Mind the Gap!

It’s funny the connections you make in your thinking when you are engaged in something that appears to be completely disconnected. This happened to me recently when I was in the throes of month-end admin and travel expenses.

Reflecting on both of my recent train journeys, I heard the words ‘mind the gap between the train and the platform’. When I consider the distance often between the step and the platform, I am appreciative of the reminder.  This verbal reminder contributes to my experience as a customer, encouraging me to be attentive and to take care of myself getting on and off the train. It must, I am sure, also contribute to the train company’s risk liability, though, for the purposes of my experience, that remains in the background.

So, what of my connectedness with ‘gaps’ over the past week. I have written the word down twice in my notebook when reflecting on the experience of others as they find their way and understand their purpose in large organisations.

One story involved the perceived gap between people at the top of the organisation, attempting to develop strategies and plans to bring government policy to life. At the same time, the person commenting considered themselves to be at the ‘bottom’ of the organisation – the front line – doing their best to meet patient needs. They considered how their work seemed disconnected from policy intentions and, indeed, local strategy. They also lamented how their experience at the front line never filtered to those at the top meaningfully to inform direction, next steps or local strategy.

The second time I found myself doodling the word ‘gap’ was as part of reflecting on managers’ experiences in attempts at strategic workforce planning in the NHS. Here, I heard stories of parallel working with gaps existing between the parallel work. I heard how hard it was to make a difference in these circumstances. Gaps also showed up between the reality of the day-to-day and the hope of a re-imagined future. There was an acknowledged harsh reality about the outcome of not doing a good enough job with strategic workforce planning: a widening gap in the capacity and capability of the NHS workforce.

What I value about my work in Tricordant is a fundamental premise of it – enabling connections on multiple fronts which minimise the kind of gaps I have described: bringing people closer together with a sense of shared purpose for their work, recognising the many truths that exist in any given context and the power in this diversity to think and do differently. All in pursuit of healthy organisational outcomes, which include a positive experience for colleagues working in those organisations.

Going back to my train experience, if, as you are reading this, you are sitting and recognising that you can go beyond a governance approach to getting things done and explore how a relational approach can transform both your experience and results, please get in touch. Gaps can be wonderfully helpful, too: time for reflecting, learning and taking care of yourself. There’s a gap in my diary for a conversation – I look forward to hearing from you.

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