KUP

Key 3 – Small Group Activities

For First Line Employees

Small group activities (SGA) are essential for quality assurance (QA) They are tools for ensuring employees use all the resources that are available to them. They use the experts that have hands on experience to solve problems or obtain goals that are closer/ or more relatable to staff in the SGA. These differ from the improvement events were all staff are included and the problems or subjects addressed are too big to be done in a SGA.

Important: These are not to be used as extensions to the chain of command or a way of ensuring orders are carried out.

The goal of the SGA is to empower staff to solve their own problems or goals which add to the success of the practice.

Level 1

At level 1 there is no desire or the need felt to have SGA. Alternatively there are SGAs but they only serve as an extension of management or micromanagement. There is little trust or co-operation in the team.

  • Create a formal suggestion form. Staff are encouraged to use these to record daily frustrations.
    • The form should be easy to use.
    • Staff should be fully informed how to use and what the SGA’s are for. The benefits must be highlighted.
  • Create a You said we Did board. This is put up in a staff room or somewhere all the staff will see it on a day to day basis. If the practice is not of a sufficient size, more than one board will be needed.
    • The board has 2 sides “You Said” and “We Did”
    • Each time an item has been discussed and has a tangible outcome it is put on the board. Ideally the member of staff who made the suggestion should put it on the board.
    • If there is an aversion from staff to write a suggestion, and there is a significant risk their input will be lost. Write the suggestion with the member of staff or find some other method of recording/ their ideas.
    • All ideas should be discussed.
    • No Ideas should be ridiculed. There are no stupid questions or ideas only differing perspectives.
    • Encourage both performance and team working suggestions.

Level 2

  • Hold huddles, once or twice a week. Huddles are a specific form of SGA that differ from SGA in that they encompass all levels of staff. See the section on huddles page for more details.
  • Outcomes from the huddles are placed onto the the you said we did board.
  • Introduce the idea SGA to the front line staff, such as reception, care navigators and care co-coordinators.
  • Assign responsibility to staff to organise and facilitate SGAs.
  • Assess if training is needed for those assigned responsibility. Provide any required training
  • Identify and supply any resources required.
  • Care should be taken that the SGA are not set up too quickly before all the resources and strategies are in place to make them a success.
  • Actively engage with staff to encourage them to make suggestions and if suggestions have been rejected in the past, how they could be reworked. Provide guidance, including written guidance, on how to make successful suggestions.
  • Ensure all staff know how the SGAs function.
  • Ensure suggestion forms are simple.

Level 3

At level 3 SGA’s have started but staff do not see the benefits that come from them. Staff are only going through the motions. There may be as little as once suggestion per month.

  • Suggestions increase and are being submitted to at least three per month. Any less than this implies there is stagnation and steps should be taken to promote the process. It is important that staff do not feel forced to engage. If forced this will have an opposite effect and could make the situation worse.
  • Show how they can be a dynamic process to increase productivity or improve the conditions of the staff taking part. (if needed create examples where a small change has a large positive impact)
  • SGAs’ take place in almost all circumstances. It should be clear that an SGA is missed only in the most extreme circumstances.
  • Ensure facilitators of the SGAs’ have the resources to make them a success.
  • Give practical training in PPORGP
  • Stress the achievements from working together. Advertise them on a notice board where staff will see them.
  • Create social events where staff can relax and not talk about work. These should include all levels of the practice, both clinical and administrative. These events increase bonds and understanding between the team. This is the foundation that glues the team together. Ideally these should happen after hours. If this is not possible, use the huddles (increasing their number if needed) to talk about non work related topics. Alternatively have lunches were food is brought in for the staff to enjoy and relax.
  • The team should be encouraged to look out for one another and provide support if they see a member of the team struggling.
  • Individual goals should be reconciled with the practices goals. The practice should support the individual with their goals and the individual, in-turn, supports the practice with it’s goals.
  • Meetings in working hours should be short and frequent.
  • Managers should attend after hours meetings.

Level 4

At level 4 staff actively engage with the SGA process and each member of staff is submitting suggestions (at least a couple of times a month). The enthusiasm from these meetings spills into the every day work.

  • Give the SGA a team nickname (or names if there is more than one group)
  • Groups have a well defined purpose, rules and methods. These are chosen by the group and not by management. There may be differing groups with differing goals.
  • There should be awards for innovation that can be used at the groups discretion, e.g paid for social events or other activities.
  • Include, invite members of staff be they clinical or higher administration to sit in on activities when appropriate.
  • Managers, whilst not interfering with SGAs’ should not ignore them. A healthy interest encourages the group. Providing support and advice
  • There should be monthly update meeting where SGAs’ improvements can be highlighted and discussed. This discussion includes how the SGAs’ can be improved upon. The goal of the improvements should be to improve the success and the moral of the groups members.
  • The notice board where the improvements are reported should also have a section where management can state how they feel the groups are working. Positive feedback ensures the groups continue working well.
  • Management do not wait until the group start to falter before giving help.
  • Facilitators evaluate the merits of the groups work and report this to management and place this on the board. These merits can be tangible outcomes e.g work hours saved. Note these merits should be displayed as simple as possible.

Level 5

  • Employees are making 5 suggestions per month.
  • SGA’s are very active.
  • The group feels safe to engage and do engage in SGAs’ at every stage.
  • All members are achieving personal goals at the same time as the practice is achieving its goals.