UNDERSTANDING THE ORGANISATION AND ITS CONTEXT  AC 1.3 Identify own role, span of control and reporting line in an organisation using an organisational chart to illustrate‘Strategic commissioning is the process by which the Council works with citizens, partners and providers to review and provide services with the aim of achieving the best possible outcomes within the resources available. This covers a wide range of services such as support and care for older people, learning and physical disabilities, mental health, looked after children, early years, health and wellbeing, homelessness and support for carers. Strategic commissioning strives to ensure that the services delivered enable all citizens to participate and benefit from the opportunities that the city provides, through understanding needs and assets at a local and community level and, where necessary, influencing and shaping the market to meet forecast needs and priorities of citizens and partners. ’ (MCC Intranet)Our team has responsibility for Children’s and Mental Health. I work under the commissioning manager for children’s, and therefore my work is directly related to any commissions for children’s services.My role as a commissioning officer, comes under strategic commissioning, in the Children’s and Families Directorate. In my role as a commissioning officer, I am responsible for managing commissioned projects. Through this I will liaise with various children’s services’ leads, finance, legal, procurement etc. and other relevant stakeholders to support the design of new service specifications for commissioned services. In addition to this, I also support key services by drafting service level agreements, contracts, extension letters and ensuring the relevant processes are followed. I am responsible for coordinating the contract management for key commissioned services to ensure organisations are performing within expectations, spend is within budget and manage any potential risks/issues where appropriate. I am responsible for updating the children’s contracts register to ensure this is accurate. I also review the effectiveness of current service delivery and feed this into future designs/key commissioning decisions. I undertake reviews of existing services, review the effectiveness of delivery and maintain good relations with both internal and external stakeholders.My line manager (Peter Cooper) reviews commissioning designs, the Service Level Agreements, over sees day to day queries, budget monitoring, personnel, line management of staff and relationship building with service leads for directly commissioned assignments. He is also responsible for tasking assignments to myself/the other colleague (Mark Moulden commissioning officer)Peter’s line Manager ( Jock Rodger) is the strategic lead and attends strategic meetings,  ensures the strategic vision for children commissioning is followed and that commissioning work is directed as per the Director of Children’s Services and his line management James Williams ( strategic lead for commissioning)Please see organisational chart below to illustrate this- I have highlighted in yellow where I am based on the chart belowPLANNING CHANGE IN THE WORK PLACEAC 2.3 Explain how to communicate with and involve people to facilitate effective changeMy change initiative is to set up a contracts database which will include detailed information on children’s commissioned contracts. In order to ensure this change is positively implemented I will need to rely on feedback/communications from a wide range of stakeholders.The first important step is to ensure that I gain the ‘buy in’ from the keep players (as identified in the chart above). I arranged a meeting with the commissioning team to discuss my proposal.  I presented a prototype of the database I would be looking to create and asked for their feedback/comments. This was a helpful meeting, as they appreciated me contacting them at the early stages, which allowed them to contribute to my change. The prototype of the database was a visual tool which helped them to better understand what I was seeking to do.  I was able to share this electronically and allow them some time to reflect and review.  We agreed a set deadline for their feedback which they agreed to. I received some helpful comments around the database, which led me to change the way I captured some information.  Feedback was received in a formal report via email. This was helpful as it assured team that I would formally take into consideration their comments. I established regular meetings (providing sufficient notice to officers) and always communicated outcomes via email- this was helpful as not everyone could always attend but were kept updated. I offered the opportunity for individuals to ‘skype’ in of they were working from a different location.I continued to keep the commissioning team involved in any future updates and regularly met with them to request their feedback. I used the instant messaging tool on hangouts to ask short informal qs, share pics and keep them updated. Likewise I responded to any queries they may have had and was a good way for us to build a positive relationship.  The database was created on a share point, which meant that I was able to share the link to the database, so they could see it at different design stages. The visual aid again was helpful and the readiness to provide feedback was helpful via this link.Once the database was in its final stages, I set up a workshop with service leads to share the tool and request their input. This date was set in advance in order to manage service leads diary. It also meant that I had to ensure all previous stages were complete so that I do not cancel the workshop. The need to stick to deadlines, provides good reassurance for stakeholders and confidence in what is being done. I requested service leads to complete a feedback questionnaire following their attendance and at the workshop they were able to contribute their ideas through one to one- group discussions and written feedback.A launch for the database was arranged to share the final tool. All stakeholders who were involved attended this and allowed them to see the final product which was as a result of their input.I ensured that my communication style at all times was very positive,  embraced a strengths based approach I actively took on board people’s ideas, and recognised the  previous information and database on file contained some useful information. I clearly communicated the reasons why the change was need and was excited of the potential of this new system, not only for myself but for all stakeholders involved. The prototype and demo allowed the visual aid to support this.This was the PIE model which I followed. .PIE (Participation Information and Enthusiasm) is a communication method which is extremely helpful when involving people to facilitate change.It is important when you are facilitating change that you also utilise some of Debono’s thinking hats. For example, it is important you show enthusiasm and positivity as the way change is communicated will impact on how people receive it. Explain clearly the reasons for the change, providing key facts, evidence and measures to share openly with staff. It is important that you also provide regular updates/inform them of any key changes either face to face/via email (which is most appropriate). People need to be supported through change, and also to recognise that peoples preferred communication styles are different and therefore we should consider different types of communication methods to try to accommodate this. E.g. some people may prefer 1-2-1 meetings, other people may prefer workshops style. It may be that you identify that getting an external person to facilitate meetings will be better and enables people to honestly share how they feel, without fear of reprisals.In order to support my change initiative, I completed a communications plan. Within the communications plan, I identified who the relevant stakeholders are, how they can be contacted along with information that can be shared from them and how. In order for my change project to be effective, communication is key. I will be requesting information from a range of different s stakeholders and therefore need to be conscious around how I do this – adapting different communications style.  The stakeholder mapping diagram helped me to identify which key plays I need to ensure I have on board and keep satisfied. For example, when liaising with external partners, some may prefer face to face communication (as opposed to email). When communicating I need to be clear, provide timescales for when information is requested. I also need to ensure that I consolidate my communication, so I am not repeatedly requesting different levels of information.When providing updates at team meetings, I will need to consider progress reports/ updated project plan to be shared with team members. I will also need to consider any visual aid required at training sessions, ensuring I arrange equipment and provide the right environment for this to take place.In order to ensure individuals are engaged in my change initiative, I need to recognise that some may be reluctant to be on board and therefore need to consider change approaches to facilitate their engagement. One example of this is explaining some of the benefits the change initiative will bring to the team as a result of undertaking this work AC 1.2 Explain the role that communication plays in establishing a common sense of purposeCommunication is key in establishing a common sense of purpose in an organisation. “Effective communication is a building block of successful organizations”. (Management study guide). There are different types of communication, oral, written and within these different strategies/techniques that can be deployed to convey your message. Communication can be one way and two way. It is also  important to highlight the role of visual support in aiding communications The most effective communication is two way as it allows individuals to respond, however the ability to manage communications may mean that one way communication is utilised. Communication can therefore assist in controlling organizational member’s behaviour in various ways. ‘There are various levels of hierarchy and certain principles and guidelines that employees must follow in an organization. They must comply with organizational policies, perform their job role efficiently and communicate any work problem and grievance to their superiors. Thus, communication helps in controlling function of management.’  (Management study guide).Communication is your primary source of information for the organisation and how you communicate decisions and actions to employees. How effectively you communicate these will ultimately impact on the strength of your organisation. ‘Communication promotes motivation by informing and clarifying the employees about the task to be done, the manner they are performing the task, and how to improve their performance if it is not up to the mark’. (Management study guide). Communication can be used to educate and alter individual’s attitudes. The more informed an individual is, the likelihood that they will have a better/ more positive attitude. Communication can also help the socialising process.Communication has a role in allowing people to contribute and for organisations to listen to individuals. This fosters knowledge and understanding of peoples thinking, values and behaviours and by doing so will help organisations become more aware of the environment they are operating in.An example of this, is one of my recent tasks in producing a children’s commissioning strategy. The purpose of this document was to communicate to children’s senior managers, the roles and functions of the commissioning team and the work that we undertake. The document also outlined the commissioning cycle. This not only helped to reinforce the purpose of the team, it also allowed us to manage expectations. For example, by defining the commissioning cycle, children’s service managers are now aware how long a project will take to commission?  It will also help them to understand the key services we need to consult e.g. finance, legal, procurement and highlights this process in detail. The document also sets out the information required from services in order to support the commissioning process. We created template guidance documents which could act as aids e.g. a tender document- this asks services to complete the relevant information to progress the commission (i.e. a job request) this enabled us to change the behaviours of managers who would previously provide very little information and expect us to write a commission within an unrealistic timeframe. Once we receive this information, we can then filter how we would commission and who would be assigned to this, enabling a smoother transition for assignments e.g. service level agreement, contract, tendering process etc. This was also helpful for us a team as it defines our roles, what our business plan is and what we can /can’t do. It reminds us of the processes that we need to follow and at what stage. The commissioning document also sets out the procedural information, e.g. who is required to sign off and at what stage. Needless to say the strategy document was written in ‘Our Manchester’ approach in which we welcomed the input from services and drew on positives and how we could build open and honest relationships, built on trust. This document enabled us to do this, and it helped mandate our business schedule and for others to recognise the consistency in our approach.I also completed a commissioning time plan which is attached to the strategy documents. This sets out key time periods where we are expected to be busier than usual. E.g. at financial quarters and that we are likely to be busier at the end of the financial year. This allow us to pre warn senior managers when business service standard may not be as efficient as expected , but also to ensure that if they  require completion of pieces of work to schedule them accordingly. This was helpful when we were approached to complete a commission at the end of March and we were able to justify that business schedules had been communicated and to expect a longer delay. Although this created a delay for the service manager, they understood and could appreciate that they had been privy to our scheduling.I was recently asked to undertake an analysis for one of the contract it manages. This was not in our commissioning document and neither is this my areas of expertise. Although this was communicated to the senior manager, it was requested to take place and as it was a quieter period, I agreed as an exception.  The analysis was then shared with stakeholders and it was evident that some information was missing and an accurate reflection of performance was not produced. We later found that the performance and research team held information pertaining to this area and that the contract information provided could have been used by their team experts to analyse. It is a reminder that deviating from the ‘common sense’ although in good faith may negatively impact on work which had already taken place. It also did not go down well the performance and research team as they felt that we were trying to ‘take over’ their function. AC 2.1 Describe the main motivational factors in a work context and how these may apply to different situations, teams and individuals  TeamsA team can be described as a group of people with complementary skills who come together to complete a set task/goal. (Business dictionary). Maslow’s hierarchy of needs identifies a number of motivational factors. The categories of ‘esteem and belonging needs’ (see chart below) can be seen to be important factors for motivating teams. For example, where there is ‘family’ environment’ where there is care, trust, nurture an open environment people are likely to be more motivated. If there are good relationships between individuals, people will communicate and support each other and trust each other .This is prevalent in key business which are run like ‘families’ where the organisation recognises and treats team members like ‘family’ they flourish.Also where conditions are created for people to feel a sense of achievement and reputation, people are likely to want to uphold this.  For example, some businesses have good reputations which is what may encourage someone to join that organisation, in turn they would want to uphold that reputation as it would impact positively on them if they mention they have been part of that organisation. Such businesses are also highly regarded by its service users due to having such values. Businesses may also offer opportunities e.g. partnership/shareholders for people to gain a stake in the business and to feel they belong. An example of this is John Lewis Partnership.  This would motivate people, as their sense of achievement would also be financially rewarded.Team based rewards are a good way of motivating team – these do not necessarily  have to be financial rewards, but where individuals feel they are contributing to the team’s success they may be encouraged to work harder so that they don’t let down their colleagues.The need for a collective vision/goals etc. in teams is also an important motivator. As a manager it is important to understand the different motivational factors for each team member and that different motivators will be required for team members.IndividualsIn Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, self-actualisation would be the most motivational factor for individuals. The need for personal growth and fulfilment is what would motivate an individual.  For example, individuals who are offered training and development opportunities, this would help to motivate them as it would help to promote their own self-growth  Another example of motivating individuals is providing individuals with opportunities of empowerment. Where an individual may feel empowered to undertake a task, it may contribute to their own growth and development which in turn motivate them.Situations In Maslow’s hierarchy of needs – the safety and physiological categories can be seen as the motivational factors for situations.  In order to motivate your staff in certain situations you may need to review their conditions- they may require safety if a recent incident has caused upset amongst the work force. A review of the terms and conditions may be required if someone has unfairly been discriminated against.  When people are in certain situations they will require safety, reassurance and protection in order to motivate them.   A good working environment is particularly important to individuals e.g. access to fully working equipment’s, machines, clean and safe building etc. will act as an important motivator in situations. Job security is equally an important motivating factor in situations, if people feel their job security is threatened, or their contract is limited they may not be motivated to work as harder as permanent staff.In order to engage employees it is important to understand their motivational factors and how these play out in the work place. Herzberg’s model identifies ‘dissatisfiers’ and recognises the need to ensure these are addressed before trying to motivate individuals.  He then identifies a number of motivations factors (achievement, recognition, work itself, responsibility, advances and personal growth).Maslow’s theory of hierarchy of needs identifies that individuals are motivated by their needs and the diagram display the most basic needs at the bottom (biological and physiological needs) and as they go up the pyramid the motivational factors which support this progress.Both theories identify the need to create a good working environment for individuals and therefore good teams will ensure they have positive relationships but also a physical working environment with fair conditions which will motivate individuals and teams. An example of this could be unions, job security,  or the right to access  support via work, fair policies and principles of working which as Hertzberg would describe as ‘satisfying’ their need.   Achievement and recognition are identified as the higher motivators’ and could be used  where individuals are required to be motivated, for example praise, celebrating achievements, rewards systems etc. could be applied. Similarly team rewards, via awards ceremony or target setting with rewards could be applied to motivate individuals and teams.  Team away days could also be used in developingRelationships and motivating individuals and team.  Training and development opportunities for individuals are identified as motivators for individuals in both theories as ‘personal growth’.LEADING AND MOTIVATING A TEAM EFFECTIVELY AC 2.2 Explain the importance of a leader being able to motivate teams and individuals and gain their commitment to objectivesAlthough everyone has a responsibility to motivate themselves, leadership is need to further encourage that motivation to ensure team objectives are achieved. A leader must be able to motivate individuals to maximise their performance and to ensure tasks are completed on time and to the required standard.’ This is important because motivated individuals tend to have higher productivity, they are more receptive to adapting/change and have a positive attitude towards their work. Furthermore, they help to spread an organization’s good reputation, reduce rates of absenteeism, and improve performance and profit. They also work hard to achieve their goals, and work with a greater sense of urgency than unmotivated people. (Mind tools – motivating your teams)A leader must be able to understand what motivates their teams, whether these are intrinsic or extrinsic factors and use these accordingly. It is important that a leader can create the environment in which people are motivated as this will build trust and create a supportive environment in which individuals are inspired and recognised.A recent example of this was when I was asked to lead on the introduction the updated IR35 rules for commissioning. This was a new initiative which would require additional work for our internal and external teams.  We would need to complete an online tool test for all projects and ensure that other teams/service were also compliant. My team was quite reluctant to this change, as it was new and it was never needed before. I worked with colleagues in procurement to help understand what these new changes meant and then communicated the importance of this task to my team. I learned how to use the tool, so that I was able to support my colleagues when they were completing the tool. I arranged regular one to ones to give individuals the opportunity for help /support and motivate staff members and ensure they are fully committed.  I recognise that individuals in my team have traits from McClelland’s theory of ‘affiliation’ and therefore grouping those to do the tool in sets helped them gain confidence.  Once they were confident in using the tool, I encouraged them to use it independently but also share their knowledge with other teams/services who were in a similar situation to them. This was useful as it helped empower them but also ensure the objectives were being met. It was more difficult to encourage other teams to ensure compliance, as this type of matrix management means that they are not directly responsible.  Communication was key, and regular reminders and updates on the rules along with opportunities for training helped this.  I also ensured that recognition and praise was being provided where teams were completing the tools/making a conscious effort to ensure they were compliant.Where individuals had not taken this on board and ignored the new rules, they found that payment to their organisations were being blocked by senior managers and they were forced to contact the team for support. This, however meant that there was a delay in payment which could have been avoided if they had followed the leader’s instruction.Another example is through my work based project. It was important that I motivated teams to share information on their contracts with me.  In order for mangers to do this, they needed to feel that they could trust me understand what I was using the information for. They also required reassurance from me that the information would be stored safely and securely and that they would also have an input in how that information is presented.  I set up workshops on how to use the new database which was an opportunity for managers to gain new skills. This was helpful in  not only getting  them interested in the project but also to ensure commitment going forward as they learned how to updated and amend information by attending the training workshops.UNDERSTANDING GOOD PRACTICE IN WORKPLACE COACHING AC 1.1 Describe and define the purpose of workplace coachingWork place coaching is ‘The process of equipping people with the tools, knowledge, and opportunities they need to fully develop themselves to be effective in their commitment to themselves, the company, and their work’. Work place coaching fosters the ‘skills, processes and knowledge through which people involve themselves in making the maximum impact and constantly renewing themselves and their organisations as they experience continuous change.’ (Integral)The purpose of work place coaching is to support employee growth and development, through using existing knowledge and experience to enable the individual to enhance their creativity and practices.   Coaching will enable the opportunity to remove any roadblocks to performance.‘Coaching promotes creativity, breakthrough performance and resilience, giving organizations a competitive edge and an effective way to flow and operate within an environment of continuous change.’ (integral).  It will also contribute to ensuring staff members feel valued and that investment into their growth will help ensure the retention of staff.The purpose of workplace coaching is to develop people’s skills and abilities to enhance their performance.Work place coaching will consist of open questions, in which the coachee would be doing more listening, and will encourage and support the coachee through the conversations.  Workplace coaching is solution focused in that it allows individuals to explore with the coach how they will resolve issues before they become major problems. Workplace coaching enables strength based conversations to take place, thus increasing people’s self-belief by acknowledging and praising what has gone well.  The coach will ‘guide’ the coachee by asking them questions, with the knowledge that the coachee would provide their own solutions and the coachee encourages them to build on these. Work place coaching increases individuals self-awareness and responsibility through guiding the coachee and asking them to be more solution focused e.g. how would you resolve this, what would you differently, how could you have done this differently?’ etc. work place coaching contributes to and promotes the growth and development of staff. It also challenges individuals to recognise their own potential. A key point to note is that work place coaching is achievement focused ensuring individuals are task focused and guided/reminded of the strategic visions/oversight and encouraged to identify how this can be seen in the task they are undertaking.In Manchester City Council, strength based conversation are being encouraged when communicating with managers/colleagues etc.  Previous 1-2-1’s are more solution focused and the style of coaching is being embedded in ‘about you’s , 1-2-1 and key meetings to help promote this. The benefits of this and the culture change is positively impacting on staff as it setting the expectation that the council wants staff to be empowered, and to think ‘outside the box’ etc.  but also reminds them of how this links with the ‘Our Manchester’ strategy and vision.  AC 1.4 Explain how coaches should contract and manage confidentiality to coach ethicallyIn order for coaching to be successful and effective, it is important that there is confidence in the process.  This is where, coaching ethically’ will come in. In its simplest form coaching ethically is following ethical standards which comprise of values such as integrity, competence, confidentiality and responsibility.Good Coaches will draw up a coaching contract which will set key standards and expectations. This will help to provide reassurances to the coachee on how the coaching will take place. The contract will confirm the type of coaching taking place, the boundaries of confidentiality, data protection rules, how sessions will take, the expected conduct in the sessions… The contract will provide details of behaviours and values that will be expected e.g. listening, trust, open, honest, respect, fairness, willingness etc. The contract will outline the roles and responsibilities of both the coach and the coachee and may also set schedules on the frequency of coaching. This will help ensure there is equal commitment and what is expected from each other.Ethical conduct will also refer to operating within the parameters of the law. Therefore the coach needs to ensure that they follow rules and regulations e.g. data protection. This will also refer to the treatment of people   i.e. treat people fairly and consistently, not to prejudice anyone and to maintain professional conduct at all time (again they will need to remember that coaching in the workplace need to ensure they uphold the principles and values for that workplace e.g. MCC has a dignity at work policy)The confidentiality in coaching is particularly important as it will reflect on how comfortable someone feels to be coached, but also the effectiveness of the coaching. Lack of confidentiality can lead to mistrust, no improvements, reluctance to change, low self-esteem and become a barrier to engagement. A good coach will not only have a contract, but it is important that he/she demonstrates this in the way they deliver their coaching. AC 2.2 Explain the range of tools and techniques (including diagnostic tools and those exploring learning preferences) that can be used to support effective coachingThere are a range of tools and techniques that can be used to support effective coaching. It is important to recognise that there are differences in staff and that one tool may work better for others also there are tools to identify individual learning preferences, and there are tools to review teams. There are also tools which drawn upon motivators and others which look at preferred learning style. In the section I will explore the different tools and techniques I have come across which could assist in supportive effective coaching.Motivational questionnaire sheet can be used to identify what motivates your staff. This can help you understand and identify why your staff are in the job e.g. is  it the salary, is it the work type, is it because of the team, the colleagues, reputation of the business, the type of work they do  etc. This is helpful to understand especially when you are trying to find way in which to motivate them and to play to their strengths. For example one individual may like to work because they like to be public facing which helps when coaching someone who may be looking for a job in which this satisfies them, to consider working in a forward facing role e.g. neighbourhood delivery or tasking them to assignments which may include public consultations or explore how they could bring this into their day to day working. It is important to note that what motivates one staff member may not motivate the other staff member. Similarly the ‘driver’s questionnaire’ can also be used to identify what ‘drives people’ in their tasks/work. Such template can be found on the internet and utilise the one which you see best fits your organisation/teams.The ‘first break all rules’ by Marcus Buckingham is another which captures the most important information about the elements that attract, focus a keep the most talented employees. This is helpful in knowing what supports employee retention and what matte