Last Friday, we had the pleasure of heading to GovCamp Cymru – an unconference dedicated to public sector digital delivery in Wales. Having been working closely with the Welsh Government for the last 18 months, we wanted to do our bit to support the Welsh public sector digital delivery community and signed up as one of the events sponsors.
The event brought together participants from across the public, private, and third sectors, all united by a shared passion for serving the public good within Wales. It provided an open forum for people to discuss the challenges and opportunities faced by teams within Welsh Government when delivering user-centred services.
This year’s event was a sell-out, so for anyone unable to get their hands on a ticket, or who elected for a different combination of talks, we thought we’d share some of our highlights from the day’s discussions.
One of our favourite discussions centred on how organisations can innovate effectively, even with limited resources. Innovation shouldn’t be a standalone goal; it should arise naturally from a culture that encourages experimentation, risk-taking, and continuous improvement. Lots of different ideas were explored about how to achieve this, and one particularly resonated was about adapting proven ideas to fit your unique context.
For instance, borrowing methods, techniques, approaches or play-books from other teams – even if they’re working within vastly different contexts – can spark inspiration and new approaches to problem-solving. At Marvell Consulting, we’ve worked across diverse sectors from healthcare to immigration, allowing us to engage with a wide range of teams and practitioners, allowing us to cross-pollinate ideas and apply what works well in one context to another.
Our advice for teams aiming to innovate? Get out there. Speak to teams in different organisations tackling different challenges. You’ll uncover a wealth of opportunities to solve your own problems by learning from others.
Capability building was another fascinating discussion, especially in the context of funding challenges and role disparities between different departments. Many organisations struggle with stretching existing staff to cover gaps in capability, stories were shared of task assignment being based on previous exposure rather than expertise. For example, assigning a complex user research project to someone simply because they’re the one in the organisation who’d dabbled in it before.
One notable example from the early days of GDS was the introduction of learning lunches by the delivery management community. These informal sessions were open to anyone, regardless of their role, and were designed to provide an introduction to agile methodologies and practices to new starters, or those in non-digital roles. It was heralded as an effective way to build cross-organisational understanding and foster collaboration across different roles and business areas.
At Marvell, we’ve faced similar challenges with upskilling. Whether it’s agile coaching or offering shadowing opportunities during projects, we strive to help our client teams develop their internal capabilities. However, we’ve been noticing that staff are not always afforded the time or opportunities to participate fully. One striking example shared at the event was a participant who had less than an hour of service design training per week – which really didn’t feel like enough time to make the most of the opportunity. For meaningful development, organisations need to prioritise time for learning so both they, and their staff, can truly get the most out of it.
In addition to thought-provoking discussions, the other sessions offered practical training and guidance – a particularly good example was focused on facilitation techniques. The session introduced methods to help groups share ideas and make decisions equitably and demographically. Techniques like the ‘35 method’ process stood out as effective for prioritising decisions in a democratic and anonymous manner, ensuring participants felt safe to share their true thoughts.
These techniques are a fantastic addition to our toolkit, and we’re excited to incorporate them into future workshops to enhance collaboration and decision-making.
Overall, GovCamp Cymru was a fantastic experience. We’re grateful for the opportunity to connect with a diverse range of people who share a passion for delivering high-quality public services in Wales. Supporting events like this is part of our commitment to fostering a culture of collaboration and innovation in the public sector. We’re already looking forward to contributing to future GovCamp Cymru events and continuing to support the vibrant community of practitioners in Wales.
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