Our Way of Working: Values into Action

Resource Pack 1 - Tools to Generate Ideas

Tools to generate ideas

• Brainstorming

• Mind mapping

• Affinity diagrams

• Dot voting and priority matrix

• SCAMPER

• WWWWWH

• 5 Why’s

• Six thinking hats

Cycles of thinking

Divergent thinking: Expanding the list… purposefully looking for more… looking from a variety of directions

Convergent thinking: Reducing the list… looking to condense, summarise, or focus

D

C

D

C

Cycles of thinking

Perceived

Issue

C

C

C

C

C

C D

D

D

D

D

D

D

D

Reframed issue

or need

Criteria applied to

select a few ideas

A few proto-

types to test

Different ways

of looking at it

all

Lots of

creative ideas

and

approaches

Creative

refinement

and

combination

Some of the tools we will show you can also be used in regular meetings

To solve a problem

Mind mapping Brainstorming Fishbone Six thinking hats

To come up with a decision

Mind mapping

Affinity Diagrams Six thinking hats

To come up with ideas

Mind mapping

Brainstorming

Affinity Diagrams

Six thinking hats

Being creative to generate new ideas

Some common myths about generating new ideas… • If it ain’t broke don’t fix it.

In todays world, with constantly changing technology and new drugs being invented, it is imperative that new ways of accommodating them are adopted.

• Only creative people can come up with new ideas. It is only the people who are actually doing the work that know what would make a good idea.

• Good ideas are obvious from the outset. All new ideas are like fragile seeds that have to be nurtured to grow into youthful suggestions.

• If we’ve tried it before there is no point in considering it again As there have probably been many changes since you last tried things this way, it is worth considering it again.

• If it sounds stupid there is no point considering it. On the contrary, stupid ideas often lead to creative possibilities when they are discussed and built on.

Brainstorming – what is it?

• Brainstorming can help you to think up ideas without hasty judgments.

• Can be used during the initial generation of ideas and to get people involved.

• Works particularly well when solving people-related problems.

• Think first – should I be using brainstorming?.

Brainstorming – How to use it…

You should first establish the purpose and topic of each brainstorming session.

Everyone in the group then calls out their ideas spontaneously and they are written down to be analysed later.

Five key rules of brainstorming

1. All ideas are acceptable; judgement is ruled out until the process is complete

2. Freewheeling is welcome: the wilder the better. Humour triggers the right brain so this really helps to get original ideas flowing

3. Quantity counts at this stage, not quality

4. Build on the ideas put forward by others

5. Every person and every idea has equal worth

Brainstorming Things to remember… 1. Preparation. Make sure you have the right kit: flip charts, post-its, pens,

time, the right people in the room 2. Define the problem or the opportunity. Write up a statement describing

this, but be careful that it doesn't suggest a solution as this will hinder idea generation

3. Stand up, shift position, move around 4. Use nonlinear note taking methods - post-its are great 5. Aim for 20-30 ideas in 5-7 minutes 6. 100% participation is best e.g. all write on flip charts/post it notes 7. Giving people permission to freewheel doesn't necessarily mean they

have the learned skill to do so 8. You should not plan a brainstorming session if you already have

several solutions and all you want to do is to decide which one to use; this is best done by analysis

Here’s an example

Other ways to gather ideas from many people quickly…..

• Frame the problem and ask each person to write:

– x2 positive ideas on one sticky note

– x2 challenges / negative thoughts on another

• Then review the outputs.

• Tip: Use the dot voting or priority matrix to decide (we will cover these later).

Now we’ve got lot’s of ideas – what should we do next?

Affinity Diagrams How do I do it?

• Firstly, phrase the issue under discussion in a full sentence e.g. ‘Why are staff spending so much time on paperwork?'

• People then silently record their views on post-it notes. As a minimum, use a noun and a verb, ideally there should be four to seven words on each statement

• Randomly display the post-its. Without discussion, the group sorts the post-its into 5-10 groupings. If someone disagrees with a grouping, the post-it can be moved, but without discussion

• Next, create a summary or header card for each grouping to encapsulate the main theme through a rapid team consensus. Avoid one word headers

• Draw and record the finished diagram by connecting all the heading cards with their groupings

• Finally, review the result with the team and other key people (stakeholders).

Affinity Diagrams What do they look like?

Ward Manager

• Networking

• Competencies

focused

• look at skill mix

• Time protected

to develop

overview

People Cultural Organisational Processes

Ward Manager

• Local ownership

• Rotation

between

services

• Benchmarking –

allows debate

Ward Manager

• Workforce

planning tools

• Management by

one W/M

Matron

• Assurance of

quality and

safety

Trust Board

• Assurance and

challenge

benchmarking

• Consistent

approach

Ward Manager

• Assurance that

local staffing was

evidence based

and consistent

with standards

• Look at

community teams

too

• Purpose of our

acute wards

• Influence

commissioning of

services – money

back

What opportunities does developing a toolkit to manage staffing present?

This is an example from work we are doing developing a toolkit for staffing in Mental Health

Affinity Diagrams Tips for using the process?

• Aim to reach a consensus on the choice of words. Neutral, positive or negative statements can all work well in addition to solution orientated questions

• A typical affinity diagram would have 40-60 items, but could have100-200 ideas depending on the complexity of the problem

• Large groups of post-its may need to be divided into sub groups

• You may find it helpful to move headers and groups into a logical sequence.

How do you decide what to focus on?

You could ‘dot vote’….

This example brings together the result of a brainstorm made into an Affinity Diagram and then a ‘dot vote’

And / Or use a priority matrix

Lik

ely

to

re

fle

ct

imp

ac

t o

f P

CS

Hig

h

Me

diu

m

L

ow

Low Medium High

Relevant to many WTE / Teams

Green

Red

Amber

Positive impact on the team / business

Ease (within the control of the team)

Here’s an example

The greatest danger for most of us is not that our aim

is too high and we miss it,

but that it is too low and we reach it.

Michelangelo

Generating / developing ideas – why we are using Mind maps….

•Inset a mind map

Recent example

Add childrens example

Example

These were produced by Children's Therapists in table work when we were working with them on their reconfiguration.

Developing ideas - SCAMPER…

• Substitute – what can we use the voluntary sector / other providers for / can we change processes?

• Combine – could we combine services? • Adapt or adopt – think about other industry perspectives,

what do they do which we can ‘pinch with pride’? e.g. how do airlines and banks think about access and flow?

• Modify/magnify/minimise – how would we provide a service with no money / staff / estate?

• Put to other uses – what will we use the released time / money / people for?

• Eliminate / rearrange – what can we stop doing, what can we rearrange / move?

WWWWH

• Who?

• What?

• Where?

• When?

• Why?

• How?

Root Cause Analysis using 5 Why’s • By repeatedly asking the question ‘why?' (use five as a rule of

thumb), you can peel away the layers of an issue, just like the layers of an onion, which can lead you to the root cause of a problem. The reason for a problem can often lead into another question; you may need to ask the question fewer or more than five times before you get to the origin of a problem.

• The real key is to avoid assumptions and logic traps and encourage the team to keep drilling down to the real root cause.

Root Cause Analysis using 5 Why’s

When does it work best?

– By quickly identifying the source of an issue or problem, you can focus resources in the correct areas and ensure that you are tackling the true cause of the issue, not just its symptoms.

How to use it

– Write down the specific problem. Writing it down helps you formalise the problem and describe it accurately. It also helps a team focus on the same problem

– Use brainstorming to ask why the problem occurs then, write the answer down below

– If this answer doesn't identify the source of the problem, ask ‘why?' again and write that answer down

– Loop back to step three until the team agrees that they have identified the problem's root cause. Again, this may take fewer or more than five ‘whys?’

Root Cause Analysis using 5 Why’s Five whys and cause and effect diagrams

– The five whys can be used independently or as a part of a cause and effect diagram. The diagram helps you explore all potential or real causes which result in a failure or problem. Once you have established all the inputs on the cause and effect diagram, you can use the five whys technique to drill down to the root causes.

Tips

– Moving into 'fix-it' mode too quickly might mean dealing with symptoms but leaving the problem unresolved, so use the five whys to ensure that the cause of the problem is being addressed

– If you don't ask the right questions, you don't get the right answers. A question asked in the right way often points to its own answer

A tool with many uses The Six Thinking Hats

Why use 6 thinking hats?

What is it? Powerful technique to help question and probe decisions and issues

Why do it? Forces you to move outside of the normal thinking patterns

When to use? • To identify issues • To examine issues

from a number of perspectives

• To allow a group to challenge by purposefully adopting a different opinion

Material required • A description of each hat

To solve a problem / come to a decision / come up with ideas…

Prompt Questions…

• White – what are the facts? What else do you want to know?

• Red – what do you feel about this? What is your gut feeling?

• Black – what could go wrong?

• Yellow – list all of the benefits

• Green – is there a different way of looking at this?

• Blue – could you summarize the findings so far – what are your 3 points to feedback?

Exercise: using the 6 hats In your two groups

• Nominate a lead to be the session leader – they will wear the BLUE hat

• The blue hat should agree with other group members on the most useful order of hats to use and will co-ordinate their subsequent use

• The lead should use the questions on the screen to focus discussion

• Keep a check on time - limit discussion on each hat to a few minutes

On your tables:

• Flipchart paper to take notes

• a copy of the access process

Scenario You have reviewed the skill mix within your team as a result of analysing the activity follow data. The idea is that you will reduce the number of band 7’s in the team by one and introduce two band 4’s. You don’t currently have any band 4’s. Using the instructions opposite and on the previous slide, have a discussion about this

You have 10 mins