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Staff-Customer Interactions

Background

Need

How might we enable staff at customer hubs to have more relational conversations about resident needs, to pick up challenges and prevent escalation?

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Role

Overseeing this mini-project: conducting user research, synthesis and communication.

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Users

Staff and residents of the London Borough of Ealing.

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Timeline

Jan 25: Scoping the approach and building an understanding of the service

Feb 25: Information gathering on current challenges and opportunities

March 25: Presentation of recommendations to senior leaders

Two women collaborate on a computer

Systemic Design Process

Orientation

  • Research and reviewing team structures and hierarchy of decision-making within the community hub team

Explore

  • Service Safari to get into the shoes of the staff and residents who meet at community hubs.

  • Interviews with the community support workers and managers to understand the history of the team, the challenges and changes they would like to see.

  • Making connections and holding discussions with development teams on current skills and training.

Reframe

  • ​Showcased that beyond upskilling, conditions are required for staff to use relational skills well within community hubs, such as:

    • Wider skills & abilities:​

      • Knowledge of support across the system​

      • Dealing with complexity

      • Coping with trauma

    • Operational Environment

      • Time with residents (capacity & demand)​

      • Connecting services (warm handovers)

      • Permission (role design & team strategy)

    • Spaces & Support

      • Digital literacy support

      • Translation support for non-English speakers

      • Privacy for conversations with residents

Create

  • Journey maps through the community hub for residents and staff.

  • Created links between current projects / initiatives and the conditions needed for relational conversations 

  • Created a visual narrative for the research and findings that were shared with senior leaders ​​

Customer journey map: phases, service experience, account experience, challenges
Wheel chart: Spaces & Support, Skills & Abilities, Operational Environment; Enablers for national conversations

Next Steps

Catalyse & Continue

  • ​Made recommendations to:

    • ​Share learnings to each project working in this space so that lessons are shared and aligned.​

    • Incorporate the conditions needed into existing customer strategies to reduce duplication.

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