Some questions for you to consider:

• How much time do you spend in meetings?
• Are you clear on the purpose of your meetings?
• Is everyone clear on actions and responsibilities arising from your meetings?
• Can you sing any ABBA songs?

Ok, so perhaps the last question doesn't immediately make sense when considered alongside the others, but these are the sorts of issues that we had to ponder last week, when attending a training course about Positive & Productive Meetings, facilitated by Helen Sanderson Associates.

The Positive & Productive Meetings process "helps groups stay focused on their larger purpose and the outcomes of each meeting. The tools and techniques foster an environment where people can contribute and feel valued. Creative problem-solving and collaboration flourish within the structure of the meeting."

We used some of these tools and techniques in our training:

Creating a welcoming environment

Although we held the training in a hotel meeting room, which can, even at the best of times, be cold and soul-less, our facilitator (Michelle) had made the room very welcoming. There was music on arrival (and at all the break points) to help energise people. There were posters on the wall ready for the group exercise, which added colour to the room and were something to keep you alert. Most importantly (for me!), there were sweets on the tables - something to touch and enjoy! All the senses were covered.

Opening and Closing Rounds

We each introduced ourselves to the group and were asked to say one good thing that had happened - this could be either work or home related. This helps people to stay connected to the meeting and creates a positive tone. The closing round gave people an opportunity to tell the group one thing that they would take away from the training and use. Everyone had learnt something, and could see how best to implement it.

Review Meeting Map

Michelle outlined the purpose of the meeting and clarified the Agenda and timings at the beginning of the day. We also agreed the ground rules. This is where the ABBA song comes in - we agreed that, if a mobile phone went off, or someone was seen looking at their e-mails on their phone during the session, that they would have to sing an ABBA song! We agreed circumstances (e.g. if a family member is in hospital or labour) under which phones might need to be answered, but no-one in the room was in that position. It was fascinating - I didn't see one person fiddle with their phone, and no phones went off during the session.

We also agreed the start and finish time of each part of the day, and that if people were late back from a break, we would start regardless. At the morning coffee break, only a handful of people were back on time. As agreed, Michelle started the next session, and people hurriedly, and a little bit embarrassed, walked in. After that, and for all the other breaks, people were back on time.

Timed Talk

We undertook a number of group exercises during the day, but one of them was Timed Talk:

• A question is posed - in our case it was about how our own team meetings operate.
• People break into pairs and sit facing each other.
• The first person speaks on the topic for 3 minutes, whilst the other person sits quietly and listens.
• The second person then speaks on the topic for their 3 minutes and the other person listens.
• We then shared in a round what we had found out.

Generally, people found this a useful way of giving people space and a chance to have their say. Some people found it frustrating, because it's difficult when you want to verbally agree with something someone has said, or ask them a question. It does, however, also allow the person listening to refine their thoughts and consider carefully what they are being told.

Putting it into Practice

Our last exercise of the day was a mock meeting, putting into practice everything we had learnt during the day, including the allocation of roles, agenda development, the use of rounds and meeting evaluation.

There is a lot of tools and techniques that can be used to achieve Positive and Productive Meetings. What we hope now, is that everyone goes away from the training and models the behaviours and approach, drawing on those tools in the right way, and at the right time.

You might be wondering what all of this has to do with our journey towards personalisation...Well, in our commitment to embed person centred thinking tools and approaches, we want everyone using the techniques, role modelling and showing the way. Our message is clear - there is no escaping - wherever you sit, whatever you do, we are heading your way!

We are using different approaches and tactics to reach out to everybody - this is another one of the ways we are attempting to do this.

In previous articles, we have written about how we are gearing up to introduce person centred thinking tools and individual service funds throughout our organisation, which is made up of a number of regions across the country.

The planning of this is challenging and like other organisations, there are always other things happening at the same time - important activities or projects which cannot be forgotten, but which we work hard to ensure don't become too much of a distraction from our personalisation vision - to enable the people we support to have choice and control over what they do, how they spend their time, who supports them and how they are supported.

Spring-time is said to represent renewal or the start of better times. It is a time of changing weather, extended daylight and (hopefully) some sunshine. In every day terms, it might provide a chance to clean out those cupboards you've been meaning to sort out all year, or see a glimpse of daffodils and blossom on the trees.

Even with lots of challenges, it has felt, particularly over the last couple of weeks - which perhaps coincides with a feeling that spring had sprung - as if we are moving forward:

- With the start of the regional training events, the person centred thinking tools course has given people an opportunity to stop and re-focus on the people we support, remembering what it must be like to view the world through their eyes. Although only a few sessions have been completed, the feedback has been positive and constructive.

- At our Leadership Group meeting last week, we tested our leaders on their knowledge of personalisation, and the person centred thinking tools and we were encouraged by the results; we affirmed our commitment to being a person centred organisation.

- Our One Page Strategy, which defines what success means and how we will measure our success, is almost finished.

We have a planning session this week to look at the next steps, and in particular how we can roll out training in an effective and efficient way to our 4,000 staff.

We are 'springing' forward.

After the opening round, at our personalisation project meeting on 11th January, we invited the participants to test their knowledge of the person centred thinking tools.

As well as monitoring the progress of our journey, the project team meetings are intended to ensure we are all familiar with the tools and understand more about each other.

We even had prizes ready for the winners & losers!

The competition was fierce between the teams and a rivalry quickly developed.

It was encouraging that both teams scored the same high marks - which meant we needed a tie-breaker. In fact the knowledge was so good, we needed two tie-breakers!

Eventually we had a winner - and the chocolates went down a treat.

What about the losing team? Well, they were given person centred thinking tool cards! We hope they are now revising ready for the next challenge.....

How well do you know the person centred thinking tools?

1. Name 5 ways that you can use a 1 page profile

2. Name 5 tools and techniques to be used in Positive & Productive Meetings

3. What are 3 benefits of using 4+1 questions with staff?

4. List 3 benefits of using Learning Logs for teams

5. What tool is this?

-   it helps staff see what must be done

-   it helps staff see what they can try/how they can be creative

-   it helps staff understand where they should not be involved

Not quite 101 ways but there are certainly many benefits and ways to use one page profiles!

We've talked in our earlier blog entries about the importance of the one page profile. In our personalisation journey project team in November, the opening round asked everyone to tell the group one of the most important aspects of how to work well with them, so that other members of the project team could support each other.

We've also asked other people in the organisation to let us know their experiences of using the one page profiles - "She does not feel she knows the staff team as well as she used to, and would like to find ways of improving this."

When we were first introduced to the one page profile, it was clear to see how useful they could be in sharing important information about people, in a succinct and meaningful way.

A one page profile tells us about the person.  It tells us what others like and admire about the person, what is important to them and how to support them well.  This simple inclusive approach to completing a one page profile appealed to us. Initially, it was agreed that we would use them when working with families and people with learning disabilities with individual budgets, paying particular attention to how we might match people with the right support staff. Making It Personal - A Providers Journey from Tradition to Transformation; 2010, (S. Scown with H. Sanderson)

We started to think about how we might introduce one page profiles to people who we supported across the organisation. This came at a time when the organisation was undertaking a review of many of its systems and processes and a time of changing regulation within social care.   In response to the changing demands and requirements of the internal and external environment, we developed Dimensions Standards.  These Standards would ensure not only regulatory compliance but make it clear that best practice approaches would also be a fundamental requirement of the organisation. The one page profile was seen as one of these requirements.

As we progressed on our journey towards personalising services and we became more familiar with the benefits of having a one page profile, we extended the use to include all staff across the organisation and the Board of Management. Making it Personal for Everyone - From Block Contracts towards Individual Service Funds; 2011, (S. Scown and H. Sanderson). We kept the implementation under review and learnt along the way how best to introduce them and the need to be clear with the instructions and expectations.  We developed a standardised template, 'top tips' for staff to follow and a brochure for guidance.

The senior management team set the benchmark by completing their one page profiles and making them publicly available to all, via the Dimensions website and internal intranet.

http://www.dimensions-uk.org/about-us/our-people/our-management-team/

http://www.dimensions-uk.org/about-us/management/our-board/

Here are some of the ways we use one page profiles:

Recruitment and selection

Shortlisted candidates are sent our one page profile template and 'top tips'. They are asked to follow the guidance and to bring the completed one page profile along to the interview.  Additionally we use one page profiles to best match people and teams.

Performance management

Used in both supervisions and appraisals to ensure staff are being supported properly and to make sure we know what is important to people.  We discuss whether anything needs to change.

Learning and development, project work and teams

The one page profile can be used in a number of ways in this area.  For example, team building and induction. In both team building and induction, the one page profile is used to ensure that team/individuals are all familiar with each other, know what is important to each other and how best to support each other.  This reduces the chances of potential conflict as colleagues understand each other better.

Additionally they can be used to inform team plans and project plans so everyone is clear about each person's role.

Introductions

We use the one page profiles to introduce people to each other within the organisation and outside the organisation. People are encouraged to send one page profiles prior to meeting individuals, teams, families or external bodies.  We have found that they are a good way of sharing information about each other before meeting and putting a face to a name.

We also request others to complete one page profiles before meeting with us.  For example, when a number of people we support met with the Department of Health we requested that one page profiles were completed by the ministers.

It is not an exhaustive list and we are discovering more and more ways to use the one page profile all the time - 102 ways perhaps....?!

Over recent years, December has become the month when one ordinary but talented person (or this year, a group) achieves success in the TV talent show, The X Factor.  Activity builds over a short space of time, taking over the Saturday (and Sunday) night television schedules and the winner becomes an 'overnight sensation', who is often tipped to win the crown of Christmas Number 1 in the music charts. However, whether their career will be sustained beyond the first year remains the question......

For us this year, December is when we start to identify and develop the Critical Success Factors for our Personalisation Journey - however, unlike the seemingly quick TV talent contest, we are taking time to make sure our 'CS' factors and the Journey are sustainable, realistic and achievable.

Our Project Team met at the end of November and we had a really constructive meeting, reviewing the plan that we've developed so far and tackling some of the difficult issues we have to grapple with - how do we embed our strategy across a national organisation of our scale that covers almost all of England, with over 3000 staff?

Our Project Team - do we have the X Factor?

Helen facilitated the Project Team's discussion and asked us - 'what do we want to see in 2 years?' A simple question, perhaps, but in trying to tackle the challenges we face, Helen's process (outlined below) was important and it helped us to get to a position of collective agreement on what our factors should include.

1. Timed Talk - a chance for each person in the project team to talk, uninterrupted, about what we think we are trying to achieve.

2. Elevator Pitch - a sentence, or word, from each person which captures the essence of the project and which, taken together, could articulately explain in a concise way what our Journey is about.

3. Critical Success Factors - a description of what we will see, what the organisation will look like in 2 years - the overwhelming answer - we don't say we are person centred, we are person centred.

Our Success Themes

Our next step and top of the list for the New Year will be to identify, for each theme and success factor:

• How could we measure this - how will we know we have achieved it?
• Where are we now? - the baseline
• What are we aiming for? - the target

However, although it's easy to write our expectations on a piece of paper, to turn this into reality is going to take a lot of hard work and it won't happen overnight.

So, we may not have the X Factor and be ready to get the Christmas Number 1, but our Journey will continue and we hope, enable us to achieve our Critical Success Factors over the long term.

In an athletics race, you'd hear a gun to signal that a race has started; in a football match, they'd blow a whistle...

For the roll-out of our Personalisation Breadth Strategy, we haven't had a dramatic signal like you might expect in the sports mentioned above, but there is a similar feeling - a sense of momentum, with the excitement and anticipation that accompanies the start of an event.

Perhaps, though, we should be likening this next phase of our journey to a marathon, and not a sprint.

Having had a good review session in October (as reported in the October blog) and identified the lessons learnt, we've been developing our Plan to roll out the Breadth Strategy - embedding person centred thinking tools - across the organisation, and implementing the Depth Strategy - introducing Individual Service Funds - in some pilot areas.

As with all complex projects, we've been spending time over the last couple of weeks making sure we have the plan right and identifying the resources required to make this a success. There's still work to do on it, but we recognise that we will reap the benefits if we have a proper plan in place at the beginning.  

We have been continuing to talk about Personalisation and our plan for this next phase through our staff communication - our on line staff newsletter, "Witter" (our in house Twitter), for example - and we will keep briefing staff at appropriate forums over the next few months. Staff have received a copy of the 'Personalisation for Everyone' book and they have been encouraged to read it.

The real work in the regions who are about to embark on the next phase of the journey begins at our project meeting on 30th November, and we have a series of initial training events scheduled for December.

It's early days, but we're on the way.

Jo Greenbank is the new Project Manager at Dimensions and will be co-ordinating, amongst other initiatives, the implementation of the next phase of the Personalisation Journey. We've asked Jo to update you on our progress for October.

'Are you up for the challenge?' That was one of the questions I was asked at my interview for the Project Manager role and something I asked myself after attending the Dimensions Personalisation Journey meeting on 6th October, which met to review the outcomes and lessons learned from Journey 2 and prepare for the next phase.

It was a very interesting and thought-provoking session for me as the 'new girl' and I listened with nervous anticipation to the tales and experiences of the journey so far. It was my birthday, so I was in a good mood anyway, but by the end of the session, although it made me realise how big the challenge was going to be, it absolutely reaffirmed why I wanted to come and work for this organisation and hopefully do my little part to introduce changes for the people we support, and help to improve their lives and their relationships with those around them.

The day was split into two halves; the morning session involved people from across the organisation, including the manager of Anne Marie's service. We worked in small groups and used 4 plus 1 to capture reflections and learning, such as:

• we've tried to identify what the people we support really want and need and actively listen to what was said
• we've learned that we don't always know best, that we need to stay focused and that the cultural change within the organisation has been one of the hardest aspects to deal with
• we're pleased that peoples lives have changed, that they have achieved the unexpected and that we have learnt from the process
• we're concerned about the weight of change and that we have the resources required to make the change happen
• our next task is to ensure that we embed the person centred thinking tools across the organisation, plan carefully for the next phase, communicate widely what we are doing and get people to understand where they are at (Progress for Providers 2)

As part of the morning session, we had the 'premiere' of the film http://vimeo.com/dimensionsuk/makingitpersonal which sits alongside the new book 'Personalisation for Everyone' (published 20th October). http://www.dimensions-uk.org/leaflets-and-resources/making-it-personal-for-everyone/ The film is only a few minutes long, but in that short time the film makers carefully convey the difference made to Anne Marie's life and how those around her, including Anne Marie's family and the staff at Old Street, have responded and adapted. We all felt strongly that both the film, which I found to be a positive and inspiring taster - and the book - should be made available as widely as possible to motivate people both within Dimensions and in the rest of the sector.

In the afternoon, a smaller Implementation Group met and we had our first review of the draft Implementation Plan - the next task on my 'to do' list is to turn that draft Plan into a detailed Project Plan which will allow us to roll out the Breadth and Depth Strategies that Jackie wrote about in August. The Implementation Group is clear about the challenges and difficulties we will face, but feel we have the tools, the willing and the momentum to move forward.

So, in answer to that first question - yes, I am up for the challenge.

September has come around so quickly. There is little to update this month I'm afraid. This is not because we haven't been doing anything, quite the opposite!! We have continued to focus on some of the 'how' 'where ' and 'who' - all the practicalities.

Our first meeting to introduce some of our thoughts to the team (and to Jo the new project manager) is scheduled for early October so we will have lots to share in next month's blog.

In the meantime though, we are taking delivery of the new book 'The Personalisation Journey for Everyone' (the learning from the last phase) and the launch is scheduled for early October, neatly coinciding with our implementation plans.

Copies of this new book will be available from both the Dimensions  

http://www.dimensions-uk.org and HSA Press http://www.hsapress.co.uk websites

How fast things change? In less than one month we have reviewed our position on the next phase of the implementation of the Personalisation Journey so that we cover 'depth' and 'breadth' across the organisation.

Breadth means that everyone will be using person-centred thinking tools in their role, and managers will use Progress for Providers for managers to self-assess how they are using the person-centred thinking tools themselves, and with their team. It includes managers consistently using Positive and Productive Meetings,  Person-Centred Supervision and an annual appraisal. We are also working towards everyone we support having an annual person-centred review.

Depth refers to the 3 regions where we are implementing full Individual Service Funds. 

We have decided to take a whole organisation, multilayered approach.  This was not a decision that was taken lightly but was in recognition that this was not something that people should wait for……….'coming to a place near to you soon' is simply not an option. This is something that should be happening for everyone; people we support are entitled to make choices and decisions about how they live their lives and our employees are entitled to be well supported and given opportunities to maximise their potential.

So we have a new plan, a new project manager and a new project team and our first meeting scheduled. One of the lessons we learnt from the previous journey was the need for clarity around roles and expectations and so we have given much thought to this in developing our plan.

The next month or so will be about some of the practicalities of such a huge task…………when I think about it can become quite daunting!  Essentially this is a huge change management programme requiring people to work in different ways.  There are many theories about change management but one of the absolutes is that it is never easy to change behaviours and cultures. I am so pleased we have a new project manager! 

One of the first tasks is how we communicate our intentions to everyone and so we will be paying significant attention to a Communication Strategy. At times like this it never hurts to revisit Kotter's 8 steps to successful change.

How exciting - we are coming to the end of this phase of the Personalisation Journey and as Steve pointed out last month, what a journey it has been! We are currently writing up the all trials and tribulations experienced along the way and all of the lessons we learnt. Look out for the book - its on its way!  (Making it Personal for Everyone).

I consider myself to be very privileged to have been part of a team who are so committed and passionate about making change happen for Anne Marie, no matter what challenges are put in front of them.

As we start planning to share the success and our learning across Dimensions there are mixed feelings of excitement about the difference we can make, alongside feelings of trepidation of the challenges that lie ahead. It is inevitable that there will be  new challenges that test us, excite us and possibly disappoint us! 

We will be working in three different regions across the country with a lot more people and many different stakeholders at a time of major change within in the public sector and a less than stable  economic climate. That aside we remain committed to helping people take control and make choices  and decisions about their lives whilst balancing the demands of the external influences that can make such a difference to how providers respond and operate.

We are still keen to learn more as we travel and this time we will be using the newly issued Progress for Providers - Checking your progress in using person centred approaches with managers and teams as one of the tools to give us a baseline measurement of where managers and teams are at the beginning of the journey and again the end of the journey.  This will help us to make sure we provide the right support and resources to the teams.

Personally I am really pleased with the increasing success of the implementation of the One Page Profile.  We are seeing this used all over Dimensions for a variety of reasons (see March's blog).  A very recent example of how well this is working is when the senior management team were invited to meet a group of people with learning disabilities who they had not met before. The team sent their one page profiles beforehand so that the people they were to meet would have a bit of information beforehand. Well the ice was broken from the minute they met, particularly with Ashley and Mark (Director of Finance) when he had learnt that Mark was a West Ham fan!! 

If you are interested in 'what happens next' then follow the blog - next month we hope to have finalised the 'plan' so will be able to share more about what's coming!