Using strengths in new ways As part of a 2 day training course spread over 2 weeks, staff from young peoples social care teams were asked to use their personal qualities and strengths in new and different ways to: Help overcome any resistance to OfSTED inspection findings Improve direct work practice Improve pathway/ transition plans Here are some summary examples of what they did.

Using strengths in new ways 1 Strength : I am good at IT What I did: So I used my laptop to record the young person’s views as we talked Reflection: It worked well where there was a relationship with young people aged 13+ Analysis: Communication wasn’t negatively affected and was an efficient way of working. Where there’s wifi, I could put their views straight into their case plans!

Using strengths in new ways 2 Strength: I am good at networking What I did: so used this strength to pursue suitable accommodation for Care leaver Reflection: Glad I challenged people and colleagues. Felt passionate about it, so took risks Analysis: Suitable accommodation and a good package of care is now happening. Evidence of this is in the pathway plan

Using strengths in new ways 3 Strength: I am good at listening, but not clear how a child feels about placement and grandparents really What I did: So I focussed on the ‘being’ aspect of listening and made space to ‘do’ Reflection: I realised that usually, he feels the need to ‘defend’ his grandparents Analysis: I was then able to talk with grandparents about his feelings and how this affects his behaviour. Placement is now more stable as they now understand him more too

Using strengths in new ways 4 Strength: I am good at using knowledge and see it is important in my work What I did: I learned about legal and policy issues for pathway planning in the training and then shared this with a colleague Reflection: The worker felt empowered and able to advocate on behalf of the young person Analysis: It was my sharing of the new knowledge that empowered her to speak out on behalf of the young person

Using strengths in new ways 5 Strength: I am good at showing patience with vulnerable young people What I did: Myself, social worker and young person re- read the pathway plan- which needed a lot of patience Reflection: This led to discussions which allowed us to understand where the young person was coming from Analysis: This new understanding allowed us to put new things in place to support the young person

Using strengths in new ways 6 Strength: I am good at listening to young people, but sometimes I prompt them too much What I did: I used his communication style (prefers writing when upset) to find out what he wanted in his plan Reflection: The young person was better able to express himself by me taking this approach Analysis: By using my skills in a new way, I stopped prompting him and tuned into his communication style more readily and this enabled him to share his thoughts more

Using strengths in new ways 7 Strength: I am good at showing patience, so challenged myself to do so with a young person What I did: I set no time limit on seeing the young person and worked from home to give me flexibility - which I don’t usually do Reflection: By me being more flexible, I created more time to listen Analysis: I reduced my travel time and created more time for direct work and transition plan writing through this challenge

Using strengths in new ways 8 Strength: I am dedicated to my PA role and the young people What I did: I used my dedication to persist in contacting a previous worker, family members and finally got young person to engage with our service Reflection: Before I was really frustrated; afterwards I felt satisfied Analysis: Young person had felt let-down by services in the past, so now I will continue to use this strength The Pathway Plan says 4 weekly sessions to support!

Using strengths in new ways 9 Strength: I am good at humour & DIY skills What I did: I used humour to defuse and calm an upset care leaver. I used my DIY strengths to ‘repair’ a situation with a young person Reflection: Both PA and young person were upset and needed to find a way to deal with these things Analysis: My seemingly ‘unrelated to PA work strengths’ were used in new ways to safeguard the relationship and gives me the space to undertake the necessary case work

Conclusions Very little of what we learn on a traditional training course gets put into action (Professor K. Pine, 2014) Using our qualities and strengths in new ways is an evidence based way to personal change (Seligman, 2005) Rather than learning about good practice alone, staff are evidencing small improvements in direct work, reducing resistance to OfSTED findings and improving pathway /transition plans by changing what they do and using their strengths in new ways Martin Bailey October 2014