With STPs under increasing pressure and expectations so high, how can you capture your STP's 'why' and achieve community engagement?

As Simon Sinek says, "very few organisations know why they do what they do." When it comes to your STP, people will invest in 'why' you do what you do, not your 'how' or 'what'.

So, how do you secure the meaningful engagement that is so essential to the viability and success of your STP?

Storytelling is a proven method of achieving buy-in and ownership of an organisation's purpose and vision.

A joined up approach to engagement puts an end to silo thinking and encourages an STP that is owned by everyone at every touchpoint. By visually co-creating and defining your STP's 'why', you will create a physical visualisation that can be carried forward.

With storytelling, you can expect:

• increased engagement and attention from audiences
• improved memory and ownership of key concepts
• the ability to create an instant record
• communicate the essence of your strategy and plan to those in your network and community
• an opportunity to communicate with attendees immediately following your co-creation event
• freedom from taking detailed notes and reading endless documents.

A by-product of using storytelling as an involvement approach is that you can save precious resources such as time and money. Storytelling is a simple and effective way to work together to understand the needs of your communities. 

"We have worked with ICE to build a systems approach to leaders and new ways of working via a strengths-based programme for leaders, health care professionals and patients. We were attracted to ICE’s open, inclusive and co-designed approach. The work has made us take a really hard look at our espoused values and culture, and built it in a new way using metaphor and storytelling. It has been a tremendous success; work started in one trust and we are now beginning a wider rollout. We aim to maximise the effectiveness and efficiency that can come as we integrate this approach across the accountable care system." - Val McGee, Director, Wirral Community Trust

With STPs still being fairly new, the cultural shift towards making change happen can feel overwhelming. Through storytelling engagement, you will gain a true insight into what the bespoke needs are of your citizens.

Using the latest behavioural science, storytelling will:

• Define the culture and values you will be working with as a system
• Define the role of each player in your system
• Realise and value the differences of all your players
• Define what is important to your system and the people in it
• Ensure all activity is aligned
• Decide what to do more of and what you can gain by giving some things up.

To find out more about how to realise the full potential of your STP, talk to the ICE team today on 0845 5193 423

As the STPs for the whole of England start to emerge, the real work now begins. The work to be done has to be different, because we need different outcomes from the journeys that have gone before.  One thing is clear, however, whichever your area: this is the last chance to get things right.

You are going to have to DO things differently, BE different and give some things up – but where do you start? You will need lots of different players and everyone has a role to play. How do you enable and align your players to be integrated teams, to put your STP into reality?

Did you know: values-driven organisations are the most successful organisations on the planet and while your leaders set the vision and mission, your values and culture belong to everyone? How can you engage everyone in defining, living and breathing those essential values that will drive your new journey of successful transformation?

A good place to start is here at ICE. Our tried and tested approach uses the latest in behavioural design, working with individuals’ rational and emotional self, to create purpose and impact. Don’t be scared by the science – in practice the approach is very simple and straightforward and, with our help, you will:

• Define the culture and values you will be working with as a system
• Define the role of each player in your system
• Realise and value the differences of all your players
• Define what is important to your system and the people in it
• Ensure all activity is aligned
• Decide what to do more of and what you can gain by giving some things up.

ICE’s unique, cost effective and proven methodology has helped numerous organisations and multi-sector partnerships to successfully deliver culture and leadership transformations – delivering efficiencies and cost savings, increasing quality and morale, satisfaction and outcomes on behalf of staff, customers and patients.

We are currently working with a number of Vanguard sites, STPs, NHS, local authorities, charities, and private sector organisations, using our bespoke and tailor made platform to engage all players as one team with many players. Through true co-creation, we will enable you to harness all players in your system and together determine why, how and what to do things differently, mobilising your teams in a united approach, with all players empowered, valued and driven to achieve whole system change and better experiences and outcomes for patients.

We use techniques and ways of working which support the limbic and rational system for leaders and teams alike. Better still, this approach works equally well for patients, clinicians, social care and elected members. Our foundations for engaging are strengths based asset building systems. So, we always start with ‘What matters?’ and ‘What’s important to you?’  We work with people’s emotional self and their rational self, using metaphor and story-telling to create social epidemics of tipping point transformation.

Call ICE today on 0845 5193 423 to arrange an informal conversation over tea or coffee. Starting with the simple question “What’s important to you?” you share, we listen and together we embark upon a new and exciting journey towards successful and sustainable transformation.