14 Balancing act: supporting finance leaders to deliver on short- and long-term priorities
Figure 3: crafting a compelling narrative
Some areas of good practice shared in crafting effective narratives • Distil down the core messaging that covers the purpose of the work – why, what and how – then select the most relevant elements and tailor for different audiences while anchoring on consistent core language and terminology. • Ensure your narrative leads with the patient at the heart – while not shying away from the fact that money is important, can you also articulate the benefit in terms of patient outcomes or experience? • Ensure your narrative resonates with colleagues who will be involved in the change – a simple three point checklist based on a well-established change equation: • does it spark dissatisfaction with the current state, importantly not just of the wider NHS position, but of that person’s specific service, pathway, or ways of working? • does it excite them about what’s possible in the future and can you articulate why this will be better for patients as well as finances? • do they understand what is being asked of them initially? They don’t need the whole journey (and you may not know it!), but without clear first steps will they be willing to set off on the journey to sustainability? • Share this narrative with relevant partners and communicate across all levels. • Ensure the narrative is available in a form that can be communicated with patients and families too. • Understand how the narrative is used – is it actually used regularly and if not, why not?
Practical next steps Understand others to convene effectively: • Identify who you need around the table to define the appropriate change ambition and what you need from others to succeed. • Consider how you are going to appeal to others and what the uniting ambition is across clinical, operational, and finance teams. • Provide consistency, leading through the ambiguity and short-term distractions with a clear definition and measurement of what good looks like and the timeframe for assessment. • Act as the honest broker over multiple change horizons.
Made with FlippingBook - Online catalogs