Practice and Play with Liberating Structures...rethinking national networks.

-

The Allied Health Professions (AHP) Practice Education network had a successful and engaging development day in March 2023, with a focus on building connections and using liberating structures to achieve their goals. Here's a breakdown of the key points from our day:

Event Overview:

The AHP Practice Education network held an in-person development day hosted by NHS Education for Scotland. This event was significant because it marked the first in-person gathering of the network since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Networking and Collaboration:

The primary objectives of the day were to facilitate networking, collaboration, and the sharing of best practices among the AHP Practice Education Leads (PELs) from various locations in Scotland. The goal was to help participants appreciate, connect, and inspire each other.

Liberating Structures:

To achieve these objectives, the organisers sought assistance from the Liberating Structures Scotland team. Liberating Structures are a set of facilitation techniques designed to foster active participation, creativity, and engagement in group settings.

Impromptu Networking with a Twist:

One of the chosen liberating structures was "impromptu networking" with a Scottish theme. Participants engaged in Ceilidh dancing as a fun and unique way to meet and connect with each other. This activity helped break the ice and set a positive tone for the day.

Troika Consulting:

Another liberating structure used was "Troika Consulting." During this activity, PELs had the opportunity to share challenges or problems they were facing in their work. This led to mutual support and encouragement among the participants, creating a supportive atmosphere.

Positive Feedback and Future Plans:

Feedback from the event was highly positive. Participants appreciated the use of liberating structures and expressed a desire for their continued use in future meetings. Troika Consulting, in particular, was seen as a valuable tool for ongoing support within the network.

The organisers are now considering how to incorporate liberating structures into future meetings and events. This approach aims to ensure active participation, idea-sharing, and support within the network.

Overall, the AHP Practice Education network had a successful and enjoyable day, using liberating structures to innovate and enhance their interactions and support one another in their professional roles.

We want to thank Jonathan from the Liberating Structures Scotland group for helping facilitate the event and emphasizing the importance of connecting, learning valuable tools, and supporting each other in their practice.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

What works well? Appreciative interview

-
By Iain Carruthers   IC&CO Many organisations are obsessed with identifying and then solving problems.    This can create a type of deficit psychology, where your working life feels like a series of unfortunate events in search of solutions.   One remedy is to uncover what’s going well, and then seek to build on that. Appreciative interviews are one of the Liberating Structures, a set of simple meeting micro-structures that shift levels of trust and creativity.   They are a great way of uncovering the enablers of success in under an hour.  We experimented with this structure at the latest LS Scotland meet-up, hosted by Kirsty & Will McLean  from the CHAS (There’s a festive fundraiser if you’d like to help their brilliant work.) In a nutshell: -         In pairs,  you’re each invited to tell a story of success related to a theme.  ( In this case - a professional high in the last ...
Read more

Liberating Structures Scotland: Evaluation of 2022

-
Image
  "Empowering Collaboration: The Journey of Liberating Structures Scotland - From Meetups to Virtual Success!" Liberating Structures are more than just facilitation techniques; they are a powerful way to enhance relational coordination, trust, and creativity within groups. Originally developed by Keith McCandless and Henri Lipmanowicz, Liberating Structures are a collection of 33 micro-structures that can be easily learned and applied to problem-solving and collaborative decision-making. In Scotland, a group of enthusiastic practitioners came together in 2018 to form the Liberating Structures Scotland meet-up, with the aim of shifting the balance of power in their teams and organizations to foster engagement and influence among their workforce. The meet-ups initially took place face-to-face, bringing together participants from diverse backgrounds such as health and care, design, academia, government, and the voluntary and charity sectors. However, the momentum was disrupted...
Read more

My Journey with Liberating Structures: A Path to Openness and Change, by Jonathan O’Reilly

-
I first became aware of Liberating Structures in late 2018 when a Twitter DM from my partner in crime, Dan Harley, piqued my curiosity. Dan wanted to know if I knew anything about it and if I could connect him with Katy McNeil, who was already experimenting with LS at the Scottish Government. Little did I know that this message would set me on a path of discovery and transformation. Life, as it often does, got in the way, and it wasn't until six months later that Liberating Structures reentered my life. By then, Dan, Katy, and Kirsty Ellis had set up a face-to-face meet-up, and I was invited to my first gathering of the Liberating Structures Scotland group. This diverse group of professionals from various public services in Scotland shared a common desire: to be more open and transparent in our facilitation of change. Throughout 2019, I attended a series of meetings with this group, each one dedicated to exploring new structures and helping me build my confidence. It was a journey ...
Read more