Importance of the Informal
As we're getting to the end of the academic session here in Scotland, I have to say I'm so looking forward to the summer holidays. It's been a long year, but there's a lot to do still - meetings, paperwork, form filling... It's been really interesting this past week though because it's allowed me to reflect, not so much on the processes that are underway, but on how they're happenning. (" tea break " by Kanko* is licensed under CC BY 2.0 .) With a range of formal programme review meetings taking place, getting the chance to have those face-to-face informal "water cooler" conversation with colleagues you haven't seen in ages has felt like a breath of fresh air. Some of the meetings took place face-to-face while others have been online or some hybrid combination of both. But they've all felt like a pressure release. Sometimes it's provided the opportunity to venting our frustrations, other times its allowed teams to refl...