Bookworm team’s monthly March meeting began with a round of reflections.
The team felt individually in their capacity of work within the larger organisation that Bookworm needs to incorporate systems for better operations. The growth of programs and possibilities of many more demand better systems of accounting, reporting, communication, financial management, HR and accountability.
These come on the back of feeling overwhelmed with the large amounts of programs happening in parallel with a small insular team. Gender issues of female emotionality versus pragamatics and rationality were mentioned as possibly reasons for tension and miscommunication. The underlying tension was largely due to poor financial resources that are not commensurate with inputs and work being driven into the organisation.
While all the problems reflected seem to be overwhelmingly huge it was very clear that the Bookworm vision is strong and alive. All team members individually expressed internalizing the Bookworm vision, recognising that it is manifested in choices of work and programs and that the unique qualifier of work is the organic nature of how the team responds to feedback from the ground. The outreach and visibility derived from networking and the internet media was also mentioned as positive outcomes.
As the team moved in agenda to more systemic matters of planning and work organisation, it was clear that an organisation that is built on relationships can withstand a stack of difficulties because systems can be built but relationships need to be nurtured. At Bookworm this is essential.