Monday, 1 December 2008

Informal meetings are the most enjoyable and the most productive - communication flows freely and genuine relationships develop. When meetings are too formal or too hierarchical, communication falters and no true relationships develop.

One benefit of working in Watford is that all meetings are relaxed and honest and open. Of course there is more formality at a meeting of the Local Strategic partnership than at a meeting with a community group, but the degree of formality rarely restricts communication or hinders the growth of relationships.

I do not want to come across as a dewy-eyed utopian, but on the whole Watford is a town that goes about its business with a simple honest purpose and this is something to be encouraged and valued.

Today, for example, I spoke with Mary Dodgson (of various local community initiatives) about some work we need doing on our possible relocation to the Holywell Community Centre, Sarah Pinnock (of Watford Borough Council) to keep each other informed of our mutual work, the Community Engagement Project for mental health services and Marv Renshaw (of Inspiral Arts) about a community arts festival in 2009. All these meetings had the potential to be inconsequential or to get bogged down in detail, yet each discussion had a healthy mixture of purpose and jollity and each discussion ended on schedule and with positive agreements (note how I resisted using the word "outcomes").

To complete a day on meetings, I finished drafting the minutes of our recent Trustees’ meeting and of the recent Community Fund Panel.