5 lockdown learnings so far
Previous posts have shown how we have been working to transform existing services to work in a new environment. This post takes a step back to reflect on 5 key things we’ve learned so far. We’re not experts at digital delivery or transformation, and we’ve certainly made mistakes along the way, but we wanted to share our story and we’d love to hear yours!
- Accessible data is key
Thanks to support from the Digital Fund, we had already been looking at how we collect, store and use data. Although we had thought we were doing OK (using a CMS system, collecting feedback and outcomes data and developing an evaluation framework) we realised we could be doing much better. We gather a multitude of data but it’s stored in several locations and is hard to access and analyse. This doesn’t help us make data informed decisions.
With the onset of lockdown we decided to pilot a new way of collecting data. Alongside our CMS, we set up a Microsoft Form to collect data from our ‘Wellbeing Calls’ to carers. Although these calls are a chat, not a survey, the form gives staff a structure and an understanding of the sort of information they should ideally gain from the chat. Questions in the Form were designed to help us understand how carers were being affected by COVID-19, the support they already had and what additional support we could provide. We used Forms as it’s a free tool through our Office 365 subscription, it integrates nicely with Teams (our main remote collaboration and communication tool) and it’s easy to access and analyse the data.
1000+ wellbeing calls later and the value of having easily accessible data could not be clearer! We can see at the touch of a button how many carers we’ve talked to, including the type of carer they are. We can then analyse data based on all calls, or on a subset of calls (parent carers vs carers over 70 for example) to see if the insights differ. We can see a picture of how carers feel (and how this is changing through lockdown) as well as the support they’d like to see us give and the support they are getting from their community. Our previous method of data collection would have made this sort of analysis much more difficult. Not impossible, but definitely more difficult. What we’ve learned from the calls will be revealed in a future post!
There were a few ways we could have improved our data collection. When we set up the form we didn’t know clearly enough what we were trying to find out. We didn’t ask all the right questions from the start, and we needed to tweak the wording of some questions part way through. Next time, we’ll spend more time considering what we are trying to find out / achieve in order to improve data collection from the start. Yet even so, we’re excited at the discoveries we are making and how this is enabling us to help carers now, and as we develop services moving forward.
2. Consider the consequences
In several previous posts we’ve outlined how we’ve used consequences to help us shape services. This approach has been invaluable in enabling us to provide services which really deliver on our outcomes. It enabled us to spot consequences we could work to mitigate , such as making sure we were creating online spaces that really deliver ‘connection’. It also identified consequences we needed to monitor, such as whether our virtual offer could cause tension between carer and those they care for. Monitoring these consequences ensures we can continue to develop new iterations of what we offer to mitigate negative outcomes.
Due to resources, and time limitations, we didn’t have as many voices round the table for this consequence scanning process as we’d have liked. It can be really useful to have people not delivering a specific service comment on it’s intended and unintended outcomes. A wise friend once said “If you have rubbish bags sat in your front room for too long, you start to ignore them and don’t realise they are a problem until someone new comes in and tells you they are!” Different perspectives help stop you being blinkered. Moving forward, we will continue to use this tool through development, involving more voices in the process.
3. Pilot with those you know
This might seem fairly obvious, but pilot with those you know and who know you! We’ve reflected on why and for us it was because we already had a relationship with these carers. We could be honest with them and they could be honest with us. They understood they were involved in a process and were helping us develop something which could help to support others, as well as themselves. So it was easier on us when we made mistakes, and easier for them to feel able to say what to keep and what to change.
There is something to be said for gaining the feedback and experiences of those you don’t know and maybe have never served before. However this is our first experience of user led design in a digital sphere, so we took the easy route!
4. Prepare for the unexpected
It’s life really, isn’t it. It never turns out like you think! Which is all part of the learning. For example, as we discussed here, we asked carers if they wanted to connect with others, and how they wanted to connect. More than 50% of those who wanted to connect were happy to do so online. However, once we launched the online programme, from the same people we also heard the following “I’m not confident enough to do it.” “I don’t know how to use the tools you use.” “I’m not sure how I’d access something online”. This led to us needing to tweak and change the offer in order to make it more open and accessible, despite the fact we had thought we’d done this from the start.
Partly, this was the result of not asking the right questions in our ‘discovery’ phase, as we were working out what the best solutions would be. So maybe the key learning should be do really good user research!
5. Digital Feedback is tricky
We’re used to face to face activities, and it is far, far easier to get people to fill in a feedback form when they are trapped in a room or on a coach after an activity has ended! It’s not that we made feedback mandatory, but there is an element of peer pressure seeing others fill in a form that meant returns were relatively high. With this peer pressure gone, and feedback being asked for after the event has ended, returns have plummeted. We’re still getting some feedback, but we also need to consider new ways to collect this data.
This is no bad thing though. It can be easy to become complacent that having xx forms filled in shows you have enough, or the right, feedback for your activity. At times we’ve fallen in to this trap! But there are many different ways to find out how people feel about what you are delivering and whether it is delivering the right outcomes. It’s making us put much more work in to this, which will (hopefully) give us better data on which to base new developments and services in the future. We’re not quite there yet though, we’d love to know what online feedback tools are used successfully by others!
So, over the 12 weeks we’ve been on the rollercoaster of lockdown, that’s our story. Learning more than we thought possible, and still very much learning on our journey, we’ll continue to share the good, the bad and the ugly!
