Local government agency

The context

Service delivery for young people has over recent years been beset by high profile failures, created in part by the number of agencies involved and the lack of effective coordination between providers. The Government’s response has been to create an Integrated Service that will span all the current providers and initiatives. This fundamental restructure will affect all current service providers and will result in profound changes to the way people in those services work.

The need

To help the Department’s managers and leaders address the changes and to understand the implications of these changes on them as a team, as individuals and as a department.

The solution

A two day, residential offsite designed to create the climate and the opportunity to take stock of their current situation and to celebrate their achievements. This included:

• understanding the issues they faced as a team and as individuals to identify how they could become even more effective
• mapping of the transition process from the team's perspective and those of all their key stakeholders
• exploring the impact of change on the motivation and behaviour of individuals
• recognising how individuals were feeling about the changes and what support they needed from each other
• undertaking a visual planning process for leading the department through the impending changes

The outcome

Greater team cohesion and an understanding of the way forward. Opportunities were identified to pilot new forms of service provision across the county. The management team also identified and addressed changes to its behaviour and ways of working that would help it to sustain its energy and direction through the turbulent times ahead.