‘15 Days’ – a story about collaborative problem solving in public services
Centre for Effective Services
Research | Evaluation | Implementation | Programme management | Connecting evidence with policy across Ireland and NI
In this article, we look at the “15 Days Report”, a practical guide to leading accelerated, high-impact collaboration in the Irish Civil Service.
The report tells the story of how the Youth Mental Health Pathfinder initiative introduced new ways of working in Ireland’s Department of Health, based on collaborative problem solving, to improve service delivery and ensure that the needs of young people were effectively met.
The Youth Mental Health Pathfinder Project was one of nine projects in the Goal Programme Building capacity for change through the Goal Programme to introduce and test new approaches in addressing some of the most pressing social policy challenges faced by public services in Ireland today.
While the focus of the work is youth mental health, the approach and tools will be of interest and relevance to a wide range of policy challenges which require a collaborative approach.
Introduction to the Youth Mental Health Pathfinder Initiative
“The idea of a pathfinder has two purposes. Firstly, it involves carving a new route, or way, through unexplored territory. The second purpose is to provide guidance for those who may have to make a similar journey.”
The challenge of improving the mental well-being of young people in Ireland was one of three high-profile pathfinder projects at the heart of the Irish Government’s ambitious Civil Service Renewal Plan.
A small team in the Department of Health was charged with finding new ways to work together on this issue.
CES’ role involved providing access to both national and international expertise, knowledge of how the issue has been approached in other jurisdictions, practical tools and support in using and analysing data.
The report is the story of how the 12 pathfinder group members used their 15 days of working together to get to the heart of a problem. It shows how the group came up with a small number of actions that could have a disproportionately positive impact on the underlying problem, and it is the story of how they engaged key Secretaries General to act on their findings and recommendations.
Accelerated, Collaborative Problem-Solving
Convinced that there was a better model than establishing a two-year committee, the team decided to use an accelerated, collaborative problem-solving model and a diverse team of frontline staff and policy-makers.
Over 15 days pathfinder group members used their working time together to get to the heart of the problem.
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6 success factors
The pathfinder group drew on collaborative problem-solving models adapted for use in government, specifically the ‘Priority Review’ model from the British Prime Minister’s Delivery Unit.
The six most strongly positive success factors of the project were:
The Interactive Toolkit
Accompanying the report is an interactive toolkit designed to aid public service professionals in adopting collaborative working practices. This toolkit offers:
By providing practical resources, the toolkit aims to empower teams across public services to embrace collaboration as a fundamental aspect of their work. This ensures that public service reform becomes a continuous process, driven by shared insights and collective efforts to improve outcomes for the communities they serve.
The Youth Mental Health Pathfinder exemplifies how innovative collaboration can lead to effective solutions in public service reform. By embracing new models of working together, the initiative not only tackled an urgent social issue but also laid the groundwork for ongoing collaborative practices in government, fostering a more responsive and effective public service.
Useful links
You can read the full report here:
You can find the toolkit here