Outstanding Log
Welcome back and thanks for the feedback about last week’s post on the “One Drawer Inspection Kit”; please keep in touch and share your feedback if you have implemented the One Drawer Inspection Kit or any of the other suggestions we have shared. We would love to hear from you!
This week’s article will be a little shorter but, hopefully, just as valuable - the “Outstanding Log”.
We can’t take credit for this idea; one of the team leaders on a Lead to Succeed programme shared this a few months’ back. Essentially, the team leader described what she had done to implement this in her setting and the impact that it had on her team, but also the volume of evidence they collected using it. It goes something like this:
They added a simple question to their handover process: “what have we done that is outstanding today?” Now that will only take seconds to ask, but the impact of that question is huge, because it gets everyone thinking “what have I done today?”, “was that outstanding?” and, as such, it can create a shift in mindset for the staff.
Now let’s be clear, outstanding according to CQC means: “the service is performing exceptionally well”, so we are beyond meeting expectations - we are exceeding them.
So, another way of phrasing the same question might be “what have we done that is exceptional today?” By incorporating this simple question into the handover process or perhaps a team meeting if that works better for you in your setting, staff know that question will be asked and the mindset shift it creates is they will start looking for examples to share in that meeting, because that is just how our minds work - we can’t help it!
However, the critical piece of the jigsaw is how we record what gets shared…
If it is therefore part of the handover, create a space on the handover documentation which gets completed with a brief description of what happened and why it is exceptional. Similarly, if it is part of the team meeting, then find a way of capturing the “exceptional”.
Bear in mind that you won’t capture examples on every shift or every team meeting, but hopefully what will happen over time is that you capture examples that build into something extremely valuable, for what is essentially a small investment of time.
Think back to what I said last week: use the One Drawer Inspection Kit to give the inspectors a map to follow, then use the “outstanding log” to capture all the reasons why you are exceptional and make it is the first thing you give them when they arrive!
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5 年Love this Sarah, thank you for passing on such great advice.? We can all learn from each other and this is a fantastic example.? Thanks again for sharing it.?
Head of Coaching & Leadership Transformation at Bucks Health & Social Care Academy | Life Coach | Leadership Consultant at Six400 Consultancy
5 年Great advice and may I add it’s always worth reminding the teams as to why they are outstanding. It’s about changing a mind set, instead of thinking how are we going to be outstanding, it’s about stating that we are outstanding because of this and this. “Acting as if” - can help support people to work like they are already there, it then can become the normal way of working. Instead of saying we need to do this to get there, we say we do it this way because we are there already.
Evidence staff competence and build trust with person-centred learning. That's what we do at Grey Matter Learning.
5 年When you're ultra busy the last thing you probably want to do is to take or make the time to have to record something else - believe me, it's well worth it and will evidence all the great work you're doing!!!
Head of Innovation at Flourish
5 年The truly powerful thing about this approach is that it encourages the sharing of best practice and creates an environment where staff are acknowledged for their commitment.? We know that pay in Social Care is low, but also that staff value acknowledgement and praise very highly.?? I think it also creates an opportunity to help staff realise just how outstanding their contribution is.? How many times have you heard staff say,? "I'm just a carer" or "It's what anyone would do".? Without realising that their role impacts on people in a life-changing way, and that their skills and dedication far exceed that of the vast majority who work in other sectors. This indirectly creates a positive mindset and increases resilience.? Which organisation would you prefer to work for?? It might just help your recruitment and retention as well!?
Customer Care Supervisor
5 年Another really good post - thank you! Doing this allows people to look back at their achievements.