SFHA to introduce ‘Randomised Coffee Break’ for members to meet
By Gemma Connell, SFHA Innovation and Future Thinking Project Co-ordinator.
SFHA recently facilitated ‘randomised coffee trials’ for our members which involved them having a short virtual meeting with a stranger.
The Randomised Coffee Trials initiative was originally created by Nesta, the innovation foundation, so that people could reap the benefits of a serendipitous encounter but also feel that it had been a productive meeting.
Staff who opted into our trial were sent a match, and it gave them the opportunity to grab a coffee but, more importantly, catch up and build connections with new people across the sector.
Particularly during the current uncertain and unsettling time, SFHA felt this initiative would provide an effective and valuable way for housing professionals, from across the country, to meet with someone new, take a break from their working schedule, and have a conversation. These conversations covered topics such as digital new ways of working, service delivery and how individuals were coping with the speedy transition to home working and remote interactions.
The trials were described as a “good way to informally network, meet colleagues across the sector and hear what others are doing”. Others shared that “it was good to talk about our working from home experiences and how we were managing work/life balance...a positive experience that only took half an hour or so”.
The trials may now, be over, however, with their success, I am pleased to announce that we are introducing the SFHA Randomised Coffee Break. This is open to all our members, contact us at innovation@sfha.co.uk and start networking.