Monday, 26 February 2007

Looming deadlines and Work-Life Balance

I am conscious that I have been taking things pretty easy for the past fortnight or so. Not banker’s-son’s-hours easy, but I have made some progress toward correcting “work-life imbalance” and I’ve restricted my working hours to no more than 45 hours a week. And now some key deadlines are looming ominously on the horizon.

Within the next few weeks I need to:
- finalise proposals for our 2007-08 budget;
- prepare recommendations for revitalising the Watford Compact;
- finalise our 2007-08 members pack;
- finalise our 2007-2010 Service Level Agreement with WBC;
- launch a new local forum;
- plan and timetable the 2006-07 audit;
- draft new financial regulations;
- begin the implementation Volbase.

Each of these tasks fills me with a certain amount of foreboding. Each would be a major task on its own. But to accomplish all within the next four weeks?

Delegate to who? Vanessa (Development and Training) has already taken on the task of drafting WCVS’s Risk Assessment. And Vanessa and Anne (Funding Advisor) are taking the lead in pulling together our second stage bid to Basis. And Sue (Office Services) is moving our bank acocunts to CAF Bank and drafting new financial procedures and systems. And Helen (Volunteer Centre) is taking an increasingly important role in relation to volunteering and the Local Strategic Plan.

In the short-term, I only know two answers to this problem: one is work and the other is failure. I know which I prefer.

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times …

At its best, the voluntary sector is a thing of breath-taking simplicity and beauty: exhilarating, collaborative, dynamic, open, practical, go-getting, goal-orientated, never-say-die, innovative, creative, ever-giving, cool, fizzing, etc etc.

But at its worst? At its very worst? Let’s be honest: it can be confrontational, parochial, selfish, secretive, conspiratorial, cultish, exasperating, delusional, disappointing, under-achieving, short-sighted, narrow-minded, ego-centric, status-obsessed, procedure-bound and downright pig-headed.

My job is to promote and strengthen the voluntary sector. I will not fight the voluntary sector’s corner come-what-may and I will not defend the indefensible.

Today, I have seen several aspects of the dark side of the voluntary sector. It is not edifying.

Everyone knows this to be the case. But sometimes it needs to be said. And now I’ve said it.

Sunflower

On a more positive note, this morning I had a very good meeting about the Sunflower Project with Alan Gough (Watford Borough Council) and Jeremy Alford (West Herts Police). Jeremy reported that as a result of the December meeting (hosted by WCVS), the Probation Service are contributing to the Sunflower Centres, and Dacorum District Council have decided to continue their funding.

This is excellent news. But we were all keenly aware that we now need to move forward and establish the Centres at the heart of the co-ordinated local response to Domestic Violence and Hate Crime. This will need further work.