Cross-Department Service Plan
Background
Need
Five departments in Ealing Council Children's Service each had their own strategies and plans. There was a need for an aligned 4-year plan across these divisions to reduce duplication, improve families’ experiences and use resources efficiently.
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Role
I am overseeing the delivery and design elements of the project within a multidisciplinary team.​
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Users
Leadership Team
Staff and families of the London Borough of Ealing.
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Timeline
June 25: Scoping the approach and aligning needs of each division lead
July 25: Sythesising exisitng strategies and protoyping a new skeleton
Aug 25: Presenting first findings in a skeleton form to senior leaders for feedback
Sept 25: Identifying top priorities within a long list
Oct-Dec 25: Designing and launching a co-design approach to create a vision, missions and activites with local people.
Design Process
Empathise
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Get to know each division lead, their needs & challenges
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Make connections across Children's teams
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Read existing literature on internal strategies, customer consultations, new polcies such as Families First, Best Start in Life and Good Level of Development.
Define
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Designing and facilitating workshops with senior leaders across Departments to identify the next 4 years' priorities from a long list
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Creating archetypes and blueprints of family journeys, services, demand and cost to illustrate the lived experience
Ideate
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Researching and synthesising other borough service plans to create a skeleton format that serves the Department's purposes
Develop
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Co-design the missions and activities within each prioritiy area with local people.
Next step: Iterate & Launch
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Run protoyping and feedback workshops with staff, families and partners to validate
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Implement ready for 2026​
Challenges & Learnings
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As well as bringing together information and creating space, acknowledging and finding ways to change dynamics of stakeholders was essential to get to clear decisions.​
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When working strategically, creating short-term value as well as meeting long-term vision is a careful but importancce balance to strike.
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Working towards more participatory methods such as co-design requires underlying strategic decisions and policies around resourcing and devolving of power.