Making work easier with open working and reuse

Maddie Stark of SCVO's Digital Evolution team has been reflecting on reuse and working in the open.

As part of my own professional development, I have been participating in Third sector Lab's Open Working & Reuse programme. Open working and re-use is as simple as sharing your work with others - inside or outside your organisation - and using work that’s been done by others to help you with your project.

Initially I found the idea a little scary and daunting, you can read more on that here. However, over the course of the programme I realised that it’s something I’ve been doing for quite some time, probably about four years and even more so during the pandemic, although not intentionally.

Last week, in the process of making ‘new’ slides and session plans for some up and coming training, I realised that through the process of collating resources, finding examples of our own work at SCVO, creating slides and developing content, what I am doing is in its essence open working and re-use.

I re-use other people’s and my own slides, other people’s blogs, other people’s videos, and other people’s activities. I give worked examples of how we in SCVO have successfully and unsuccessfully used the method or tool I’m delivering training on.

For example, in a session I’m writing for National Lottery Community Fund recipients on ‘Re-imaging your service’, I am re- using amongst other things:

• Lou Downe’s SCVO DigiShift YouTube video. If Lou Downe, author of Good services has a definition of service design then why would I take the time to make my own? They know way more about it than me.
• The Scottish Approach to Service design #SAtSD toolkit. The Scottish Government has a whole department of uber qualified and incredibly experienced service designers that created the #SAtSD framework. Who am I to re-word and remake that framework when it has been proven time and time again to work?
• CAST’s video and slides on how to use a Knowledge board. CAST have a great little video, that gives a succinct and easy to understand explanation of what a Knowledge board is and how to use and they have downloadable slides too!

I realised this week that I used to waste so much time re-thinking and re-inventing other people’s work to make it fit with my own content. I was always worried that I shouldn't be 'borrowing' other people’s ideas, even when I always gave credit and context.

Now, I don't spend time reworking or reformatting content give context. I save time by re-using with pride. Doing this intentionally and straightforwardly saves me a lot of time and headspace knowing that the way I’m working is good and helping others. It is good to share…

To read more about working in the open click here

To find out how to do it click here