Not
quite 101 ways but there are certainly many benefits and ways to use one page
profiles!
We've
talked in our earlier blog entries about the importance of the one page profile
- in our personalisation journey project team in November, the opening round
asked everyone to tell the group one of the most important aspects of how to
work well with them, so that other members of the project team could support
each other.
We've
also asked other people in the organisation to let us know their experiences of
using the one page profiles - "She
does not feel she knows the staff team as well as she used to, and would like
to find ways of improving this."
When
we first introduced the one page profile it was clear to see how useful they
could be in sharing important information about people in a succinct and
meaningful way.
A
one page profile tells us
about the person. It tells us
what others like and admire about the person; what is important to them and how
to support them well. This simple
inclusive approach to completing a one page profile appealed to us and it was
agreed that we would use them initially when working with families and people
with learning disabilities with individual budgets paying particular attention
to how we might match people with the right support staff. Find out about our book, Making it Personal for Everyone
We started to think about how we might introduce one page
profiles to people who we supported across the organisation. This came at a
time when the organisation was undertaking a review of many of its systems and
processes and a time of changing regulation within social care. In response to the changing demands and
requirements of the internal and external environment we developed Dimensions
Standards. These Standards would ensure
not only regulatory compliance but make it clear that best practice approaches
would also be a fundamental requirement of the organisation. The one page
profile was seen as one of these requirements.
As we progressed on our journey towards personalising
services and we became more familiar with the benefits of having a one page
profile we extended the use to include all staff across the organisation and
the Board of Management. Making it Personal for Everyone
We
kept the implementation under review and learnt along the way how best to
introduce them and the need to be clear with the instructions and
expectations. We developed a
standardised template, ‘top tips’ for staff to follow and a brochure for
guidance.
The senior management team set the benchmark by completing
their one page profiles and making them publicly available to all here on our website: Our board
Here are some of the ways we
use One Page Profiles:
Recruitment and selection
Shortlisted
candidates are sent our one page profile template and ‘top tips’,
asked to follow the guidance and to bring the completed one page profile
along to the interview. Additionally we
use one page profiles to best match people and teams.
Performance management
Used
in both supervisions and appraisals to ensure staff are being supported
properly and to make sure we know what is important to people. We discuss whether anything needs to change.
Learning and development, project work
and teams
The
one page profile can be used in a number of ways in this area. For example, team building and induction. In
both team building and induction the one page profile is used to ensure that
team/individuals are all familiar with each other, know what is important to
each other and how best to support each other. This reduces the chances of potential conflict
as colleagues understand each other better.
Additionally
they can be used to inform team plans and project plans so everyone is clear
about each persons role.
Introductions
We
use the one page profiles to introduce people to each other within the
organisation and outside the organisation. People are encouraged to send one
page profiles prior to meeting individuals, teams, families or external
bodies. We have found that they are a
good way of sharing information about each other before meeting and putting a
face to a name.
We also request others to
complete one page profiles before meeting with us. For example, when a number of people we
support met with the Department of Health we requested that one page profiles
were completed by the ministers.
It
is not an exhaustive list and we are discovering more and more ways to use the
one page profile all the time - 102 ways perhaps....?!
