Episode 4 - Volunteer Stories #2
We talk to Maria Hamilton about community building at break-neck speed and Lisa Dempsey about resourcing for both skill and aspiration.
Transcript - Series 1 Episode 4 – Volunteer Stories #2
Kirsty McIntosh 0:00
Hello, this is Kirsty McIntosh, welcome to the Scottish Tech Army podcast. This is Episode Four. Thanks very much for your kind messages from last week. They're all very much appreciated, as always. Today is volunteer stories number two, and I'm really delighted to tell you that we have our guests Maria Hamilton and Lisa Dempsey, both volunteers with the Tech Army since the very earliest days. Hello, Maria.
Maria Hamilton 0:25
Hello Kirsty.
Kirsty McIntosh 0:26
Thanks very much for joining the podcast today. It's very much appreciated. Tell us how you got involved in the tech army because you were involved in the tech army before it was really the tech army I suspect weren't you?
Maria Hamilton 0:36
Absolutely. What happened was it was right at the early stages of COVID. And I come back from a holiday rather prematurely. And we got we got evacuated out of France as it went into lockdown. And so everything shut down. I was in between job roles, and I was really looking for something to do. Prior to STA I'd done a small piece of work for a friend of mine who works for NHS Lanarkshire, around some app, looking at apps for COVID support and it got me sort of thinking about how I could, you know, support the sort of COVID crisis with some of my skills and experience. And for me, it sort of made sense to, you know, use those sort of talents and I was struggling to find an opportunity to, to do that. And I saw, what happens is I just saw an advert on LinkedIn, which was one of Alistair's early earliest rallying cries and looking for volunteers and it really resonated with me. And so I just contacted Pete and Alistair and had a chat and that's where it started.
Kirsty McIntosh 1:52
Fantastic. Fantastic. So really, at the very earliest days.I think one of the things that you've just said there that really resonates with me is Is the confidence that we have in our skills and our and the knowledge that actually those skills are useful and we should actually be promoting them. I think that's the that's the most important thing.
Maria Hamilton 2:11
Yeah, I think one of the things that was really interesting for me, but what was exciting was that it was a startup situation. And I've been involved in a few sort of startups. And it was it was a real sort of opportunity to sort of get involved with something right from the start and sort of shape it and, and I really liked that sort of being able to shape things and sort of get things off the ground. So I just thought, you know, let's, let's just have a chat and see where it goes and get stuck in. So I just signed up and said, Look, how can I help you?
Kirsty McIntosh 2:44
So you're involved in the community building that goes on within the Scottish Tech Army. Can you tell me a bit about what community building actually is in the context or something like a charity like the Tech Army?
Maria Hamilton 2:56
Well, the community management is the key. Basically, we're all online, you know, the whole community is online, we're bringing everybody together, different areas, different skill sets, and, and the community management or the community building sort of aspect is key to getting people motivated, helping them understand the opportunities that are available within STA. And, and for me, a lot of it is around helping join the dots and sort of bringing people together to, you know, support or deliver something that's useful for you know, our charities. And so it's it's very much sort of bringing people together to deliver something bigger than what they could actually do on their own.
Kirsty McIntosh 3:43
So the Slack channels are part of that community building and and I know from my own experience there that we had lots of different Slack channels being built up, which were purely internal, so they weren't there about, actually, what does it take to keep the army moving, you know, how do we make sure this thing happens? How do we get the Confluence system operating properly? How do we how do we know where people know where to go with the hosting system that you set up for community hosts to welcome volunteers? That's all part of that. But we're only just over three months old Maria. So how did it actually did you actually do that so quickly? How did you cope with the speed at which volunteers were arriving in the in the workspace and and desperately looking for places to go?
Maria Hamilton 4:24
Oh, I don't know if, it's, it's Alistair's sort of analogy. It's it's very much. In the early days, it felt like you were flying the plane as well as building it at the same time. So it for me, I've been involved in sort of community management or building networks of volunteers. So some of it was that I knew what needed to happen in my head, and it was a matter of sort of filling in the gaps around what Slack channels we we needed, what types of processes and systems, what types of people we needed, you know, what was the sort of basic basic infrastructure that we needed. So we had Slack, so that was our original communication channel, and it was building that communication around there. As we grew bigger and bigger, obviously, all the Slack channels became it became more difficult to communicate. So then it's now looking at having a sort of centralised point reference point of information that everybody can point to. So now we're looking at building an STA intranet on top of our Confluence channel. So that there's a single point of contact, it's a continual sort of evolving sort of thing. And, you know, originally in the early days, it was around building or helping to build some of the core sort of, you know, groups that would look at PMO that would look at data compliance. And I was involved with Shereen in the early days with the Book of Knowledge and building out all the information for project volunteers when they sort of joined STA and, and putting that initial sort of information up. And and it's a continual sort of evolving process. So you sort of do it and then you think, Okay, well, that was good enough, for then but now we're a bigger organisa..., you know, we're a bigger community, we need to improve that, and what can we do that that will make it better and be more sustainable and scalable. So it's just been a continual sort of evolving thing. A lot of it is around sort of looking at it from an overall view of where you want to go. So I've got some clear ideas around, you know, the whole learning and development of our sort of volunteers and understanding what needs to happen there and sort of mapping that out at the sort of high level, but then sort of thinking, Okay, well, what do we need? And, you know, the lower, you know, what do we need at the more detailed level to make that work? The community hosts thing was, is it's quite a sort of common community online community management aspect, but how can we integrate that into STA? And, and, you know, with your, with yourself leading that Kirsty and the team we've put together, it's been absolutely brilliant and it's really, really helped a lot of people in the early days when there will be information all over the place. And now we're developing that and evolving that. So it's, it's working with great people, and, you know, that prepare to sort of share their talents and skills. It's working collaboratively. And bringing that what I enjoy is being part of that team and helping make things work and getting stuck in and helping people get together as a group to develop and, you know, to put together a particular system or process or to help our volunteers in a certain, certain way.
Kirsty McIntosh 7:38
It's brilliant. I suppose one of the things that I think a lot of people might be quite interested in is how you do all of that when you are, you know, almost to exception working with strangers, you're working with people that you've never met before, okay, there's maybe two or three that you've kind of come across in a previous life, but really, you're you're working with people who've just appeared in the volunteer space alongside you. And you've got to kind of help continue to kind of build that community with people about whom you know, you know, almost nothing. So you're you're not only trying to deliver process if you like, but you're also you're also relying entirely on your soft skills if you like to build to build those relationships with other people. And I think that's one of the really important things in the in the tech army is those is those relationships and the willingness to work with people that you've never kind of come across before. Did you? Did you enjoy it? Has it been a really interesting and sort of like fun experience? Or has it been a bit difficult?
Maria Hamilton 8:34
Yeah, that's the bit that I really thrive on this whole sort of making sort of connections, and it's something that I've done in previous sort of roles, and I quite enjoy. I have a sort of natural curiosity about people and just about finding out about them and just that whole sort of piece of connection. I really enjoy connecting with people, but also helping people connect with others, you know, to help them in some way to build something. So that's something intrinsically that I really enjoy, and working with a whole group of people. So if you have that curiosity, and that enjoyment of working collaboratively with people, you know, being part of that team thing, and then I think that that works in this sort of organisation and you derive an energy from that is exhausting sometimes. It is exhausting giving out and people are very different in terms of how they think and how they do things, to you. But I, it's on the whole, it's been a really, really positive experience. I've met so many brilliant people, I've learnt so much from it. And, and it's just that it's that whole, I put myself out there I've got no problem in terms of reaching out to people, and I generally find people are quite positive. So sometimes it doesn't work but you know, that's very much in the sort of minority. So it's that whole sort of connection thing that I intrinsically enjoy. And I think that's why I'm able to do what I do.
Kirsty McIntosh 10:07
Yeah. Yeah. I think it's really interesting that we've built, we've built.. I say we, I mean, the whole of the tech army, we've built collectively a community that's entirely online. But it's extremely human. It's very personal. It's a lot of fun. Yes, there's some stress in there involved as well. We're trying to help people who are trying to help others who have great need. And I think it's really interesting that we've actually been able to do the whole thing online that we're all, you know, zoom experts. It just sort of almost feels like second nature. Certainly, certainly, to me. It certainly feels like second nature to be doing these kind of calls. I can't imagine actually sitting down in front of another human being, in a physical, in a physical space anymore because I'm so used to doing it online. And I think it's a great testament to people like you actually that, that community has is built and formed and holds it shape in many ways shape, you know. I think it's absolutely superb. So what are your hopes for the future of the tech army, we've kind of managed to identify that, you know, helping organisations cope throughout, you know, the pandemic is one thing, but actually, we've identified a need for the tech army in the future. So what are your hopes for it?
Maria Hamilton 11:24
And well, I'm, I'm, I'm really excited that we're looking forward to the next stage of STA. And they're in... and understanding that the sort of skills development and learning aspect will be quite key in the next phase. There's a lot of new graduates and career changers that have recently joined the tech industry that are going to struggle at this current point in time. And I think that the STA is really well placed to provide that sort of launchpad to help them gain those skills, you know, through our buddying, our STA budding programmes and our mentoring programmes and so I think that there's a lot more that we can do that we can develop so it's being involved in those next sort of initiatives and helping that scale and and develop that... and, and so that's what I'm excited about and that's what I'm hoping to still be involved in in terms of helping to shape that and help help people build, build their futures that they can support and develop themselves as well as helping the charities and other organisations the sector organisations in need.
Kirsty McIntosh 12:44
Yeah, no, I think you're right the kind of the future is a very exciting landscape for the for the tech army. I agree. So what have you taken from the tech army, taken this wrong expression, but what I mean by that is, you know, what's it given you? How do you.. how have you coped with your pandemic and the uncertainties of the of the world at the present time? Has the tech army, you know, given you something that you weren't expecting?
Maria Hamilton 13:10
Oh, absolutely. And I think it came, it came in absolutely the right time, because I was sort of struggling to sort of figure out what I was going to do. Obviously, I was in between contracts, I wasn't going to be able to go and get a role that easily. And at that particular point in time, I'm not very good at twiddling my thumbs and just sort of sitting there really, so it gave me a focus. And, and also it gave me a routine and it's really interesting listening to some of the people you know, I was listening to something, what was it? Yeah, so it's just listening to sort of other people really, and how they cope, and how do you build resilience in times like this and having a routine. Having a sort of focus is very much something that they talk about. So it's, it's given me a good challenge to sort of think about I've got involved I've met some fantastic sort of connect, built some fantastic connections met some really interesting people learnt so much. And I've actually helped be part of something that has been amazing really and has gained a lot of exposure and, and has really helped a lot of organisations. So that's not bad really is it for a lockdown phase?
Kirsty McIntosh 14:24
Absolutely not bad at all for three months. Well, thank you very much for talking to the podcast today, Maria. Really appreciate your time.
Maria Hamilton 14:31
Thanks, Kirsty. I've enjoyed speaking to you too.
Kirsty McIntosh 14:34
Isn't it great people just roll up their sleeves get stuck in and use their skills and their talents to just get all of this stuff done? It's so fantastic for volunteers to arrive into an already built community. But it's very easy to take for granted how that community was built. So people like Maria and the team that she leads deserve all the credit. Thanks for me certainly. Now we've got more than 100 projects on the go at the Scottish tech army and like any professional organisation, we need to make sure that we find the right skills and talents to deliver those projects successfully. So I was really glad to catch up with Lisa Dempsey and have a chat with her both about her own volunteer story and what the resourcing team at the Scottish tech army are getting up to.
Hi, Lisa.
Lisa Dempsey 15:18
Hallo, how are you?
Kirsty McIntosh 15:20
I'm fine. Thank you. Fine. Thank you. Thanks very much for joining us today. Now you're the project lead for the head resourcing team that's operating within the Scottish Tech Army. Tell me a little bit about how you how you got here.
Lisa Dempsey 15:33
So I was placed on furlough from Head Resourcing. I think it was the end of March. And I'd been off for a couple of weeks. And we received an email from our commercial director and our Managing Director just asking if anybody was available to volunteer some time to either be the project lead or one of the recruiter people for the Scottish tech army. It had a bit of information about who the Scottish tech army were and what the sort of initiative was and from reading it I just thought if this works this could be great this could really have a good you know, huge impact on people. So I had a quick conversation with our MD Huw and I thought d'you know what, I needed a bit of structure to my day, I was getting to the point where I'd been off and I thought I just don't like being off I like working and I thought you know what, let's give this a go because this could this could really make a big impact so I thought, right, I'd love to be the project lead, be a bit of a challenge for me but you know, put my skills to the test and nothing I thought I couldn't achieve so I thought right let's give it a go and yeah, the rest is history. I was working there full time pretty much for a good few months. So yeah, it's been really good, really good.
Kirsty McIntosh 16:57
It has a habit of sucking you in, doesn't it?
Lisa Dempsey 17:01
It's all consuming. Really. I think I worked more the days than I did at Head Resourcing because I only work four days at Head Resourcing and I was working five or six days because you're right it is all consuming and you want to make sure you're doing a good job. So, yes, it does take over your life a bit.
Kirsty McIntosh 17:18
Exactly. But it doesn't really kind of feel like a hardship, which is quite good.
Lisa Dempsey 17:21
No definitely.
Kirsty McIntosh 17:22
So, so when you first joined then Were there any projects already waiting to be resourced? Or were you were you coming in to kind of set up the framework for for how you would go about resourcing projects.
Lisa Dempsey 17:33
So I think when I first joined there was a Scottish Government role, I think that we thought we're going to need resource for but hadn't really been approved yet. It was our kind of, we think we might need people do you know anyone with this type of skill set in amongst the same time trying to set up. What does it look like? How do I get the rules? How do I find the people? What does Slack like? How do I make this work as a process, so You know, we've identified our own kind of process map, but really when it comes to actually doing it that was kind of ever changing and trying to find the best way to do it. So when I first joined, it was, yes, there was a couple of roles needed, but at the same time it was trying to get the processes set up. So it was it was quite frantic in the first couple of weeks.
Kirsty McIntosh 18:19
Yeah, yeah. And of course, then I suppose, the, the project started landing with a loud resounding thud on a regular basis.
Lisa Dempsey 18:27
Yes. Very much, so very much so. And, you know, that was fine. Because, you know, the people who are volunteers from the team, the majority of them were actually contract recruiters so they're used to working at, you know, fast paced, high volume. They know where the tech market, you know, the industry anyway. So, for us, it wasn't really a learning curve in a way of how do we identify these people? Or where do we find these people? It was more about how do we do that within this process? So for us, we were lucky that the people that were, that were joining us, you know, from the Head Resourcing volunteer team kind of already knew a lot about the market and knew what the people that are volunteering as well, which massively helped.
Kirsty McIntosh 19:07
Absolutely. When people become volunteers, we ask them to fill in a skill survey, but we also asked them to sort of fill in what it is that they what it is that they want to do you know how much time they feel that they can't commit? Is that something that you think has been useful to you? Do you think that once people arrive in the tech army, they should maybe be thinking about updating that skill set? Because they're possibly identifying more about their skills once they're, once they're involved in projects?
Lisa Dempsey 19:37
Yeah, yes. So initially, having that information is really helpful to us. Because when we are given a vacancy, you would call it or a volunteer opportunity. We need to know for the kind of basic skills are there needed from somebody and how much time do I need that individual. So for us, we do need to know What what it is people want to do in the tech army because actually somebody might say, well, I'm a project manager, but my real desire's to become a UX designer. So actually, for us, we were looking for something that could maybe support someone who wants to gain new skills, we need to have that information. But there's over 900 volunteers. So for us to kind of have our arms around what people actually do and what people want to do. We need people to volunteer that information to us. So doing that on the initial submission is really, really helpful. I think you're right about there needing to be an update probably as time goes on. And I think that's definitely going to be a work in progress to make that happen. As time goes on, people are going to go back to work, people's desires are going to change, they're going to see different things coming up in the tech army that they're going to think, actually, I'd love to learn how to do that or that particular charity is really close to home to me and I'd really like to help but maybe could I buddy up with somebody else that has additional skills. But I would really like to learn about that or that that's going to be an ever changing, ever evolving type thing, I think.
Kirsty McIntosh 21:10
Yeah, and one of the great things about the community building that's going on within the Scottish tech army is that we're providing those buddying opportunities and mentoring opportunities, which is wonderful. And even from my own experience in the tech army. There's a lot of skills I didn't put down when I put my volunteer form in that actually have I've discovered words for so I should probably be updating my updating my own one. I mean, podcast host obviously wasn't in there. So I'll go with that one. But I think it's a good point to make too to listeners that they didn't, their skill set doesn't necessarily have to reflect just what they can do. It can also reflect what it is that they that they want to do. So they should they should think in those terms as well. And also, I suspect when people go back out into the workplace...they do say that once you're in the army you never really leave. So volunteering in the tech army to gain some skills and something that you're interested in that you maybe can't get that experience of in your job is a really great way of kind of getting those skills but also helping the organisations that we're trying to help as well. I think that's um, I think that's one of the messages that we need to get out there as well.
Lisa Dempsey 22:23
Yeah, hundred percent. I actually spoke to somebody last week and he is like a digital transformation type person, a digital strategy type person and when I was chatting to him on the phone he said Oh, I've also done some, you know, video editing, some sound editing and I was like, Oh, hold on. I was like, okay, is it so you need to get on to Slack and you need to in your introduction you absolutely have got to put what you're kinda main job skill is something you bought include this other stuff too, I said because these are the type of skills are in demand from people, so even if it's doing an internal project, you know, it's still really helping the cause as a whole. And it's using extra skills that perhaps you wouldn't normally be shouting about say on LinkedIn. So it's yeah, so even you having thing those extra conversations, reminding people that's not just your day job that we want to know about, it's actually all the things you're interested in that you can do.
Kirsty McIntosh 23:23
Yeah, that's wonderful. That's really good. So you are now back off furlough, congratulations, and back to work. Retrospectively, it's maybe a bit soon, but you know, looking back on the last few months, how do you feel about what you've got from the tech army then?
Lisa Dempsey 23:39
Well, I've not left, this is the thing, I've not left the army. I've gone back to work part time but I said I'll stay with the Tech Army, one day a week and then I'll have a couple of days and do the things I'd said I would do during furlough and didn't do because of the Tech Army, and actually those things have just stayed not done. And I've just been doing Tech Army three days a week and I've not really left. But when I look back a what I've gained from doing the Tech Army. Do you know, it's actually there's been so many things when I think back about it. So, one, I really love seeing what it is that the projects have delivered and what impact they have. So when I first read the the project description, so when people are applying for help, and you see for the EDS,what it is that you know who it's going to impact if it gets implemented and what what the impact is going to be. And then to then read the updates once the project's been implemented to see how much of an impact that has on the charity and those that depend on the charity. It just to know that I had a part in that is just great. I wasn't the person that delivered it but but to know I had an impact on that is really good, especially in such a difficult time. I think it's it's lovely to kind of see that and I think I really loved working with people that I wouldn't normally get to work with. So as a recruiter, my daily job is to ultimately find people to fit the right job. That's the kind of day to day of my work. But actually to be involved with people on different things, implemented new processes due to improvements, learning what a triage manager does, what's the decisions that they make? What's the questions that they ask? And how do they work together as a team, you know, everything that that has kind of been really good for me because it's never been something that I've really been able to be involved in, in my day to day job. So, for me, it's been lovely to kind of hear those conversations and just be part of them, which has been great. And overall, it's just given me, you know, more visibility, more visibility of what people do, how people interact in Yeah, I've really enjoyed it. I've really enjoyed it.
Kirsty McIntosh 25:56
Yeah, I think it's a very valid point that you make there that actually The kind of visibility that you gain actually enhances your, your employability, I suppose for want of a better, want of a better description that actually that this is something that you come out of the STA - although as we say you never really leave but you come out the other side of the STA experience, a more experienced person and more and also possibly more satisfied person as well because as you say you've demonstrably been able to make a contribution to, to helping somebody else. So I think that's a great message. Thanks very much, Lisa.
Lisa Dempsey 26:35
That's great, thank you.
Kirsty McIntosh 26:38
That's it for Episode Four. Thanks very much for listening. We're going to be switching things up on the podcast over the next few weeks. So listen out for some regular features and new co hosts potentially, and some really interesting stories from around the community. In the meantime, bye for now.