In Conversation with real people – Engagement

• We will continue to build our connections across the NHS, Local Authorities, Integration Joint Authorities, Social Care, Third & Charity Sectors, and the wider Public Sector – in support of developing a more integrated approach to learning & development as well as fostering the kind of cross-system collaborative working envisaged in the National Performance Framework.

• We will continue to nurture diverse ways for people in leadership roles and those with a potential interest in leadership to connect with each other across the country – for support, challenge and sharing learning through: – broadening the Project Lift digital presence; – providing a diverse range of events and gatherings; and, – continued connections with other networks and communities.

In the last year we have:

• worked closely with social care contacts, bringing them into our team as regular collaborators and valued team members
• worked with our community partners to extend our reach across the voluntary and third sector opening communication channels, sharing development and community opportunities and collaborating with speakers in our events and programmes
• we have walked with the talent, that is those who have who have come through career conversations and supported them to extend the ethos in their own contexts of self, team and system
• we have held many roles in engagement –  led conference sessions, provided speakers, led workshops, facilitated teams, engaged with professional groups, acted as mentors, coaches and critical friends – all as Project Lift.  See our On Tour page for more details
• we have run communication engagement through the website, the app and evolving regular communications, always listening to what responses were provided and building these into our thinking – see our Spotlight On… mailings brought in during the pandemic where we have connection with those looking for a lighter touch in communication – our lively twitter account often providing the medium for this.
• engagement for all – we have worked with roles from facilities to Chief Executives, from nurses and doctors to project managers and designers, from trainees to those preparing for retirement. You can see some of this from the engagement in our Twitter account.

And we have loved working with the diversity of thought, experience and potential.

We have:

• provided
  • ethos cards,
  • powerpoint presentations,
  • workshop designs,
  • merchandise

to people in the system running their own events

• Designed, produced and delivered 250 packs of 10 ‘Your Awesome’ postcards to the system and made these digitally available to send – an extensible way to show gratitude, compassion and care from anyone in any role to anyone in any role, encouraging individual agency and offering the tools for people to do it for themselves  #sendittosayit

• We have only just scratched the surface in the social care sectors and engaging with this part of the health and social care landscape has offered opportunities, learning and challenges.  We recognise the significant importance and value that leaders at every level in these sectors add to health outcomes and good experiences of care and support and we are committed to doing much more to engage and raise awareness of what Project Lift can do.  We received the feedback that our website and communications were often very NHS orientated and we have worked hard with contacts within social care to adapt our language, voice and messaging to be more inclusive. 
• We have been in real demand up and down the country, in different networks, settings, locally, regionally and nationally.  With demand likely to always increase we want to create connections and extensible offers of support that will be pragmatic and adoptable by anyone. 
• We have learned that sometimes the best thing we can do is get out of the way.  When the pandemic hit, we spent the first few weeks creating space for those engaged with us, holding back our regular activities and listening to what different groups where saying.  Some wanted more support, some wanted space and some wanted a space to connect with others in our communities and cohorts.  Our Coronavirus Resources site brought relevant resources into one easy page and offered a weekly sort look at what was new, popular and something lighthearted.  From PPE guidance to how to cut hair at home, we were encouraged and often surprised and what what people responded to. As the phases of pandemic moved on, we listened to the change in mood, tone and needs and adapted to step away from pandemic language to more recognisable Project Lift ‘BAU’ related activity and comms. This was received well and has strengthened our resolve to be always listening.

• COVID-19 stopped us in our plans half way through what we were doing to support our community members to connect, exchange, learn and come together.  Having secured a community engagement series with our technical partners Kaleidoscope UK which would see us delivering four face to face events up and down the country, alongside two webinars.  We did host two excellent face to face events in both Edinburgh and Glasgow on ‘Surviving the System’ and ‘Leaders as all Levels’, welcoming rich and diverse participation from across the health and social care sectors.  We were also delighted to have guest speakers along who really brought these sessions alive with lived experiences and a guiding light to good leadership in practice. We have learned that diversity within guest contributors and speakers is key to bringing a richness in the conversation and also more diversity in those who attend.
• We have since turned around a refocused and energised plan for moving forward for the next year, based on topics and conversations, hosted digitally for the foreseeable future. We are really excited about this as a fabulous opportunity to listen in, amplify and curate our collective and shared sense of what good leadership looks like and how we can all play our part in continually learning and developing our approaches to leading, whoever we are.

• Tuning in – recovery phase from COVID 19 – how can we play our part in helping the system to learn the lessons of collective leadership…
• We have extended our contract with Kaleidoscope UK, our communities supplier to enable more digital events over the rest of 20/21.
• We have asked and you have responded – #cafeteriatours #staffroom gigs.  With over 15 already in the pipeline all over Scotland these will be fabulous opportunities to meet people ‘where they are at’ to raise awareness of Project Lift. This was a plan for 2020 and is currently on hold till post phase 4 of the pandemic – the response to this was popular and will be picked up again. It has high potential to be extensible for anyone to lead their own tours in their context
• We intend to make the most of the potential value of hosted conversations, connecting and enabling community and individual conversations with the opportunity to offer leaders at all levels from across the full health and social care landscape.  Initial conversations, plans and feedback indicate there an appetite and an excitement to discuss a range of ideas and experiences openly and with an intention of connection and learning. We want to do this well, do it properly to honour the contributions given and to set us up for whatever the next phase brings to health and social care.

• Continue to build connections, connectors, host spaces, contribute to existing networks using support where it is requested such as communications support, supporting the set up of new networks for professional or interest groups currently not provided for. 
• Continue to build on our social media presence on Twitter and Facebook utilising these and other digital events, especially in the context of the pandemic
• Connect more fully with feedback, conversations and analytics from our websites, mailing, social media and community events. We now have a more effective suite of qualitative and quantitative options open to us to help us listen to understand and engage both more widely and more deeply.
• We continue to keep connected with the 5 Nations Community of Practice around collective leadership where we have represented Scotland alongside colleagues from SSSC, Police Scotland and Scottish Government. We will host the next 5 Nations event in Edinburgh when restrictions allow and continue to support online events in the meantime.