Digital and Agile Specialist

Category: Social Media

  • LGBTQ+ History Month 2023

    Reflecting on where we’ve come from, and where we are going. As we begin LGBTQ+ History month this year; many people within the LGBTQ+ community feel it’s from an increasingly dark place. Within the UK hate crimes have been increasing year on year; with an increase of 41% for homophobic attacks, and a staggering 56%…

  • Being an ally

    Being an ally

    The little things matter (and why I’ve changed my branding). You may have noticed that the site has gone through a bit of a revamp; and my colour scheme has changed? (Or you may not, that’s ok too). I wanted to spend some time talking about what I’ve changed how the site looks; because it’s…

  • Product vs Service vs Programme?

    Product vs Service vs Programme?

    How we define a product vs a service is a debate that comes up regularly; as proved by Randal Whitmore (Deputy Director of New Propositions at the UKHSA) today on Twitter: In fact, it comes up so regularly, I could have sworn I’d blogged about it before; but if I have, it isn’t on here!…

  • Is it time for Flexible Working to actually become flexible?

    Is it time for Flexible Working to actually become flexible?

    Does the Public Sector need to embrace Hybrid working or risk loosing its workforce? The majority of job adverts within the Public Sector (and beyond) feature the phrase – “We offer flexible working” as a benefit. However, this flexible working is limited on how flexible it can be; generally its telling you they don’t mind…

  • Is the Liberal media bias a myth created by the conservative media?

    Is the Liberal media bias a myth created by the conservative media?

    Slight change to my normal blog topics today. This is an essay I wrote in 2005 while studying American politics. I thought of it the other day when discussing the recent events in America. Reading through the essay I was amazed at how much of it was still relevant to the world today; and thought…

  • New thoughts for the new year

    As 2021 starts I’m sat in my home office, trying to support my 10 year old’s home learning whilst also ensuring contracts and commercial agreements are in place and ready for my new teams due to begin new projects tomorrow. This time last year I was looking at a busy calendar with meetings on clients…

  • Speaking confidently

    Last month I got asked to speak to some University of Salford’s Business students about how to present well. Every year the University apparently holds a conference for their Business students to attend and hear form industry experts on a range of topics, all with the aim of building the students understanding of how to…

  • And this is why we test with users…

    And this is why we test with users…

    A blog on the new National Careers ‘Discover your skills and careers’ Service As I sit here are ten past ten on a Wednesday night watching social media have a field day with the new National Careers service, I’m yet again reminded about the importance of the Digital Service Standard, especially Standard Number One –…

  • Having pride in our diversity and learning to be inclusive

    June is Pride Month when members of the LGBTQ+ community and their allies come together in different ways to celebrate, remember and reflect. As such, now June is over, I wanted to reflect on the things I learnt this year. This June was a Pride Month like no over, because of COVID-19; lockdown meant that…

  • What ever happened to “there are no stupid questions?”

    This week I had a great conversation with @ClareSudbery of MadeTech and @RachelleHunt of StrangeDigital about the importance of using plain english and creating an inclusive environment where people feel able to speak up and ask questions. Back when I started working in Digital as a Product Owner in 2011, and I did my agile…