What does successful continuous improvement look like?
Successful approaches to self-evaluation and continuous improvement are as much cultural as they are technical. Having the most comprehensive process in the world will not guarantee rigorous and robust self-evaluation, successful identification of improvement priorities and positive changes to performance and outcomes.
At the start of the improvement journey
- Managers are protective of their services
- Issues and weaknesses are not acknowledged
- Self-evaluation seen as an add on
As the internal culture around self-evaluation changes, you might see:
- Managers open to sharing good practice
- Self-evaluation processes calendared but still a separate exercise
- Staff participate but not a real sense of ownership
By continuing to foster an environment of continuous improvement, the goal would be get to a culture like this:
- Managers and staff are open and transparent and willing to learn
- Self-evaluation built into everyday processes
- Everyone owns self-evaluation and wants to improve
Given the importance of mindset, authorities may wish to use the Culture PSIF checklist, jointly developed by Renfrewshire Council and the Improvement Service. Renfrewshire Council found it helpful for preparing key staff and providing a sound basis for their next steps in self-evaluation.
Related resources
- Culture PSIF checklist (Renfrewshire Council and Improvement Service).