As leaders facing today’s complex challenges how do you navigate this ambiguous landscape? We’ve all heard that collectively we can be a greater sum than our original parts, but how do we work to maximise these connections within and across health and care systems. And can we benefit from having support and space to think creatively about our approach to this?
Sometimes we get it right, but often we can see the problem but need space and collaboration to consider and shape it using different perspectives to produce something of value. Systems convening approaches can help give us an action plan and ideas for a way forward.
Systems conveners look at the social landscape in which they operate, in this case health and care, and see unrealised potential that could come from working together across traditional organisational and sector boundaries. They work to open spaces for new kinds of conversations between people on different sides of a boundary.
In our new health and care landscape, Integrated Care Partnerships (ICP) are coming together to transform the way that the health and care systems work together. They strive to ensure more joined up ways of working for the benefit of their local citizens and communities so that they can understand and respond better to the specific needs of their populations. These goals are currently being worked up into Integrated Care Board (ICB) Joint Forward Plans, five-year plans that will articulate how local health and wellbeing strategies and integrated care strategies will deliver joined up approaches in practice. These plans then need to be implemented and this will only be achieved by people working collaboratively. Taking a system convening approach can strongly support this collaboration.
I attended a masterclass recently where we heard Bev and Etienne Wenger-Trayner outline their theories and practices relating to Systems Convening. For me, it has given me better language to describe and articulate what I’ve done for the majority of my career – work with people to make a difference by being both a systems convener i.e. recognising the need to draw people together and also hosting and facilitating those discussions in a transformational context.
Recently, SCW used an Art of Hosting approach to create the space, time and conditions for system leaders to work together to develop a clear sense of purpose and ways of working for the delivery of integrated children and young people’s (CYP) care across a particular geographical area. The ICB CYP Transformation Lead was the systems convener who recognised that members of the CYP Board needed this micro-intervention to enhance the relationships of people newly brought together. Using this innovative approach, they would be able to collectively build their relationships to provide strategic direction and oversight of the delivery of integrated social and health care for CYP across the ICP. Membership included Directors of Children’s Services, Director of Public Health, NHS CYP commissioners and Executive leads including Medical, Nursing and Strategy & Transformation Directors.
Using a multi-disciplinary team approach our facilitation, organisational development and CYP subject matter experts worked in partnership with the ICB CYP Transformation Lead to design an appropriate structure and set of exercises for the session. These were based around predesigned significant questions which ensured that facilitated conversations helped to maximise the collective intelligence and to integrate and use the diversity of the group.
The sessions provided a space that was a psychologically safe environment for senior leaders to work together and to be able to build emotional connections between board members. Together they created:
- A shared set of principles and practices as to how these would be demonstrated and how they would hold each other to account during their work together
- A co-created purpose statement for the CYP board
- An action plan that included widening board membership and identified the next focus item and ”big questions” needing deeper discussion
- Trusted relationships
Delegates reported the impact and value of this approach had:
- Brought collective clarity, learning and deeper insights into colleagues’ individual and collective stories, perspectives and narratives
- Enabled the collective sense making of the CYP environment and drivers
- Provided space for senior leaders to think about and discuss strategic issues
- Enabled collective agreement on the need to focus on the best use of resources and the appropriate use of whole system solutions in balance with local needs
- Reiterated the strategic importance and focus for ensuring CYP and families are supported to start and live well
I was certainly inspired by the collective passion, purpose, and presence that the Art of Hosting approaches enabled. Significantly, delegates found it a refreshing way to use the space and time effectively to achieve an outcome they found of value – both tangible in the form of outputs but also the intangible value of hearts, minds, and behaviours.
If you would like to hear more or think these approaches can benefit your teams and systems then please get in touch either with myself Associate Director Strategy & Transformation, SCW Lead Healthy Childhood, Maternal & Women’s Health
