A day in the life

Service Development Manager Orbit Housing Employee since: April 2020 Location: Leamington Spa Previous employment: Senior Project Manager, Citizen

My alarm goes off at 6:15am, much to my dismay. I’m the kind of person who needs 8+ hours’ sleep every night, so I find it hard to wake up and therefore I set the alarm for 15 minutes before I definitely need to get up.

I often work from home nowadays which is great for getting focus time, but I really love going into the office. I think having ‘real’ in-person conversations are important and often unlock more team building and collaboration than conversations over Teams; although video calling is still great for keeping in touch with people who live afar, or work within our other regions!

I check into the office at 8am because I like to have at least an hour of focus time, either responding to emails or preparing for my day ahead before meetings.

Generally, we have team catch ups at the start of the day, either as a whole team, or with individual team members to talk about what’s upcoming, schedule in work, or unblock issues.

Within my team we deliver workstreams to introduce new services to our customers, or deliver improvements with the operational teams within our department. I work with our operational managers and my team to develop the scope to suit our stakeholders; we survey customers and plan the approach and then begin to implement the project.

Having lunch is really important, to re-fuel, take a break from work and get away from the screen. I find that it allows me to reflect on my thoughts and be more refreshed for the afternoon.

In the afternoon is generally when I have regular virtual update meetings with various stakeholders across our teams’ workstreams, such as with our Sussex University partner, our commercial build team and our property safety and investment teams.

I’ve been working condensed hours for the last few months as I’m studying for my Chartered Institute of Housing Level 4 qualification in Housing Practice, so by working my five days in four, it allows me an extra day during the week to complete my study. I’ve also found that working slightly longer during the mornings/evenings allows me much-needed quiet time to focus on emails and think about my work.

I’m heading home now after a long and busy, but fantastic day. I always feel more energised after collaborating with colleagues in person, maybe that’s because I’m an extroverted person? On my way home I usually pick up something to eat (I’m not as planned in my personal life as I am at work!).

Waking up mid-morning having got a good 10 hours’ sleep! The weather would be bright and sunny, and I’d go for a run across the fields near my house. When I returned I’d make some avocado and scrambled eggs on toast, my favourite weekend breakfast! I’d spend the evening socialising with friends over a glass or two of wine in a chilled bar in Leamington!