collaborative masterclass series: innovation and expert thinking
Creating Courageous Agents of Change – the System Change Leadership Programme
Influencing Change Without Power | Case Study In Cheshire West, the All-Age Continuing Care team gained insight from the programme into how to influence their senior leaders to implement change. Post pandemic, with colleagues showing symptoms of compassion fatigue and increased sickness absence, it was time to consider a change in how the team operated. The System Change Leadership programme talked about releasing the potential in human systems, and how pressures in teams can lead to poor dynamics and dysfunction. Emboldened to work differently to improve outcomes, the team challenged the norm and were able to develop a more positive culture where staff felt listened to and supported. This has seen an improvement in work being completed on time, with positive feedback from external colleagues and an increase in team morale. The team have reported an increase in achievement of NHS targets and KPIs relating to completion of continuing care assessments and eligibility reviews. The team from Halton joined the programme to “work across a patch, using our collective expertise and knowledge to make improvements” for adults with learning disabilities in their locality. Bringing together local authority and care provider organisations, the team “wanted to have that learning journey together…This has felt for us like a real step forward in the right direction – we’ve learned so much and it’s helped build up our relationships together as a system. It’s really helped with having open and honest conversations about services and how we transform care.”
Sponsored by the NHS North West Leadership Academy (NHS NWLA), North West Employers (NWE) and the North West Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (NW ADASS), the System Change Leadership Programme is a new innovative leadership development approach aimed at middle managers. The programme supports teams to create change in a challenging, but safe learning space and asks participants to think differently and work as a collaborative to solve the most challenging place-based problems. This requires a shift in mindsets and behaviours to enable improved confidence levels in tackling system issues. Learning to become a brave and courageous system leader is the starting point of this journey and this programme can enable effective change to happen if embraced by colleagues taking part. Three change teams joined the programme in 2024, made up of middle manager roles across health and care, each with an identified system challenge to apply their learning to. They participated in a blended learning approach with a mix of bitesize online learning and virtual ‘deep dive’ sessions exploring the key themes of the programme: Influencing without Formal Authority Challenging the Status Quo Releasing the Potential of Human Systems Consulting Mindset and Skillset Self as Courageous Role Model At the end of the programme the change teams have been invited to present their learning and outcomes to a variety of stakeholders at meetings, workshops and conferences, including a showcase at the recent NHS NWLA Festival of Leadership and ADASS annual conference.
A key aspect of the programme asks teams to be bold and experiment with their leadership approach. Participants learned:
Leadership is about empowering teams to want to make the change and creating an environment where they feel comfortable to be able to make mistakes. I don’t need to bring the answers. It is more important to ask the right questions. It’s down to us to make changes in our own practice and leadership rather than waiting for more senior people to show the way.
The North West Collaborative Masterclass series has continued across the year to provide inspiring and often challenging topics to explore with cross sector audiences, inviting a range of guest speakers from health, social care, private sector and beyond.
Delivered online, these masterclasses engage leaders with innovative ideas and case studies putting thought into practice. The latest events have focussed on: How to Lead in a Hybrid World ways for organisations to foster team spirit and culture and support effective team leadership in a hybrid working environment. Evidence Based Working Approaches how a more evidence-based approach may support public sector organisations to ask the right questions, undertake better diagnostics, and meet the challenges they face. Making Care Closer to Home a Reality refocussing the system to primary and community care. Recordings of all events in the series are available to watch back on the North West Collaborative YouTube channel click here COMING SOON Our March masterclass is shaping up to examine collaborative leadership and how we can support and enable a shift in mindset to adopt a collaborative approach, overcoming institutional, resource and capacity barriers. With the anticipated release of the 10 Year Health Plan in 2025, there is an expectation that the plan will emphasise the importance of effective joined up care, with a need for partnership and collaboration across health and social care.
We look forward to hearing from experts in system leadership and health inequalities, sharing local best practice where collaborative leadership in the North West is already flourishing. Reserve your place via the booking link Collaboration in Health Care Systems Tickets, Wed 26 Mar 2025 at 09:15 | Eventbrite For more information ABOUT The Collaborative Masterclass series see our website click here or view the brochure click here. You can also catch up on the learning from our February masterclass ‘Embedding a Culture and Practice of Social Value’ . Watch this space for news of our 2025 masterclass schedule coming soon. The NHS NWLA works in partnership with: Mersey Internal Audit Agency (MIAA), Advancing Quality Alliance (Aqua), North West Employers (NWE) and the North West Association of Directors of Adults Social Care Services (ADASS) to bring you a series of collaborative masterclasses. Together we are an influential partnership formed from cross sector organisations in the North West that represent the NHS, health and social care and local government.
At an individual level, participants reflected how they felt they were leading differently following completion of the programme:
I am asking more questions to understand what is influencing decision making.
I am more reflective in my approach to colleagues and leaders.
I put more emphasis on the person, their perspective and their thinking,
rather than their job title or organisation they work for.
The evaluation from the programme is collectively being explored to shape next steps for this unique learning approach. If you are interested in finding out more and developing your own insights as a system leader, you can access the digital learning resources via the Leadership Learning Zone https://northwest.leadershipnhs.uk/.
nw.leadershipacademy.nhs.uk | Leader
Leader | nw.leadershipacademy.nhs.uk
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