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Designing service improvements

• Key Points
• Making the difference
• Activity

Why is it important?

The starting point when designing service improvements is to be clear about where you are now and where you would like to be.

It will be helpful to start by identifying and agreeing some broad guiding principles about delivering the service and then to examine what may be getting in the way of putting those principles into practice.

Public sector organisations are constantly adapting, to ensure services are suited to needs of their users. By involving those people actually delivering and receiving the service, the organisation gets access to information that otherwise might not come to light. Small changes that can be easily implemented can often make a big difference to the quality of the service.

Once the changes that are needed have been identified, staff and union reps should have the opportunity to make suggestions as to how the change can be brought about in practice. A practical way forward can be to identify and consider different options for bringing about the change. It is important to explain the case for change to employees and other stakeholders, and why this option has been chosen.