Taking time out of busy working lives to stop, talk and think together can be surprisingly powerful.
That was certainly the case when Community Action Suffolk staff and trustees came together at Kesgrave Community Centre for our annual conference. Away from the usual demands of the working day, there was time to catch up with familiar faces, meet new ones and, importantly, hear from colleagues we might not ordinarily have the opportunity to work alongside.
Hannah Reid, Chief Executive, opened the day with the State of CAS, reflecting on where the organisation is now and what lies ahead.
People were very much part of that conversation. Lou Bradshaw introduced plans for a new CAS learning and development programme, creating opportunities for staff to develop their skills and supporting those moving into management and leadership.
Learning around mental health and neurodiversity will also form part of the programme, recognising that developing an organisation is as much about understanding and supporting its people as it is about building professional skills.
Paul Dodson brought another perspective on CAS’s future, sharing plans for Brightspace and the Kirkley Centre and looking at how we can make better use of our buildings as they continue to develop.
There was also time for considerably less serious business.
The Great CAS Bake Off transformed the morning break into a rather impressive display of sweet and savoury creations, with our trustees handed the unenviable responsibility of judging them. It brought everyone together around the tables, generated plenty of conversation and proved that CAS staff possess talents extending well beyond their day jobs.
After lunch came the launch of the CAS Innovation Fund, led by Alice Wade. Staff were invited to bring forward ideas that could create new opportunities for CAS or strengthen something we already do.
Colleagues from different areas of CAS approached the same questions from completely different directions. Experiences were shared, suggestions were challenged and one person’s thought became the starting point for somebody else’s.
Improvement doesn’t always begin with somebody arriving with a fully formed brilliant idea. Sometimes it starts with a conversation, a different question or simply hearing how somebody else sees the same problem.
The afternoon’s Get Comfortable Being Uncomfortable workshop took that a step further, asking us to think about how confidently we communicate the value of CAS and whether there are different ways we could approach some of the opportunities around us.
Again, the value was in the conversation. Putting people with different roles, experiences and perspectives around the same table encouraged us to question familiar approaches and look at our work through a different lens.
Every improvement we make within CAS strengthens our ability to support Suffolk’s voluntary, community, faith and social enterprise sector. Investing in our people, encouraging new ideas and being prepared to challenge ourselves all help us become a stronger organisation for the communities we are here to serve.
We left Kesgrave with plenty to think about, new ideas to develop and, thanks to the Great CAS Bake Off, probably enough cake to keep us going for some time. Perhaps the most valuable thing we took away was much simpler: when you give people the time and space to think together, good things happen.
