In their article ‘Developing neighbourhood health through trust, mentorship and collaborative learning’ David Colin-Thome and James Kingsland write “Perhaps the greatest lesson emerging so far is that successful neighbourhood health is fundamentally relational rather than structural”. This article considers learning from PCC’s leadership and coaching programmes summarising top tips for developing effective collaboration.
In their article ‘Developing neighbourhood health through trust, mentorship and collaborative learning’ David Colin-Thome and James Kingsland write “Perhaps the greatest lesson emerging so far is that successful neighbourhood health is fundamentally relational rather than structural”, and this is backed up by what we hear in PCC’s work coaching leaders. In coaching we’re hearing that in lieu of clarity and structure, there’s a growing interest in the development of psychological safety, in how to build trust and how to gain an understanding of the shared purpose in collaborative working. Despite the ongoing swirl of uncertainty as new teams are only just now beginning to get to know each other and their remit, or rather because of that swirl of uncertainty there’s a realisation that the priority is building relationships, and fast.
There is no definitive text book that outlines how to further develop neighbourhood relationships and as Rachel Stead managing director of South Sefton PCN recently wrote, “sometimes it’s the lack of rules and targets that allows freedom to think and that gives permission to reach out and have conversations.”
Whatever the pathway or service development, we might want to think more broadly about who we link with. Is it the same team or person that we have always worked with? Or could there be another agency or individual with as much, or more to contribute. Thinking beyond what we know and what we’ve always done doesn’t take much additional time, it may just mean we need to be brave and branch out. As well as finding out who has the previous experience, ask who has a special interest and the enthusiasm (they may not be one and the same). There will be other stakeholders who can offer expertise and service users who can share experience. Others in the neighbourhood may have useful contacts to share in this area already, such as police or education.
So, in its simplest forms collaboration is about conversations. Here are some ideas for making those conversations effective:
- Be clear and honest about why you are interested in working with them, the shared purpose
- Talk to people, ask open questions and listen to their perspectives and experience.
- Beware of too much off-putting formality and unnecessary jargon which can present as barriers.
- Look beyond your own and talk to other neighbourhoods – they may not be working on the same issue but will be tackling similar things and may have different approaches to share.
- Consider who is best from your team to pick up this area of relationship building, perhaps because of their personal style, their confidence or relevant experience (experience in building relationships or in the subject matter)
PCC offers a new development programme and action learning sets which focus on the leadership behaviours required to build successful neighbourhood relationships, providing the space to think creatively and share challenges and experiences. Our one to one coaching can support you in building the confidence to work differently across the neighbourhood.
You can find out more on our website https://pcc-cic.org.uk/neighbourhood-health/ or by getting in touch helen.ellis@pcc.nhs.uk.
