Sad endings, Mary Poppins and shiny things

Whether it’s dropping off the keys to my rented damp-ridden, avocado-bathroom-suite-complete-with-kitchen-cupboard-over-the-bathtub flat in Bracknell, leaving my Citroen Saxo with neon yellow and grey interior at the scrap yard because it had a tendency to be a bit of a death trap, or driving away from the boarding kennels as my cat gave me his best Puss in Boots wide-eyed pity face and I trundled off for a three-day conference in Belfast, I hate goodbyes.

So, with only a few short weeks of this KTP left, it’s probably no surprise that I have decided to break a Wisley tradition and not have a leaving do (let’s face it, we all knew it was never really up for debate). I’m going to do a Mary Poppins instead and steal away with my talking umbrella. But, besides wasting time stressing that whisperings in the corridors are preparations to ambush me with tea, cake and the horrifying words “speech, speech”, these remaining weeks have been very busy for the KTP team.

When any project comes to an end, it’s always a good idea to get the project team together to discuss what worked and what didn’t. These lessons learned can help better plan for future projects. This is no less true for KTP projects and, as well as helping learn for the future, these discussions are important to inform the content of two final reports that need to be completed at the end of the project: one by the company and knowledge base partners and one by me. The reports provide an opportunity to summarise what has been done, what issues were faced (and how these were overcome), and the benefits gained by all three project partners.

We have made great progress raising the profile of RHS Science over the past three years and have helped to implement changes in our working practices that mean we are much more readily seen as an important scientific research organisation in our own right, not just as a gardening charity.  We’re securing more external funding to develop our research potential, supervising more collaborative PhD studentships and providing more evidence-based advice to our science peers and the wider gardening public than ever before.  These achievements are especially noteworthy given that more than 60% of the original KTP project team members have changed since the start of the project; no clearer example of how important early project planning and regular communication are to produce deliverables to time, to scope and to budget!

The end of project reports are judged by an independent panel who grade each KTP on the financial and non-financial benefits to the company, university and associate, and on the continued collaboration between the company and knowledge base partners. Projects that get good grades are eligible to enter for a KTP award the following year. So there’s even more reason to take some time to fill in our end of project forms because who doesn’t love a shiny thing to say you’ve done well!

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