Join Donna and Lucy filling in for Dan and Louise this week on Chorus Voices. Donna and Lucy are excited participants of the ‘Day In The Life’ initiative at Chorus. Find out what they’ve learned from shadowing Dan and Louise for a day, and listen to other Chorus team members share their experience with the initiative.
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A Day In The Life at Chorus [0:00]
This week on Chorus Voices, Donna and Lucy are in the studio filling in for Dan and Louise as part of a Chorus initiative called ‘A Day In The Life’. Donna and Lucy have had the opportunity to shadow Dan and Louise for a day, and now they’re excited to share what they’ve learned with everyone.
Donna gets straight to business, asking Lucy, how did you get roped into hosting the Podcast?
“Well, I had a meeting with Megs and Emer one day, and Emer turned to me and said ‘Louise really wants to hang out with you for a day.’ I was pretty stoked about it. So I got in touch with Louise and she gave me two dates to choose from. I jumped in and spent the day with Louise and it was great,” Lucy says.
Lucy asks, what about you Donna?
“Well, pretty much the other way around. Dan wanted to spend the day with me, but I took the back-step. But now here we are – how exciting!” Donna says.
Lucy asks, what were you looking to get out of your day with Dan?
“Just an overview of Dan’s day, and what goes on on the other side of the coin. I know how busy everyone is so it was interesting to see how Dan’s day panned out,” Donna says.
“That was the biggest shock for me. Thinking that you’re busy but when you sit down with Dan and Louise, you know that they’re really busy,” Lucy says.
Donna and Lucy are not alone, team members throughout Chorus have been jumping into the ‘Day In The Life’ initiative and found surprising findings.
Meet Peta from the People and Culture Team at Chorus [3:15]
Peta works with the People and Culture team at Chorus. Back in July 2018, Peta did a ‘Day In The Life’ down at the Bullcreek activity centre, where she worked alongside Chorus team members and customers.
“That day was Italian day and I was really fortunate to take part in the activities, but also enjoy a delicious Italian lunch. I worked out back in the kitchen, which was fantastic because I got to wash up and chat to many of the volunteers that came in. Most of them come from different parts of the world, and just to listen to their stories and learn why they came to Chorus to volunteer, and how important community is to them. I must admit, I was reluctant to do the initiative. I told myself I was too busy, but it was actually the best thing I ever did because It was nice to actually talk to people, and find out why it’s so important to keep that community collective alive at Chorus,” Peta said.
Meet Judith from Marketing and Communications at Chorus [5:20]
Regular Chorus Voices listeners will remember Judith from previous episodes. Judith has been one of the lucky ones involved in the ‘Day In The Life’ Chorus initiative.
“I always wanted to be a Meals on Wheels volunteer. I was a passenger with Barry who is a Chorus kitchen volunteer. We met some lovely Chorus customers, including one who introduced himself as Alexander the Great. It was certainly different to my day, where I do a lot of writing and editing. We had to find all the places to deliver to, and find time to have a wellness check for each person. As I work in communications, I get to talk to a lot of people, so I guess that’s where my job had a lot in common with Barry,” Judith says.
Louise Forster Walks a Day in Someone’s Shoes! [6:20]
Louise is out of the host chair this week – but she’s got a story to share about her experience with ‘A Day In The Life’.
“I’ve done a couple of days out with colleagues at Chorus and I’ve loved every single one of them. I’ve spent time at Chorus Kitchen, and done Meals on Wheels delivery with Lois and Phyllis. I’ve spent some time down at the Ability Arts centre, and participated in some of their activities down there. I’ve been out on the road with Ben and Maurice from the gardening depot, and I pulled my weight so much that my thighs were killing me after a day with those two,” Louise says.
“The main thing I enjoyed about a ‘Day In The Life’ is the value of having a different experience, and gaining insight into all the different things we do at Chorus. But for me, it’s also been an opportunity to build relationships across the organisation, and really roll my sleeves up and get on with someone’s job and get a real feel for what their job is. It helps credibility in a leadership role when you’re willing to get out and about, and understand all the work that we all do,” Louise says.
Meet Carrie and Meaghan from Marketing and Communications at Chorus [8:25]
Meaghan and Carrie from the Marketing and Communications team at Chorus have also spent some time doing the ‘A Day In The Life’ at Chorus. Meaghan and Carrie are still feeling the buzz from their experience.
“This morning we went out and volunteered for the Chorus Kitchen,” Meaghan says.
“That’s right, we took soup, dessert, and lunches to the Palmyra area,” Carrie says.
“I think we’re both feeling a buzz this morning, it was a lot of fun and we got to meet a lot of people,” Meaghan says.
“It’s funny, because we’ve been told so many times before that meal delivery is more than a meal, you get to go out and meet the people and have a little chat with them. I think we really found that today,” Meaghan says.
“It was an emotional rollercoaster at times, when you have a conversation with some of them you realise you’re the highlight of their day,” Carrie says.
Meet Support Worker Lisa from Chorus [10:10]
Support worker at Chorus Lisa found the ‘Day In The Life’ initiative at Chorus an eye opener.
“‘A Day In The Life’ initiative is absolutely awesome. I came in and sat behind Maddie and I thought ‘you’ve got an easy job’. That was seven o’clock in the morning. By eight o’clock, the phones were ringing, with three screens in front of her and I said to Maddie ‘you can keep your job darlin’. It was a real eye opener. You think you’re out there on your own, but you’re not. We’re part of a big team,” Lisa says.
Meet Jamin from Customer Operations at Chorus [11:20]
Head of Customer Operations at Chorus Jamin took part in the initiative just a few weeks into beginning his journey at Chorus.
“One of my first experiences at Chorus, only two weeks into the job, was to spend a day with Lisa Johnson, one of the support workers operating out of Rockingham. It was a real eye-opening experience for me. We visited three or four customers over the course of that day. We did everything from sitting down and having a conversation, all the way through to helping someone clean their home,” Jamin says.
“The thing that struck me with Lisa, was how close those relationships came to deep friendships. She always maintained a level of professionalism that stood by the values of Chorus but at the same time those people had a real warm relationship and clearly valued Lisa,” Jamin says.
“I’ve also had experiences with the gardening crew, and the mental health recovery team. The stand-out from all of those experiences is that it’s not about the job that we do, it’s about the relationships that we create,” Jamin says.
Thanks for Listening!
That wraps up this week on Chorus Voices! If you’re curious about how others work, we encourage you to shadow someone you admire for a day. Chorus team members – we highly encourage you to jump on ‘A Day In The Life’ initiative, and see for yourself what others do, and keep the community spirit alive!
Mentioned in This Episode
Connect with Chorus
Credits
Podcast Hosts: Donna Brown and Lucy Wiseman
Opening Voiceover: Ryan Burke
Opening Music: “Wattlebird” by Dylan Hatton Music
Producers: Judith Hatton, Matthew Clark, Louise Forster
Interviewers: Matthew Clark and Louise Forster
Special Thanks To:
Meaghan Ferries
Carrie Gherardi
Jamin Hirte
Peta Chaytor
Judith Hatton
Lisa Johnson
Louise Forster
