In part 7 of our series, we asked our Head of Engagement & Development, Fraser Gilmore, what ‘a day in the life’ at Housing Options Scotland was like for him. Here’s what he had to say:
1. What does the Head of Engagement & Development do?
I have a very varied role in the organisation, currently I am concentrating very much on fundraising, project development and external engagement. One part of my work that people will notice the most, is our voice on twitter, facebook, our website and any press releases or articles, if you have read any of these recently, chances are they were written (or edited) by me.
2. What is your commute like in the morning?
Like most people in the organisation, it totally depends on what the day brings. If I have a desk day, then I will be working from home. If I have a meeting, an event to go to, a conference to attend or a talk to do, I can be anywhere in Scotland. In the last year alone, I have been as far north as Thurso and as far south as Stranraer.
3. What is the first thing you so when you get to your desk? Tell us about your workspace, is it messy or tidy?
The first thing I do when I get to my desk is switch on my computer, log into work through our WhatsApp page to tell the team what I’ll be doing that day, take a big sip of coffee and jump in to my day. If I am out and about, the big sip of coffee will be taken in my car or public transport to get me to wherever I am going.
My desk itself is always very tidy, I am a big believer in ‘a tidy house, a tidy mind’, I find mess very distracting.
4. What does agile working mean to you?
I have worked in a variety of work settings and agile working definitely works best for me. If I have a desk day at home, I can really get in to what ever I am doing that day without distraction and I really feel that it makes me more productive. But the best thing about it for me is work life balance, if I am working from home, it means I get to spend the day with my wee dog Tess in an environment that I am most comfortable.
5. How do you communicate with colleagues?
We embrace technology at HOS, so we use WhatsApp for telling people where we are and what we are doing, we have a Cloud server which means that we can work on documents and files together from different locations, some of us use video conferencing to have meetings together and we have smart phones so we can keep in touch via text, email and phone calls from where ever we are.
But it’s always important to have face to face meetings, which we do one to one or at team meetings. Even though geographically our team are based all over, we work very closely together.
6. What do you listen to at your desk? or do you like silence?
I generally start my day having the news on in the background and then switch to music quite quickly. What I listen to totally depends on my mood, but I like something with a good beat.
7. What does a normal day look like for you?
There is no such thing, LOL! That’s what I love about my job. I can be at my desk one day, at a meeting or event the next. No day or week is the same.
8. What is your favourite thing to do for lunch when you are working?
Having a nice sandwich and playing with my wee dog Tess.
9. What do you find most interesting about your job?
I am a people person and in my role I get to meet some amazing people. One thing I really love doing is case study interviews with clients we have supported, by this point they have usually moved in to a new home or have had their current home adapted for their needs, so I get to see how the hard work of the team has helped an individual/ family. I then get to communicate this to others who may be going through the same journey through film or text.
10. Tell us one thing that people might not know about you?
I love to sing!
11. What is the best thing about working for Housing Options Scotland?
HOS is a brilliant organisation to work for and its really hard to pick one thing. We are a close knit team who are all very supportive of each other, agile working means a great work life balance and I am really interested and engaged in my job.