By Beverley Swan
Successful programmes are built on good foundations, and in my experience, it’s all about the people you choose to include from the start.
Co-production can receive poor reviews, particularly in the private sector. I recall senior leadership team SLT meetings when colleagues suggested co-production. There was a Mexican wave of raised eyebrows around the table, oh my!
The stereotypes are that co-production is long-winded, and it’s just for charities. After time and resources are spent, everyone feels better but nothing gets done. If that’s how you see things, let’s see if we can break free from these stereotypes.
This is how to make improvements in your organisation, when you engage a programme management consultant with co-production and mentoring experience.
Dial down the temperature and start talking
Move away from the temptation to allocate blame if operations or services are falling short. You can bring in a programme management consultant to dial down the temperature. Ask your teams to nominate spokespeople for 121 conversations, so challenges or dilemmas can be openly shared with this external mentor. Programme boundaries are set early to avoid drift and delays. Signposting to partners with additional offers is always welcomed as an alternative.
As a Yorkshire programme management consultant, this approach allowed me to prepare 10 Services for the Investors in People Award in just 6 months.
Identify common ground
Your consultant will work with your people to consider, why have challenges occurred? If a team has changed its way of working to solve a dilemma, they can tell us why. Going back to that decision point allows us see the common ground between several competing dilemmas, and gives us a better way forward. Each unique 121 conversation will also forge a strong relationship between your people, and the programme being developed.
In Sheffield, we discovered why a 3 year programme had stalled after less than 12 months and took steps to rescue it.
Design solutions
It’s time to draw out goals for teams and their customers. Your people, supported by a programme management consultant, will build solutions and improvements on common ground. They will be targeted, equitable, quality designs. If your people are not sure how to do this, the consultant will help to design them.
In North Tyneside, this design approach gained national recognition from a programme blueprinting team.
Bring in experts to support
At this stage your people have designed the outline of your next programme, with support from your programme management consultant. They will be empowered and more likely to stay motivated for the life of the programme.
Your programme management consultant will source and work with experts to develop final content at this point. Experts may be senior managers in your organisation or specialist consultants, and you will work with your consultant to decide who.
The underlying approach for success
Be prepared to share your own power and build new alliances. If you think listening is a skill your organisation could work on, listen to each other and identify better ways to listen to others. Join forces to work together on common problems. Work at pace.
Enjoy this roadmap!
I hope you’ve found this useful. If you want hire a programme management consultant, please get in touch with me on 07786 695123 or beverley@leaptransformation.co.uk
