As a leader or manager in health and social care, you must:
- stay open and questioning
- use evidence, listen to diverse views, challenge old assumptions – and find better ways of doing things
That means:
- reflecting on your behaviours, acknowledging biases and using what you learn to grow professionally
- asking open questions, listening carefully to different views, and trying to understand them
- checking assumptions and using data, evidence, and risk assessments to guide improvements
- encouraging feedback and ideas from colleagues and staff representatives, partners, patients and people who draw on care, their neighbourhoods – and working together to find new solutions
- encouraging a culture where it’s normal to question how things are done and push for more effective approaches
- using research and the team’s expertise to spot trends, improve results and support innovation
- embracing learning opportunities and using technology where it helps
- working across professional, organisational, and system boundaries to achieve lasting improvements
What do effective and ineffective practices look like?
Effective practice
- Uses open questions to help find inefficiencies and gets the whole team thinking creatively to address them.
- Fosters a culture of experimentation that encourages team members to be inquisitive, seek input from stakeholders and test new approaches.
- Works with teams and their representatives to understand staff feelings, views and ideas.
- Questions assumptions and seeks different perspectives.
- Keeps up with the latest developments and tries out new approaches.
- Works to give colleagues the time, resources and space to think, plan and carry out improvements.
Ineffective practice
- Dismisses inefficiencies as unavoidable, resists exploring new approaches, and fails to engage the team in problem-solving.
- Relies on outdated methods without investigating root causes, discourages innovation, and fails to address delays and inefficiencies.
- Assumes traditional methods are sufficient, avoids exploring new ideas, and fails to adapt, leading to disengagement and missed opportunities.
- Dismisses out of hand views from staff representatives as unrepresentative or unhelpful.
- Avoids engaging with new technologies and relies on outdated strategies, leaving the organisation ill-prepared for future demands.
- Asks for innovative ideas but does not help colleagues manage competing pressures to implement these changes.