Improvement events should follow the following guidelines.

Area of focus

Suggestions for the area of focus should be planned in advance. The sources can be from significant events, experiences or information from similar orgnaistions where it is felt can be implemented here. It is strongly recommended that staff are encouraged to find problems as problems are opportunities to grow. These can be put into a suggestion box and discussed at a smaller meeting first to ascertain the initial relevance and scope of area highlighted.

Controlling Scope

The scope of the targeted area for improvement should be strictly controlled. If scope is not controlled then number of tasks from the event are too much to manage. This must be assessed before the event and at the beginning of an event. The point of this process is to implement small, constant improvements.

Before the event.

Assess the size and impact of the changes, what other areas will it affect. Will any changes impact or undo improvements made in other areas. If an area is too large it can be focused further, breaking a problem, process down into a more manageable area.

At the beginning of the event

When the process is being mapped out, the size of the changes or challenges should be kept in mind. The facilitator of the meeting should suggest when the area of the focus is too large and should be focused further to ensure success.

Ensure the right staff are at the event.

Events must have a broad mix of staff from differing responsibilities. Firstly this helps those who are not directly affected by the focus of the event, increase there understanding of the issues faced by others at the practice. It increases not only empathy but can bring fresh ideas.

It is important that experts in the area of focus are there. There is no point attempting to change a process without those who currently perform that process. The danger being that there will be no buy in to the new process or equally important, that the expert will instantly see flaws in the new process. This would mean the event being a wasted opportunity.

A Plan is not a Strategy

It is important to realise that if changes are planned, it does not mean they will happen. Any changes must include a strategy to create the environment to guarantee the plans success.

It is like deciding to plan to start baking. You create a plan and in your enthusiasm you by the equipment you need and even the basic ingredients. However, you fail to continue baking once the initial ingredients are used up as you keep forgetting to buy these when you go to the shops. A strategy would be to always have a routine shopping list which you review every time you shop so that without fail you have all you need to bake.

Format of the event

The event is broken down into the following:

• Introduction into the area of focus. What are the goals of the improvement, what is envisioned an improvement would look like?
• Map the process, either how it is or how it should be. If there are disagreement or lack of progress, the area of focus should be reviewed and if required focused further. All staff should be encouraged to engage. This can be asking clarifying questions or suggesting improvements.
• Actions and changes from the current process should be highlighted and recorded.
• Once the process has been mapped. It is important to decide what the strategy is to implement the improvements. This includes assigning responsibilities to staff and timeline of how and when changes will happen. Record any risks to implementing improvements and any disagreements or differing points of view (It is not important to record who thought what but only what significant views are).

After the event.

Until the changes identified at the event have been put in place. The progress should be reported at the beginning of the following events. Then if there are any issues can be reported by those staff responsible. These can be discussed, addressed and if need be amended/ rectified.

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Jane Forbes, janeforbesconsulting@outlook.com, who’s methodology provided the foundation of these events.