Managing in a time of adversity
I don’t often do updates here, about my job, because it’s the council that makes decisions and sets policy, not me. I don’t mind talking about being a professional Town Clerk, but I tend to veer away from the day to day detail of the job. In some ways I’d love to put this post out on the Berwick Town Council media channels, but I’d need to get it approved first, and I’m not sure that would be timely.
However, I thought it would make sense to list some of the things we’re doing as a Town Council to keep residents safe, to keep our town safe, and to prepare for whatever comes next. I suspect some of my place management friends will recognise a few of the themes running through this update.
This week we’ve had a range of jobs to do, and not all of them pleasant. One of the lessons of any crisis is the rest of human life doesn’t stop. I think the passing of Cllr Ivor Dixon has hit us all hard, because it was unexpected, and because as a senior councillor he was involved in so much of our work. I, personally, will miss his advice and his good humour, and will never forget the trust he placed in me when I was first invited to go to Berwick as an interim manager in 2016.
However, no matter what grief we’re experiencing, there are jobs to be done. We’ve done lots of stuff that we usually do, making sure benches are being painted, making sure the CCTV is working, talking to contractors about planned improvements to play areas, thinking about the planting plans for floral displays, thinking about how we deliver on our promises to the town.
We’ve spent a lot of time talking to partners this week about what’s needed once restrictions are eased and people can start returning to our town centre for non-essential journeys. Council made a decision in 2019 to invest in our ability to understand what Berwick needs as a place, and that means we can talk to national and international experts about how we react and respond to unprecedented challenges. We’d be foolish to ignore how other places are looking at the requirements of social distancing, and the shape of their public spaces, to come up with solutions that enable any changes to the government’s recommendations to be safely delivered.
However, there’s a saying in Japanese management theories; there’s no substitute for going to the people who do the work, asking them what’s wrong, and what needs to be done. The Japanese call it going to the gemba. For me this week going to the gemba has included video calls with the Welcome Visitor Project, telephone conference calls with the Chamber of Trade, and a chance meeting in Bridge Street with a trader while I was assessing how much street cleaning is needed. That’s not the full list, but it will give you a flavour of what’s in our view. I learned more walking up Hide Hill in the middle of the road to avoid the queue for a cash machine than anyone could learn from a map or a diagram.
Every week I say the same thing; we’re blessed in Berwick with brilliant volunteers, co-ordinated by our Mayor and by County Councillor Hill. We’re blessed with brilliant traders and volunteers who promote the town, like the team led by Chris Hardy who’ve turned a derelict church into a visitor centre. This week, more than ever I’ve been reminded of the importance of people who love Berwick as a place, and who want to work together for its future. Ivor Dixon comes to mind again. Berwick is a wonderful place to work because of the people who make it so good, who exemplify what it is to be a Berwicker.
There’s a lot of chatter about possible changes to the government’s recommendations. When the government tell us about changes, we’ll implement them, In the meantime, please, stay faithful to the social distancing guidelines. Please keep the promise you make to our frontline workers by singing and clapping every Thursday night, that you won’t add to their burden by breaking the guidelines. Please, above anything else, keep yourselves and the ones you love safe.
In turn, we’ll keep on doing what we doing, looking after Berwick’s public spaces, looking after the town centre, and doing our best to come out of this crisis renewed and better than before.
