There's been lots of activity taking place and November and December again saw a continued focus on one to one group work in Coventry. I have been working with a few trustee boards initially on the PQASSO quality area 2 ‘Governance' and this has highlighted a number of activities that need to take place to bring in changes that will improve the governance of their organisation. It's interesting that when groups carry out an initial assessment they often assess themselves to have ‘fully met' the indicator standards however upon closer inspection they discover that ‘progressing well' is more realistic! This is of course very positive because it means that groups are thinking carefully about what needs to improve for the ultimate benefit of the end user and groups are able to see the tangible improvements that will make a difference to the way they work. It's also often easier for me, as an ‘outsider' to a group to facilitate assessment and action planning work with Trustee boards rather than the group's managers doing this: The board can just focus on the issues and finding solutions to overcoming these and I don't mind identifying ‘volunteers' to take forward an action! It's also been good to observe new trustees really getting ‘on board' through these facilitated sessions; it's helping them to get up to speed with their role and helps the board to work together as  a team taking collective responsibility for improvements in governance.

2010 is going to be a very productive year for the project when front line groups will really start to see some positive changes taking effect in their organisations which of course is what the project is ultimately all about!