Responsiveness

The spaces in which we work provide us with many opportunities to engage; but in making constructive relationships, it’s the Three Rs that do most of the heavy lifting. The centrality of relationships, which runs through everything, does so most obviously, most practically,  in the Three Rs.

The Three Rs provide a more precise and tighter focus on the nitty gritty of the day to day life of services – the rules and procedures of the service.

NB: The text that follows here is an excerpt from : The Book of PIE (HERE)

 

Responsiveness

The last of the Three Rs is the most flexible of all – and also the most intangible.  Just as the centrality of relationships runs through everything, and is therefore hard to pin down, likewise responsiveness should show everywhere.

And for that reason this section has rather less to say, because we have covered so much of it.

For example, we can say that responsiveness is the result or achievement of a culture of 'learning and enquiry', and of 'reflective practice'.  Equally, it means the actual taking of any opportunity in the ‘spaces’ where there is any opportunity to be taken.  We might equally say that responsiveness is what makes 'the rules' work; or we might even say it is the measure of them. In 'sector engagement', it may mean being willing to listen to what other agencies have to say about your service.

Nevertheless, we can probably say that some roles, such as delegated authority, with a keyworker or broker role can enhance responsiveness; as can a culture of enquiry (as against a culture of blame; and certainly a culture of adherence is the direct opposite). Also that the more a service is person-centred, the more responsive it can then be to individuals' needs and strengths. But this can also be challenging to deliver, and will require particular agility written into the rules.

Responsiveness, then, is not a distinct and separate area of the work, in the way that training, for example, is. It is better seen as a distinct perspective through which to look back over all the others.

How useful this is, thereforfe, as a distinct thread in a PIE assessment, is entirely in the hands of the team undertaking the assessment. If it allows you to take a step back, and an overview of all of your services, if it seems a useful question, ask it...

Further links and background

Psychological awareness ; HERE

  • Empathy and emotional intelligence : HERE
  • Approaches and techniques : HERE
  • Psychological models : HERE

Training and support : HERE

Learning and enquiry : HERE

  • Reflective practice : HERE
  • A culture of Enquiry : HERE
  • Sector engagement : HERE
  • Evidence- generating practice : HERE

Spaces of opportunity : HERE

  • The built environment : HERE
  • Networks and surroundings : HERE
  • Pathways, systems and system coherence : HERE

The Three Rs : HERE

  • Rules and procedures : HERE
  • Roles and relationships : HERE
  • Responsiveness : HERE

 

Where are relationships in PIEs 2.0? : HERE

A lived experience view of PIEs : HERE

What's the Big Idea?  : HERE

From PIEs 1 to PIEs 2.0 : HERE

Will there be a PIEs 3? : HERE