-yet-actioned e-mails and sent 70 of my own e-mails. I am far from being a technophobe but I abhor the tyranny of e-mail. Looking back on the day and reflecting, I can barely remember what a single e-mail was about.

Having just checked I can see that there was actually some genuine purpose and value in my day’s correspondence. I arranged to work with Watford Borough Council on their new Directory of Council and Community Services, advised four local groups on legal and employment and development matters, advised two potential donors on groups they might like to support, made some arrangements for our January networking lunch on Mental Health, and so on and so on. In fact, I flatter myself that I had rather an effective day.

I suppose my point is that it doesn’t feel like real work and it doesn’t feel like real communication.

During the day, I also wrote 700 words for the next issues of Herts CVS News. My theme was the benefits of good communication and networking. The irony of this was lost on me at the time.