I have said it before and I will say it again. Where does time go?

It feels like yesterday that I was embarking on a new mini adventure and yet next week my 6 month Golden Jubilee secondment comes to an end.

It has been an increasingly frenetic end with deadlines and the need to ensure what I hand over is in good order, ensuring the loose ends are tied up.

Last week saw the culmination of the 2nd project I have worked on. A funding application to the Heritage Lottery Fund. There has been a huge amount of work gone in from stakeholders across the RZSS organisation to develop the final submission and my role was to project manage the development of the full application, using the process that I had compiled in phase 1 of my secondment.

What did it consist of, I hear you ask?  Well, a lot! A 9000 word online application was supported with a further eight documents. These covered content such as financial accounts; interpretation and activity plans; design work for the proposed centre and letters of support from various bodies and MSPs. The documents presented included over 31,000 further words to support the application plus images bringing elements of the plan to life. 

Achieving this end result has come through discussion and meetings with the architect to take an outline brief through to a Concept Design. I have worked with stakeholders to gain their insight and opinion into what we need to get in place. Spent time with leaders from Cairngorm National Park, Highland and Islands Enterprise and Highlife Highland. We have engaged with MSPs and local charitable organisations and have ensured that employees are up to speed with the project to help, all managed and recorded using the process I collated in phase one of my secondment.

It is all really exciting! 

However the biggest challenge will be waiting to see if we have been successful in this first phase of the application. It is a hugely contested process with no guarantees and we can but keep our fingers crossed now that it is all submitted.

On top of the big project for Highland Wildlife Park, I was asked to carry out an independent review into another project, completed earlier this year, at Edinburgh Zoo. It was a great opportunity to use the review element of the project management process with leaders and to be able to bring to life where the project was challenged and saw successes.

This report was presented back to the Leadership team today and so a couple more of those loose ends were tied up.

The final few days will involve work supporting leaders to apply the process to projects, Time spent to bring their managers up to speed and support the launch of the first projects without my input and to start to say a few goodbyes as holiday season continues.

I am also making time to reflect on my experience as I look to getting myself back into the branch full time.  

First off I have to say a big, "Thank you" to my colleagues who have supported my time away from the shop. You will all have to get used to me being back full time very soon. 

They say change is as good as a rest, and I can safely say that this opportunity has been AMAZING and very invigorating! There team at RZSS have been brilliant and so very welcoming and it is brilliant that Partners can have the chance to do this sort of thing.

It was amazing to see how different things are whilst being very much the same. Business challenges of driving service and sales whilst managing costs and productivity don't change regardless of whether you are a world leading conservation charity or a leading UK department store.

However, being able to throw myself into a different organisation is a challenge that I have relished. I have learned new skills and had the opportunity to see how the skills I have, as well as those that I have been able to grow, can positively impact the zoo and the day job. In a changing retail environment, when you can never really know what is around the corner, it has given me the opportunity to remove a bit of fear as to what the outside world is like. For the record, I am not proposing to go anywhere, I had my 27 year anniversary last week so JL is firmly in the blood. However, it is good to be able to see the value you bring, the fact that there is most definitely life out side the Partnership and that the skills I have are valued.

If you are a Partner reading this and have never considered a GJT application, go on, try it. It is an awesome opportunity and something not to be passed up on! What have you got to lose?