Quietly he laughs and shaking his head... (2021 in review)

What a year!

Many of us have been through a endless cycle of peaks and troughs in the consulting world, but I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a peak like this.

2021 has been a year of two halves as far as I’ve been concerned. The first half was pretty straightforward and the second half – well I won’t deny it, has been a bit tough, both professionally and personally. I don’t mind admitting that I’ve struggled somewhat…as have many others.

Commodity prices all seemed to peak at the same time, clients wanted everything at the same time and with border closures and demand elsewhere, the available pool of resources quickly dried up.

I don’t think anyone would disagree with me when I say that resourcing seems to have been a major issue across the board and we’ve had issues throughout the second half of the year in relation to people committing to a role, even with signatures on the dotted line (and even 15 minutes after they’ve started! Definitely some conversations to be had over a beer sometime). We’ve also had people chasing the bigger dollars elsewhere as have many others.

All of this has had an impact on Talis staff as well as me. I’ve had to deal with all manner of issues throughout the year and I’ve needed the help of my family, friends, colleagues and some occasional professional counselling to get through things at times.

What has been great is that Talis has always had the support of our clients and we have been fortunate enough to have a constant stream of work coming in through the door. We’ve always delivered a quality product and I believe have always met their needs in terms of the outcomes of the project (with their patience noted in terms of some of our delivery times).

We’ve seen more opportunities and work come into the business this year than ever before and this says a huge amount about the team we have on board, our approach to work and the loyalty of our clients.

Despite some of the issues the year has thrown at us, it’s also provided some great memories, including GEMG which, as always, provided an opportunity to meet friends/clients/colleagues old and new.

The Mining Club St Barbara’s Day Lunch is always a highlight with Talis having two tables of staff and guests in attendance. Talis’ social committee has again done itself proud this year with a suite of events throughout the year and our Friday afternoon ‘quiz’ has become a tradition not to be missed.

Our Christmas party was also a fantastic event, down at the iconic Little Creatures in Fremantle.

We’ve had the opportunity to travel throughout WA (one short lockdown aside) and see some amazing places.

We’ve been very lucky in a lot of ways given how things have progressed in the rest of Australia and across the rest of the world.

Staff have had the opportunity to work across a range of industries and environments and for a variety of different clients, all with different requirements in terms of delivery.

I think this is one of the reasons that people enjoy consultancy...there's something new every day and you're always learning, be it onsite or at your desk. There's always variety there to keep things interesting and exciting.

Personally, it’s been a mixed bag of a year. Tough in some ways – absolutely easy in other ways.

I have a fantastic wife who provides support and guidance as necessary. She’s an amazing yoga instructor as well (not that I practice that often) and is very grounded when it comes to dealing with me and the various issues I often have to deal with. In some ways, she’s as much ‘Talis’ as I am.

My son has just finished Y8 and has provided me with no good reason for me to hassle about him being on the computer too much. He’s received awards across the board for both his academic and sporting achievements and is starting to get that independence that perhaps I don’t want him to have. I’m incredibly proud of him.

Our cavoodle, Benjamin Bootstraps, once thought untrainable, is slowly turning that around. Funny that he’s in our lives during such a pivotal year…definitely welcome and certainly needed.

Me? Training and teaching still happens and I’m still enjoying learning (and unlearning) different skills (old dog – new tricks). I continue to enjoy all forms of practice (now dabbling in three martial arts). I’ve written, I’ve laughed, I’ve cried, I’ve been inked, I’ve shouted, I’ve sworn, I’ve regretted, I’ve eaten and drunk well/not well, I’ve danced, I’ve listened, I’ve counselled, I’ve hit and been hit…I’ve done all of these things and more this year and I’m still trying to get my head around it all and look forward as much as I can, rather than dwelling on what this year has been.

Family and friends are all around me – physically or at the end of a keyboard. They provide support, laughter, shoulders, hugs, music and drinks. I want for nothing in that regard really.

We’ve got some gigs to look forward to, now that the borders are opening up (hello 3 nights of Billy Bragg in a row)…and that one event has a lot of positivity associated with it as well as some worry about what we’re potentially letting in to the State. We’ve lived a semi-charmed kinda life for the last 650 odd days in WA…and now we’re looking at the real world a bit more so please get vaccinated if you can!

We’ve seen new faces (and new expertise) join us at Talis. We’ve seen existing staff continue to learn and grow in their roles. We’ve had a range of new clients join those existing clients who continue to use our services time and time again and now we’re looking to expand geographically in 2022.

I’m coming into the Christmas period feeling better about things than I had earlier in the year and looking forward to 2022 starting on a positive note.

To sign off this year, I’d like to thank the Enviro staff for all their hard work, our clients for their trust in us, our partners who have assisted and supported us and the wider Talis business for helping us throughout the year.

2022 looks to be building as another exciting year and I look forward to working on a range of existing and new projects throughout the year coupled with a potential expansion of the business over east.

On behalf of the Environment Section at Talis, I wish everyone all the very best for the festive season, however you choose to spend it.

Enjoy, celebrate and be safe!