This article is written by Victoria Camp, Welsh Local Government Transformation Manager — Commercial and Investment.

I have a new theory and my hypothesis is something like this:

During the response to the Covid pandemic we have all had the opportunity to work in different and new ways, and we have, as a result, been told we have transformed how we do things. and yet, much remains the same. So how can we know without detailed analysis what, if anything, has transformed and what is just the same as it was four months ago?

I have been reading so much about all these amazing transformations that have taken place in both the private and public sector, and I do not dispute that change has taken place — that much is evident. And yet you only need to read a few social media posts to see that people are still frustrated, disgruntled, tired and approaching a tidal burn-out the likes of which we have never seen before. So I began to wonder: if indeed we have transformed our ways of working, our governance structures and our operating models, I certainly do not get the sense that the job is complete, so how far are we on the journey?

What’s transformed, what’s transforming and, frankly, what’s hiding in plain sight, posturing as an innovation but is, in reality, just an old way of working in a new medium or context?

I thought it would be useful to spend a moment thinking about how we might distinguish between the real and genuine transformations and those which merely look the part — the imposters — and think about how we might turn these imposters into real transformative change. Let’s look at your daily work life from three perspectives — who, what, and how — to see where transformation has taken place and taken hold.

Who?

Prior to the pandemic, I spent a lot of time in the company of three distinct groups; my immediate team, service managers and teams who are on a transformation journey, and the management structure above me.

I now speak to a broader range of people than I did pre-pandemic. I have worked with colleagues in far-flung departments and teams that I did not even know existed, and it has been refreshing and wonderful. Reports from the NHS seem to mirror this – that collaboration has been far-reaching and as a result innovation, shared practice and team spirit have been high.

Agile working is now the “norm” and yet it isn’t really agile at all – it’s enforced working from home

These relationships will need work to maintain once the crisis is over — as we migrate back to our usual roles, we will need to foster and cultivate those relationships to keep the collaborations ongoing in the absence of a shared purpose. I believe this is an area which has genuinely transformed as I think even those in leadership positions have seen the benefits of cross-functional working. TTP teams and Community Response Groups have been pulled together from various departments, offices, locations and services. This is a great sign that we have finally realised the value of their individual skills and coming together to help work on a project. Will this translate into cross-functional teams working to solve outcomes-based issues?

What?

When the pandemic hit my daily routine was completely turned on its head – I became a call centre handler, then team leader, a process creator and improver and someone working directly with the local community. I have written previously about how amazing this work was for me personally. The pace was incredible, the shared purpose, and the use of our human resources and their skills and abilities to deliver was beyond comparison.

The pride I feel in our team is immense. In the last few weeks, we have begun to walk away from that space — we have started working on our own projects, and with remote working, there are barriers to natural sharing of workloads and tasks where there is no common or shared purpose. I think this might be an area where long-lasting change does not have the ability to embed — my job is still my job. A move towards outcomes-based work would see the Who changes embedded and a real push towards creating groups of people defined by a common goal bringing their all to deliver.

How?

I believe this is the area which has changed the least, sadly, and in some cases, I think there might be steps backwards. I still do essentially the same work in the same way.

My reporting structure has actually had an additional layer, and organisationally where flexibility and trust existed just three months ago, we now have a return to approval processes and governance, which some might argue is more onerous than before. Managers have not been empowered to help their teams with remote working – we need to help train staff, teams, managers and leaders how to manage on an outcome-based approach and move away from the traditional 9-5 and industrial style output management model where we know people are working because they are in meetings all day.

Another area which I have seen take a blow is that of equalities and social inclusion – town centres reopening without a thought to all users, communications being issued in only one language or one medium further isolating those who are vulnerable, and in some cases causes actual threat to life.

Was it naïve to think we could achieve so much in such a short space of time?

Agile working is now the “norm” and yet it isn’t really agile at all – it’s enforced working from home, and we are already seeing Councils and offices dive straight back into enforced working from office. We have undoubtedly seen great strides in this area, but without investment in training, redefining “work” and performance, I fear these gains will soon dissipate as we move back into the office. In fact, many never moved out – many of the poor work practises just moved home increasing stress levels to beyond most people’s tolerance.

Spot the difference

So think of your own work practise and begin to really interrogate what’s different.

The context might be different and the people with whom you work and where you work might be different, but has the culture changed? Do you have the tools you need to do the work you need? How easy has it been to get those tools? Have your role profiles changed as you look to open back up?

Does your organisation now place value in areas that they previously did not consider important? Are you still recruiting in the same way? Be specific: if recruitment is still happening virtually but you are using the same process to do it, why is that? Have you received any organisational training on how to be more agile and to manage remote teams? Or how to use the new software?

We learn from the change house model that change is hard. As people who are involved in transformative projects, this isn’t news to us. But was it naïve to think we could achieve so much in such a short space of time?

It might have been because those of us whose bread and butter this stuff is, know that real change is the work of decades, not months. I do not dispute that we have in many ways leapt forward in some specific and targeted areas, but now the real work needs to start. Because if we want to capitalise on the positivity around transformation and change we need to be clear about what has and has not changed and re-focus our efforts wisely.

As we move, I hope, from confusion into renewal our minds and reports need to focus on the data, evidence and consultation of the people who count – our staff and communities. — Victoria Camp

(Picture credit: Unsplash)