It promised to be "dynamic and innovative" and the Public Service Improvement Framework (PSIF) Facilitation Skills event more than lived up to this billing as delegates from all over Scotland unanimously declared it a huge success.
Organised and facilitated by the Improvement Service's Sarah Gadsden, PSIF Director, and Jane O'Donnell, PSIF Project Manager, the event, held at COSLA's Edinburgh offices on Wednesday, April 28, was attended by PSIF facilitators from across the country and designed around delegates' needs, taking feedback from the annual PSIF review into consideration.
From start to finish, it was structured in a way that provided PSIF facilitators with the answers to many of the issues and challenges they face on a daily basis. Intriguingly, this was all achieved through a programme that broke from tradition and followed a groundbreaking format, with a series of modern, innovative workshops.
The role of experienced facilitators from various local authorities also proved crucial, as they were asked to share their own knowledge with the wider group throughout the event and give feedback on issues that fellow PSIF facilitators wanted guidance on.
The event started with delegates introducing themselves one by one, using the 'mexican wave' technique. They then took part in a 'goldfish bowl' exercise, focusing on the challenges faced when facilitating a PSIF assessment.
With chairs set out in concentric circles, only those sitting in the middle – the goldfish bowl – were allowed to speak on discussion topics, meaning that delegates were constantly swapping positions to take part in the lively debate that ensued.
A 'Sticky Note' exercise followed as delegates wrote down the main challenges they faced. These issues were grouped accordingly for further consideration by the Improvement Service PSIF team and were as follows:
- improving facilitation skills and behaviours
- understanding of RADAR and scoring
- managing the time commitment - both personally and corporately
- getting buy-in from teams and managers
- keeping the overall objectives of PSIF in mind
- acting to clarify the language and duplication in the framework
- limiting the influence of managers over teams during assessment
- identifying and improving efficiencies
- ensuring that improvements are carried out and link to wider transformation and change programmes
Delegates then split into two groups for a 'speed dating' exercise, which saw the more experienced facilitators spend individual five-minute periods chatting to a variety of delegates – imparting knowledge, offering advice and learning from their differing experiences. After each five-minute interval, delegates changed places.
After lunch, four of the more experienced facilitators – Rebecca Kelly and Jude MacTaggart from West Lothian Council, Rose Hetman from Clackmannanshire Council and Margaret Young from the City of Edinburgh Council – made up a panel for a plenary session to discuss the challenges identified earlier in the day.
In total, 16 different public sector organisations using PSIF were represented at the event, which finished with a session on how best to evaluate facilitation.
A spokesperson for the PSIF Partnership said: "We are fully committed to supporting our colleagues in their roles as facilitators for PSIF assessments. When this requirement was identified at our review event in December 2009, the PSIF Operational Board wanted to really address the problem and so a tailored event around this theme was scheduled.
"By using more dynamic and interactive methods to raise and respond to the issues on the day, we ensured all delegates had a chance to actively shape and influence how the Partnership will support facilitators from now on.
"We would like to thank all our colleagues who attended on the day and played such an important part in the activities. We will use the information and ideas from the event to take forward tailored support sessions over the next few months and will involve all our partners in the changes which now need to take place."
More information
For more information on PSIF, see our PSIF page.
