Leading_to_Deliver

Leading to Deliver Postgraduate Certificate Social Services Leadership Leading and Influencing Change Submission Date 1st September 2008 RGU User name: 0807930 Total word count:- 3035 Executive Summary Given consideration to my Leadership having examined models on principle theories in relation to change. Comparing Bridges, Lippit, and Luecke and Beers’ theories promoting positive change within organisations I recognised principles which when combined in relation to Criminal Justice Social Work and implementing Getting Our Priorities Right and Getting it Right For Every Child could in principle work advantageously with regards to implementation strategies. Comparing, contrasting and constructively criticising my own practise along side historical beliefs in relation to Structural Process and Cultural change identified strengths and weaknesses within myself, the team and the organisation in relation to promoting partnership working. Utilising the check list as an essential to implement change assisted in the process leading to optimum success. John Kotters common errors assisted in developing strategies to identify the way forward. I recognise that I accept change positively where others may see this negatively. Dislike of routines and structure I find restrictive and prescriptive leading to resistance which I endeavoured to challenge with the knowledge gained. A skill I will continue to develop accepting work previously done. Learning from omissions, lack of inclusion and healthy discussion supporting and encouraging involvement from the team assisted in creating a smooth transition and knowledgeable work force. Enabling full participation gave opportunity to address issues, explore obstacles and problem solve. My belief is despite highly skilled social work teams the evidence of procrastination due to historical factors can be developed using appropriate strategies and being prepared to address weaknesses, develop skills and ensure engagement of all concerned throughout the Change Process to lead successfully to achieve outcomes. I Contents Executive Summary Page 2 1.0 Introduction page 4 2.0 Context page 4 3.0 Models on Principle Theories That I Used To Lead Page 11 And Influence Change. 4. My Role In Implementing This Change And Page 14 Supporting the Transition 5.0 References Page 19 6.0 Bibliography Page 20 Appendix 1 PowerPoint presentation Appendix 2 Flip Chart notes types Appendix 3 Feed back from session 1. INTRODUCTION I was given the lead role for implementing the policy “Getting Our Priorities Right”. This assignment will focus on this document, its origins and how I will implement the strategy within Criminal Justice Social Work in Dumfries and Galloway. 2. CONTEXT Within this section I will describe the policy documents which became the drivers for the implementation of Getting Our Priorities Right in Dumfries and Galloway. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) is an international human rights treaty that grants all children and young people a comprehensive set of rights. The UK signed the convention on 19 April 1990, ratified it on 16 December 1991 and enforced it in the UK on 15 January 1992. A direct consequence of the UK government ratifying this Convention necessitated a review of policy areas that may be affected including child care legislation. The Scottish Executive required Drug Action Teams and Area Child Protection Committees to implement local policies on support to drug misusing parents and their children, in line with the guidance in Getting Our Priorities Right published in 2003 and a Report entitled Hidden Harm – Responding to the needs of children of problem drug users: the Report of an Inquiry by the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs. Key messages where Parental Problem Drug Use can and does cause serious harm to children from conception to adulthood. • Reducing harm to children where parental problematic drug use exists should become a main objective of policy and practice. • Effective treatment of the parent can have major benefits for the child. • By delivering a partnership approach, services can take practical steps to protect and improve the health/well being of affected children. In response to the Hidden Harm Report the Scottish Executive described what was being done in Scotland to address the issues raised including • The publication of Getting Our Priorities Right in 2005– Good Practice Guidance for working with children and families affected by substance misuse. • A three year Child Protection Reform Programme, the development of a Children’s Charter, a framework for Standards and a Multi-disciplinary Inspection framework. • Work on Children’s Issues funded through initiatives including Sure Start Scotland and the Changing Children’s Services Fund. Getting Our Priorities right:- • Recognises that young people and families have varied needs and expectations. • No one service or agency can meet all their requirements. • It is essential that young people get the help they need when they need it, provided by partnership services working together to address identified needs. • These priorities encourage public authorities throughout Scotland to work together to deliver high quality services. • Develop an improved system for assessment and information sharing which supports coordinated action plans for children. Hidden Harm – Next Steps: Supporting Children, Working with Parents. (published 2006 ) was an action plan which built on existing documents and proposals reiterating , “The child’s welfare is paramount and must take precedence over the needs of the Adult.” In 2005/2006 The Scottish Executive requested Drug and Alcohol Action Teams to assess how many children in their area were living with drug or alcohol using parents. This was aimed at assessing the size of the problem. An impossible task because the numbers were hidden, information was not being collected and some agencies did not commit to the process identifying it as the role of the family and children’s’ social work teams. Issues arose around different agencies in Dumfries and Galloway duplicating statistics, rendering the process of acquiring accurate figures a farce, a guesstimate at best nonsensical to the true statistics. The Child Protection Committee in Dumfries and Galloway produced a set of Child Protection Procedures in May 2007. for protecting children in Dumfries and Galloway. In August 2007 Getting Our Priorities Right Inter Agency Protocol Working with Children and Families Affected by Drug and/or Alcohol Misuse was published and at this point I was allocated the task of implementing the procedures for Criminal Justice Social Work across Dumfries and Galloway. Following consultations and reports by the Scottish Executive, the first set of getting it right for every child principles was formally introduced as Phase 1 of the Review of the Children's Hearings System consultation in October 2004. (GIRFIC) This called for: • A more child-centred system • Heightened focus on the child's needs • Greater focus on effective outcomes for children • More effective collaboration between agencies • A more integrated approach across agencies • Reduction of institutional, cultural and procedural barriers to joint working Following a review of a number of consultations, the Implementation Plan was published in June 2006. This embodied a three pronged approach: • Practice change including adopting a shared approach to tools and guidance utilised in partnership working. • Removing barriers: identifying and removing obstacles to collaboration between agencies, children and families • Legislation: making agencies responsible for collaboration with each other and sharing information as appropriate. Ensuring all professionals remain alert to the needs of children and take any necessary action to meet them. Regional variances in practice and services pose a barrier to integrated services, we must aim to ensure all reasonable steps to address and close gaps are acted upon wherever possible. This means devising and determining ways to share selected information and assessments, to ensure all parties work together towards a common plan. Changing Lives published in 2006 was a culmination of two years work, which took a fundamental look at all aspects of social work in order to strengthen its contribution to the delivery of integrated services. One of the main strengths of the report was the involvement and contributions from people throughout the sector including front-line workers, service users and carers. The report delivered three main messages and challenges:- 1. More of the same won’t work. Increasing demand, greater complexity alongside rising expectations show the current situation as unsustainable: Tomorrow’s solutions will need to engage people as active participants, delivering accessible, responsive services of the highest quality. 2. Social Work Services don’t have all the answers. They need to work closely with other service providers across all sectors to develop new imaginative ways to design, implement and deliver services. All agencies across the public, private and voluntary sector will need to work together focussing on being proactive in a joined up way, rather than reactive which is historically the case and demonstrate commitment and inclusion in relation to partnership working. 3. The skills of Social Workers are highly valued and most relevant to the changing needs of modern society. These skills are not being utilised to their best advantage. We must concentrate on these core skills and values and the social work mission to enable people to develop their full potential and stop procrastinating. The main threads in these documents relate to the lack of communication or miscommunication within and between agencies and the need for clear transparent and defensible decision making. It is obvious that the focus of the work of each service must be on securing the well-being of children. The challenge is to ensure that this is translated into day-to-day practice. This requires staff in each of the services receiving good quality, relevant training to ensure individuals enhance practice across a broad range of tasks. It requires individuals to be ready willing and able to adapt to flexibility and ingenuity to overcome organisational boundaries perceived or factual. In order to avoid either drift or confusion, the decision-making process must be clearly defined, generally understood, and always put into operation. This is of paramount importance when the safety of a child is at stake. The goal is to achieve this by implementing Dumfries and Galloway’s “Getting Our Priorities Right.” 3. MODELS ON PRINCIPLE THEORIES USED TO LEAD AND INFLUENCE CHANGE. Having completed my research into the development of GOPR, I decided to use the information provided in the leadership course pack to begin to explore how change occurs within organisations and transition occurs within an organisation. William Bridges model appeals to me. I understand the concepts he puts forwards about endings, the neutral zone and new beginnings. I found the concept of the neutral zone informative and it helped me understand why sometimes change does not materialise. The neutral zone is where neither system is working properly, not the old which everyone is familiar with or the new, as people revisit change. Ref 1 Bridges page 41 “given the ambiguities of the neutral zone, it is easy for people to become polarised: some want to rush forward and others want to go back to the old ways” I found these ideas useful when understanding where people are within the organisation. The need to have clear endings and to allow people to grieve for the old ways of the past, before moving into the neutral zone and through to new beginnings can clearly increase the success rate in relation to steering a safe passage through change, an approach which fits in with social work ethics and is similar to the views of Lippit G. L. “Coping with Change ”Management World, 2 August 1974 pp9-11 in relation to change management. I also looked at Luecke and Beer model of change and the four types of change they describe:- • Structural Change • Cost Cutting • Process Change • Cultural change When looking at implementing child protection changes within my organisation I did not believe that this model was fully relevant however structural change would link to establishing partnerships. Process and Cultural change relate to the work I am doing and the change I need to implement to ensure staff engage with, and willingly alter there working practice which is part of the process of change. The impact of GOPR will also place a shift in the way social workers within criminal justice have always practiced, passing child care responsibilities straight to children and families. With the changes of GOPR and GIRFEC it is every workers responsibility to do an initial assessment when dealing with clients who are substance misusers and care for children. However, a cost cutting exercise approach is irrelevant with regards to GOPR implementation. The six activates that Beer and Luecke identify as essential to implement change gave me a reasonable checklist of how to initiate a process to achieve optimum success. Ref 2 “Change starts when someone sees the next step” Anon I gave consideration to John Kotters 8 common errors made when implementing change and the order in which he lists them. This enabled me to plan strategically the intended implementation of GOPR within Criminal Justice Social Work and identify the way forward. I believe that by researching the different theories relating to change within organisations and assimilating the relevant points from a range of researched expertise I identified which best suit my organisation rather than assuming one way is best. I will make the changes in a more effective and constructive way taking account of barriers to a smooth transition and creating a knowledgeable workforce. In the past I would have examined the task, determined the action, instructed people and expected to monitor the progress with little or no discussion. This time I will take people with me, laying the foundations for change, encouraging and supporting people to share their views and anxieties, giving praise and recognition of the individual struggle each person has overcome to progress through the change process to enable safer lives for the children of Dumfries and Galloway now and for generations to come. To work professionally and to provide quality in service delivery including the implementation of G.O.P.R. within a best value framework which aims to foster positive partnerships to achieve better outcomes for children and young people deserves every consideration to Get It Right For Every Child. 4. MY ROLE IN IMPLEMENTING THIS CHANGE AND SUPPORTING THE TRANSITION Having completed and continued to work with the Myers Brigg Inventory and understanding my own personal strengths and weaknesses, I know that I am an extrovert, instinctive, sensitive, and perceptive person. I like change and as a leader I am supportive and look to create new opportunities for people but now recognise others may not always be so eager. However I don’t like routine and I find following a structured plan difficult, restrictive at times and prescriptive to the point it too causes resistance to change. With this in mind, I decided that I would formulate and adhere to a structured plan, a challenge to understand my own role in the change I was to implement. I then developed a time line for the implementation. This helped to focus me on the task in hand and led to me being more organised and structured than usual which I now recognise as a skill. Following this exercise I will continue to pursue it as an effective tool for future use. I set up a meeting of the entire team of criminal justice social workers in the East for one and half hours. Some members of the team have done the GOPR training and others have not. I acknowledged that there would be a difference in individual’s knowledge within the team. The challenge would be presenting the information in a PowerPoint format (appendix 1) so used the SWOT and GROW exercises that I learned in the first three days training of the course. Although I had brain stormed some ideas I explained to the team that this was because of time constraints and not because I felt I could offer all the answers. I allowed time for them to absorb the information and to share their thoughts regarding the process and the way forward. (Flip charts appendix 2.). I divided the team into three groups and ensured there was a child care expert from the children and families team in each group in an effort to help with questions and concerns that were raised. In my opinion within criminal justice we have always seen child protection issues to belong to children and families and although we have made referrals we have not carried out an initial assessment but left it instead to the so called experts to decide if the child was either in need or at risk, perhaps an opt out clause for criminal justice. GOPR and GIRFEC have made it very clear that it is everyone’s responsibility to make sure that children are protected. When presenting the information to the team I tried to take into account the ways other people receive information and their fears and apprehension regarding change and the uncertainty change brings. Ref 3 Kelly’s advice is simple: spend time understanding the needs and expectations of the audience and deliver a message that will stick by ensuring that the content and delivery are compatible and, naturally, relevant to that audience” I also acknowledged that the work previously done by long standing members of the organisation was of value and had been an important part of looking at a new way ahead, learning from the past and developing new and improved strategies from what had gone before taking account of lessons learned from previous dealings with child protection whereby omissions and lack of intervention may have led to negative outcomes as raised in the Kennedy Mc Farlane case and encompassing the good practice as a positive way forward. At the end of the session I initiated a feedback session to check with the attendees their opinions. (Appendix 3) Most members of the team said they felt that the session was informative and useful, current and relevant. They felt it was good to understand that all the questions had not yet been fully answered and that there was a role for them to play. The team said that they felt they were part of the process rather than it being dictated to them even though it is a strategy that has to be implemented stating I had left them feeling empowered and included in driving the necessary change. However, there were concerns raised about the lack of coherent information from those in charge of GOPR and issues about the time implications and the need for the work to be more than just lip service which would only fuel negativity towards change. From the briefing and working session for the whole team, a small working party led by myself engaged in exploring the written protocol which would facilitate the process which would enable criminal justice social workers to implement the GOPR strategy in a meaningful way. This working party assessed the information that came from the whole team and began to devise a way forward. The members of staff involved with the working group were those who validated the benefits of GOPR and understood what was needed. There enthusiasm for the project was useful in ensuring that we explored fully how to implement the change. I was also aware that there were members of the team who would try to resist the change and who were voting with their feet. I know that if I am to implement GOPR effectively then I need to enable those members of the team to participate fully, and to help them understand the bigger picture and their role within it. I therefore persuaded them to become a part of the working group which reluctantly they did. This gave them opportunity to address issues and for the group to explore obstacles to change to ensure the effective development of the project and be inclusive. Once the working group met and was established every member had their own tasks to do. It was with some surprise that those who had seemed most disengaged from the process were asking questions and carrying out their work meticulously and on time. Perhaps it proves the point that being inclusive and supporting people through change is considerably more effective than dictating change which merely leads to resistance. Other members of the working party who initially appeared to be the champions were not as committed as first appeared perhaps because they were used to being prescriptive and in control already identified as a negative factor in engineering a smooth transition. As with all change it takes time for the changes to become an established part of routine. References 1. Bridges William (2003) Managing Transitions Making the most of Change Nicholas Brealey Publishing London ISBN 13 978-1-85788-341-1 Page 41 2 Crainer Stuart (1997) Ultimate Book of Business Quotations Capstone ISBN 1-900961-29-6 Page 46 3 Maurik John van (2001) Writers on Leadership Penguin Business ISBN 0-14-029305-1 Page 152 Bibliography Protecting Children in Dumfries and Galloway (May 2007) Social Work Services Child Protection Procedures Hidden Harm-(2004) Scottish Executive Response to the Report of the Inquiry by the Advisory on the Misuse of Drugs Scottish Executive Bridges William (2003) Managing Transitions Making the most of Change Nicholas Brealey Publishing London ISBN 13 978-1-85788-341-1 Adams Roberts, Dominelli Lena and Payne Malcolm (2002) Critical Practise in Social Work Palgrave Publishers Ltd.ISBN 0-333-92553-X Scottish Executive 2006 Report of the 21st Century Social Work Review-Changing lives Edinburgh, Scottish Executive ISBN 0-7559-4824-6 Adams Roberts, Dominelli Lena and Payne Malcolm (2002) Themes, Issues and Critical Debates Second Edition Palgrave Publisher ISBN 0-333-98593-1 Robbins Anthony (1991) Awaken the Giant Within Pocket Books ISBN 0-7434-0938-8 Blanchard Ken, Bowles Sheldon (2002) High Five Harper Collins Business ISBN 0-00-710822-2 Blanchard Kenneth and Johnson Spencer (1996) The one minute Manager Haper Collins Business ISBN 0-00-710792-7 Crainer Stuart (1997) Ultimate Book of Business Quotations Capstone ISBN 1-900961-29-6 Lippit G. L. “Coping with Change”Management World, 2 August 1974 pp9-11. Maurik John van (2001) Writers on Leadership Penguin Business ISBN 0-14-029305-1 Barger Nancy J. Kirby Linda K Introduction to Type and Change CPP, Inc