Methodologies
This section contains information on all the service improvement methodologies that we use.Click on the link for each methodology to find out what they are used for, when they can be used, how they work, examples of where they have been used in the past and the supporting materials that are available.
The details about each methodology and supporting materials are held on an external website called the Knowledge Community that is managed by CSIP.
"Action learning involves working on real problems, focusing on learning and actually implementing solutions" (IFALC, 2005). It is a process of inquiry, where people explore issues and problems with people in their set (group). They use deep listening and questioning skills to support and challenge one another, to decide on actions to take, learning from that action, reflecting and reframing to take further action.
Appreciative inquiry (the art of asking positive questions)
Appreciative inquiry is an approach that was developed in the 1980s by Dr. David Cooperrider for organisational change and change management.
Changing workforce programme: toolkit for local change
The toolkit for local change helps staff and organisations think about how service improvements could be achieved by reviewing staff skills and the allocation of tasks leading to role redesign.
A collaborative is a process for bringing about change by supporting teams to try out small changes to improve services. Working on a set of standards or 'change ideas' produced by an invited stakeholder reference panel all teams meet at a series of learning session workshops, usually over the course of a year, in order to compare experiences and measure whether the changes have resulted in positive outcomes.
Effective team working and leadership (ETL) programme
The effective teamworking and leadership programme is a powerful tool for local whole systems development aimed at improving team working and leadership.
Human dimensions of change (including valuing team diversity)
Human dimensions of change (HDC) focuses on the human diversity in change management, that is how people respond to change. It focuses on encouraging teams to value their diversity by understanding personal styles, understanding individual responses to change in the context of working in a team and exploring the complex responses to change in environments.
Ladder of citizen participation
The ladder of citizen participation is a model used to examine degrees of involvement of participation. It can therefore be used to explore degrees of involvement of people who use services and the people that support them.
Lean thinking is a methodology used to streamline processes in a system, and eliminate waste (such as time and resources) by focusing on the values of its practices to the people that use them.
Understanding the demand on your service and the capacity of that service to meet the demand is essential to redesign. It is important that this is considered in the context of redesign work and at the right stage of any redesign project.
Model for improvement and the PDSA cycle
The model for improvement is a framework that is used for developing, testing and implementing changes that lead to improvements.
Process mapping is a technique that is used to help teams to understand how whole services work in order to identify where to start making improvements that will have the biggest impact for people who use their services.
Project management is a process that should ensure an effective completion of a designed piece of work.
RAID (Review, Agree, Implement and Demonstrate) is a change model used for making service improvements across whole systems. CSIP runs a programme, using the RAID model, with various teams, to enable them to make changes to their services, giving them the support that they need to do so.
Root cause analysis (RCA) is a retrospective review of an incident affecting the safety of a person that uses services, in order to identify what, how and why it happened. The analysis is then used to identify areas for change, recommendations and sustainable solutions, to help minimise the reoccurrence of the incident type in the future.
Six Sigma is a methodology to reduce variation, which is data driven and customer focused. It is based on a five-step improvement model, called the DMAIC model (Define, Measure, Analyse, Improve and Control).
Six thinking hats is a tool that was developed by Edward De Bono and is used to encourage creative thinking and help problem solving and decision-making.
Statistical process control (SPC) is a method of organising data to help understand and manage variation in processes.
Working with groups - Honey and Mumford learning styles
Peter Honey and Alan Mumford identified four main learning style preferences that people have, activists, reflectors, theorists, pragmatists, and learning activities that suit each style. Individuals and teams can be encouraged to explore their preferred learning style, to help them identify ways of learning that are suitable to themselves.