Service Design, moving from Experiment to Prototype using A Systemic Approach
Continuing with the local government work using systems thinking to inform service design for the empty property service.
So, the ‘empty property’ team have now decided that there is very little in the current workflow that works, and there is much in the current service culture and way of working that is not good. Normally there is a stage of starting from where we are, bit not in this case. They have decided to come up with a completely new workflow, and whole design around it.
The overall plan
It is usually a bit much for any organisation to transform the whole service at once. So, we have created three iterations:
Iteration 1 — get a workflow in place that works, has measures attached to it, and the people in it are working in a way that is human as opposed to machine.
Iteration 2 — Work on those other services that are a part of the housing service, how tenants move in, who moves in, how they get help when they are struggling. This will also involve developing the Voids team to develop a culture of Continuous Improvement, and to start optimising the new flow.
Iteration 3 — A look at the contractors that actually do the work in the properties, and truly look at the complete service end to end.
How we Start
The first step is to consolidate the learning from the Experiment. As we have decided to start from scratch, this step is mainly about preparing for the prototype.
The team learning from the experiment has been profound. In fact, they have realised that if they had created the new flow without doing the experiment, they would have created something far less than it should be. The experiment consisted of taking 10 properties through end to end. And most of them suffered from considerable delays and problems — but they were all learning for the team.
Preparation activities for Prototype are:
- Create all the new forms together with those who do the front line work.
- Create the new flow with those who do the work, and those affected by the workflow.
- Design and purchase any equipment needed (key locks)
- Create the data capture, storage, and visual methods. An important point to note here is that this is almost always non-digital based. The exception here is the visual tracking is going to be based on a common and accessible spreadsheet.
- Engage the managers so that they own and take this forward. This should have been designed in from the start but there have been very good reasons why this has not happened yet.
The admin person, Autumn, from the Voids team has been leading this work. That is the most junior person in the department! She has been working as Admin for five years, and has transformed herself in the last six weeks into a lead and the central point for this Voids work.
The Detail
We cheated a little, we went to visit another local authority to to see how they do Voids, and the team came back with some really good ideas. In particular how to manage keys and a great Voids tracker on Excel.
The team got together and came up with a new prototype flow, and this diagram is the beginning of that flow.
And you can see that it is lacking in detail, so that the staff will eventually succumb to one of the learning points we had — that the flow needs to be understood by everyone, and it needs to be error proof. The value in this flow is that it is theirs, and expresses their current view of how to create a workflow.
Iterative
The second version, done a day later, was created after they recognised that they needed a greater level of detail. The importance of an iterative and learning approach is core to this, and underlies the main method by which the team learn and how they become robust.
And now they have taken several other teams through it, despite the fact htat it changes almost every day.
The Result
The department silo thinking and resistance has disappeared — when we engaged other departments and asked them for the feedback. And because it has been front line people asking the questions.
The flow detail is robust — as I have shown them how to error-proof the workflow, and account for people going off sick, having one central place for the information, and to design it end to end.
The workflow will work around any property and tenant — one of the key principles is that the design is outside-in, designed from the need of the property and the tenants.
The team will make it work — because the Director has given full authority for the team to design this, and Autumn is leading this and has a major say in how this develops. She will also ensure everyone will align themselves to each Void by her coordination.
Communication & Engagement
The team (two part time people — one from the up front service of housing management and the other from improvement, and one full time coordinator). They give ‘show and tells’ every week at the same time to whoever wants to. They are stand ups, after the first one created the wrong meeting like environment. We have had the Chief Exec there, Directors and elected members. The scrutiny committee were oringally very negative towards the resource and time put towards this team (especially after I said that there would be no reports wriiten for them!). But after several show and tells, the committee are now very positive and encouraging of the work.
The engagement from other staff is 95% positive and engaging, primarily due to the show and tells. They only last up to 40 minutes.
Plan for Prototype — Enhanced by Systems Thinking
The plan is for the Prototype to take around 3 months to run through, before we seek approval. The overall aspects of Prototype are in the sketch below, and demonstrates many of the diverse aspects that using a systems thinking lens can highlight in service design
Principles of Working — Derived from Systems Thinking Understanding
The way of behaving, focus, and drive has to be at the core of the new way of working, This is being achieved by something very simple. And although I have created an initial fundamental set earlier, I have now asked the team to come up with a set of principles that they want to become the norm, split into Team and Work, and this is what they are:
The Customer — Outside-in perspective and Purpose
Certainly one of the most fundamental systems thinking insights for service design comes from aligning to the purpose of the service. It allows departments and stakeholders to banish their individual sub-optimal focus, and join in a common purpose. The only real rule is that the purpose must be derived from an outside-in perspective if it is to be focused on the right thing — the custoemr or user. I this case the team have come up with the customer, and they are the are tenant, and the property itself. It will allow the voids coordinator to focus primarily on the property and getting it into a good condition. And it will allow the Housing Tenancy team to focus primarily on the new tenant. And they will both have a clear view of each other.
