Reflections on Deloitte Digital Connect — Prior’s Court Foundation
Deloitte Digital Connect — a programme developed by CAST in partnership with Deloitte — is designed to help participants explore ways to improve their services through the power of digital technology.
As the second cohort of the programme drew to a close in May 2023, we caught up with some of the participating charities to discover what they had learned, their key breakthrough moments and the advice they’d give to anyone embarking on a similar programme. In the last of our series, we chat to Sue Piper from Prior’s Court Foundation.
Hi Sue. It would be great to have a bit of background about who you are and what your role is?
I’m Sue from Prior’s Court Schools Foundation, a charity for young people with autism. Our students range from five to 25 years old, and I am the director of education here.
What motivated you to take part in Deloitte Digital Connect?
We were lucky to have connections at different points, and someone in our network of connections flagged the programme to us. We saw an opportunity so we put forward our application and just gave Deloitte and CAST an idea of what we wanted to do.
At Prior’s Court School, we strive to be ambitious and not just a school. We are also a residential home for young people with autism.
We are dealing with complex young people, and we wanted to make things easier for our staff. We thought: “Help is great; let’s get some extra help”.
What kind of help were you hoping to get out of it? And what kind of project were you thinking you’d be able to develop and work on through the school?
Our big problem was that we train people for two weeks, and there are lots of things to learn about the world of autism. We give people practice tools that will help the young people, and train them in the use of these — but they are not always used consistently.
So then it made us think, when considering the people we train and the way we do it: “Is sitting in a room on induction for two weeks of benefit to you, or could something be a snapshot reminder on your day-to-day job that reminds you about using these tools?”
Do you feel like the scope of your project on the programme changed at all? And if so, why was that?
The scope absolutely changed. And I think that’s the bit that I’ve really enjoyed. We still want a learning tool that helps people, but we’re not anywhere near that bit at the moment. We’re now doing things what I call the ‘Deloitte way’, and we’re narrowing the focus of our vision. We’re starting to focus our research on people that have just been here for a year. I’ve learned about the benefits of using different tools now, and I’m practising with those tools.
The research bit is the part that I’ve really enjoyed, because I realised that we were spending too long making up our own hypotheses about why people behave the way they do — which meant we had a complete lack of understanding before we even got going. That was a brilliant light bulb moment.
Together with my Deloitte mentor, Molly, we agreed that the focus should be on getting more user research done. The research team worked closely with me to get some good questions together, and I think there’s something so much more in that questioning than I’ve given credit for — because it helps us find out what we really need to know.
What I then really enjoyed doing was pulling out those key learnings from the research and sharing them with the rest of the executive team to start making better informed decisions.
Which support activities did you take part in? And which did you find most useful?
The mentoring programme was the most useful activity for me. I felt that I could be really open and honest with my mentor. They went to a lot of trouble to try and understand Prior’s Court, and it was really helpful to work with someone who wasn’t in my organisation, because they just saw things that I wasn’t seeing. They asked me questions that made me think about why we do things the way we do.
I also found the ‘Lunch and Learn’ sessions to be absolutely brilliant because I could sit down and learn while eating my lunch. I also enjoyed the user research information, which was about prototyping and accessibility.
There was a lot of information available- and whilst I was thirsty for the knowledge and found it really quite exciting, sometimes I just felt as though I wanted more time to take it on. I think it has to be a commitment from your organisation that you, as a participant, don’t just need the time taken to attend a session itself: you need an hour or two afterwards to go away and reflect on what you learned.
What are the traits you think made it a successful, useful support intervention for you?
The mentor was very open and supportive, and never made me feel like I was daft when it came to digital. They were very good at making me reflect and doing things to get me on my way. They kept me motivated and on task. I think it’s important to have someone who is very knowledgeable and can lead you from their expertise without overshadowing your knowledge.
Can you tell me about any peer support that you received during the programme?
It was brilliant to connect with people who are doing the same things as yourself. And there needs to be more of that kind of open sharing amongst organisations, because it opens your mind.
Before taking part in this programme, I would never have thought to network with a homelessness charity or a sports charity. And I think more charities want to collaborate that way. I’d love to be able to stay in touch with my peer group and carry on working together. There’s so much value in that.
[Editor’s note: all of the Deloitte Digital Connect participants have been invited to join CAST’s free Digital Leads Network, a group of around 100 digital leads who have taken part in CAST programmes and wish to continue sharing their experiences, and learning from each other and other sector / digital experts.]
Was the level of support provided by the programme sufficient and if not, what was missing?
I think it was absolutely brilliant; I can’t believe how great it was. I wish I’d heard from somebody at the beginning what it would be like throughout the programme; someone who could have said “You are about to experience something completely different to your day job and this will really excite you and really help your organisation move through things.”
There was support at every step of the way: you knew that you you could put something in the Zoom chat during a session and then an answer would come through while you’re talking, or you knew you could email someone and ask for help — and you would get it; it was all so well organised and so beneficial.
What’s your biggest learning from the programme?
The best learning comes from never assuming. I now always ask people, “Have you done your user research? Have you really asked?” This new mantra is starting to resonate with people. It’s changing the way we do things. Deloitte, a company completely different from ours, helped us see things in a different way.
As you continue your journey around digital and user research, what future support do you need to carry on making progress?
We’ll identify the quick tools we need to provide and make them short, sharp, and engaging. At that point, I would love to get some advice on how to accomplish this.
What advice would you give to others starting a digital project or exploring a digital challenge?
Keep your mind open. Don’t try to change the world. Go simple. Listen and try things out.
Sue was supported on the Deloitte Digital Connect programme by Senior Consultant Molly Reid. Find out more about Molly’s experience of volunteering with the Deloitte Digital Connect programme.
If you’d like to access some of the resources mentioned by Sue, we’ve made over 100 digital resources available to everyone. Take a look at the Deloitte Digital Connect open access resource hub for an overview of user research methods, guides to digital accessibility, digital strategy and plenty more!
Applications for the third cohort of Deloitte Digital Connect will open by October 2023. Please email deloittedigitalconnect@deloitte.co.uk to be alerted as soon as applications are open.
