The Value of Critical Friends

 

(Picture Credit: Bill Ferriter)

One of the most challenging and enjoyable elements of my work is being commissioned to provide Critical Friend reviews. In the increasingly crowded social space it is even more important that organisations have a digital strategy which connects, speaks and listens to often diverse audiences. Every organisation needs to show how their engagement strategies are generating tangible results and impact through digital leadership and culture. Over the last few years we have been carrying out an increasing number of critical friend reviews for public, private and not for profit organisations.

A critical friend review is an external and uniquely independent opinion of an organisation’s positioning, strategy or initiatives. It comes from a perspective that is sympathetic to what the organisation is trying to achieve and reflects the context whilst identifying opportunities, likely challenges and pitfalls.

A Critical Friend review addresses these fundamental questions:

• How is your organisation positioned now?
• Where do you want to be?
• How are you going to get there?
• How are you showing that your work makes a difference and has an impact?

In answering these questions, the emphasis is on being honest and ‘telling it how it is’. We recognise that this can be difficult but to be effective a critical friend review must be unafraid to comment on where the chosen approach is unlikely to deliver the desired results and to suggest different approaches.

Why is this valuable now?

The simple reason is that we are in a challenging economic and political climate with rapidly changing expectations of how services will be delivered. Consequently, organisations must develop new and unprecedented ways of working. As senior managers frequently tell me “Our approach to digital transformation needs to be different from anything we have done before”. With fewer resources available, and with more riding on outcomes than ever before, organisations cannot afford to make mistakes in the way they respond to these challenges.  A critical friend review helps organisation prepare for navigating uncharted territory through market intelligence which has been gained over many years of working across the social sector.

I believe it is crucial for proposed approaches to be subjected to independent scrutiny. The feedback will not inevitably be negative: it will identify what is being done well and can highlight strengths and opportunities that may have been missed. A great deal of our work consists in recommending organisations, initiatives and resources which our clients may be unaware of – but which could greatly assist in the achievement of their objectives.

Successive governments have recognised the importance of critical friending for the public sector.  We draw on the ‘Critical Friend Framework’ published in 2004 which identifies three dimensions of critical friending: ‘inputs’ (looking at the skills and experience involved in a project), process and structure (considering the way in which projects are organised) and outcomes (evaluating what the organisation is aiming to achieve and prospects of success).

In acting as a critical friend, we are able to draw upon many years of working with adult and children’s services, health, housing, social enterprises, entrepreneurs, academics and charities. Our knowledge and expertise encompasses policy, research, marketing, communications and digital technology. This ‘width and depth’ – together with an ability to look at a situation from a range of different perspectives – is really an essential requirement of a critical friend. There is little value in being told what you already know!

What this means in practice is illustrated by a comment from one of our clients Barnwood Trust,

 “Embarking on a new website and a whole new approach to the way we were working, and on top of that a new brand for it all, was a big and sometimes daunting job. We spent a long time researching, planning and testing each of our ideas and concepts, making sure that we were developing something that people wanted and felt would be useful to them. It was during this process that we came across Shirley and her work as a critical friend.

“Shirley took on the role of critical friend for our new brand and website, You’re Welcome  and provided us with a completely different and invaluable perspective. Not only did Shirley provide a thought provoking report from which we have been able to develop and also strengthen our ideas but she also provided support throughout the review on the phone. It was extremely useful to talk our work through with someone with as much knowledge and experience as Shirley. To have a report at the end of it really helped with the work and how we developed it. Shirley was an absolute pleasure to work with and we will definitely be looking to draw from her skills and experience again in the future.”

Transformational change across the health, care and housing and social sectors now requires digital leadership, market intelligence and approaches which acknowledge the value of radical thinking. 

Expectations of more openness, transparency and accountability in publicly funded services along with the immediacy of social media in highlighting disconnects between the rhetoric and reality of how organisations present themselves makes the role of  a independent critical friend even more important.

I am often asked to comment on projects, websites, digital products and services but the response often needs more than a tweet (or two!). I am happy to discuss how a critical friend review could help your organisation. Please feel free to contact me. Shirley.Ayres@btinternet.com  @shirleyayres

Shirley is co-founder of the Connected Care Network which supports digital transformation and engagement using technology & social media for social good.

 

 

 

Do you have a question for #socialconvo?

On Tuesday 29th April Mark Brown, Paul Taylor and I will be having a very social conversation about what social media can do to make social good better. 

Social media has played an enormous role in giving a voice to people and organisations who previously had no platform. Social influence and digital leadership is now coming from a much more diverse group. The new influencers use Twitter, blogs, YouTube and other social media platforms to reach thousands of people.

People are beginning to wake up to the potential for social media to deliver social good.  Organisations and communities who previously dismissed social media as a fad are beginning to ask ‘what can social media do for us?’.

But where is social media now?  Where might social media be in five years time?  What might it offer to anyone wanting to meet the growing need for new answers in delivering social good and transforming services?

This is an exciting time to explore the impact of social media in a digitally connected world and think about how social media could transform your work and organisations in the near future.

As part of the conversation Paul Taylor is chairing a ‘Question Time’-style debate exploring ways to develop skills as an influencer in the social space.  You are invited to submit questions for the debate either through the comments here or using the hashtag #socialconvo on Twitter. Whilst we cannot guarantee to answer all of the questions submitted it will certainly be a lively debate! 

A limited number of tickets are still available to attend this unique event and you can book here.

Thanks to everyone who has submitted questions via Twitter!

‏@clarkmike#socialconvo – how could 151 Health and Wellbeing Boards use social media to engage 53m ppl on transforming health/care through £5bn#BetterCareFund?

@watfordgap hope #socialconvo goes well today, interested if the convo gets to basic tech for #socialcare

‏@jess1ecat  #socialconvo – how can we translate social media campaigns into tangible offline activism?

@Chill4usCarers  I would like to ask ‘when will someone help family unpaid carers get on the internet, so they can find support and care’

 ‏@Chill4usCarers  Please remember family unpaid carers when discussing social media #socialconvo often forgotten and brushed over. #carers

 ‏@MrDarrenGormley  my question is opposite, how do those at coalface bring our ‘leaders’ @ailinmartinez #SocialConvo

@ailinmartinez  here is my question: how do you bring front line staff with you when using #socialmedia? (Examples) #SocialConvo

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@LelFMeleyal  question: how do we educate about/regulate professional boundaries re: soc media? #socialconvo

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@ailinmartinez  @gigbuddies ssocial media policy – 140 characters are enough to empower people: engage, experiment, be relevant & take responsibility

Guest post @markoneinfour: social media and social conversations

What if social media wasn’t a place for building brands?  What if social media was not just another publicity channel?  What if social media was not just a way to push your message?

What if social media was a place where social good could happen, rather than a place where people put out campaign messages saying social good should happen?

Social media, the name we give to a whole variety of different platforms, activities and mechanisms, is already all of those things.  As I’ll be exploring further at  “What can social media do to make social good better?”on April 29th, it’s incorrect to think about social media as medium for publishing content or for ‘doing publicity’.  You can, of course do that if you so choose, but you’re really not seeing social media for what it really is.

A layer of communication; the world turned upside down

With the growth of mobile technology like smartphones and tablet PCs; social media feels less like a set of websites that we visit and more like a layer of communication, community and interaction that sits over our everyday lives.  The growth of social media has led to an expansion in the self-production of media and to a blossoming of public debate.  Social media can almost be considered a series of glorious, noisy islands lying off the coastline of traditional ‘real life’.  The growth of public debate has grown from a mass adoption of this new kind of connectedness.

People who have made a career as social media strategists will tell you lots of stuff about brand value, reach, conversion and will keep talking until they’ve wowed you with metrics and strategies.  Great, if that’s your bag, but they’re really talking about social media as a vehicle to drive sales.  What if driving sales is not your aim?  What if the relationship you want with other people is not just through the mechanism of financial exchange?

As with the adoption of mobiles phones and of text messaging, after an initial rush of early adopters, it has been people in the broadest sense, not organisations, that have made social media a force with which to be reckoned.  Social media is still in a Wild West phase, not yet quite assimilated into our existing institutions and structures.  It still allows hitherto impossible situations of creative disruption to existing ways of doing things – or at least it does if we grasp its potential.  It has opened a new space where things might happen, and one which those with existing bases of power are keen to either occupy or to police.

As an extra layer of communication and connection social media builds networks between people, enabling the flow of information in such a way that reputation, and in turn, influence grows.  In social media, the contours of this influence landscape don’t always follow the contours that exist offline.  Many currently active on public social networking sites like Twitter are there precisely because Twitter throws up unexpected contacts and unexpected information.  Social networking ‘power’ and ‘real world power’ have yet to settle into a comfortable relationship.  The last two years has represented an intense period of legal cases and collective head scratching about the legal status of social media activity, a proxy argument for the question ‘where does this new realm of public action fit into our existing ways of doing things?  Can social media make the powerful powerless and and the powerless powerful?’

Despite this element of creative disruption, the great, the good and the powerful have gone to where the people are, rather than trying to draw the people to them.  Social media, once a flash in the pan to be discounted has increasingly become another front in the battle for real world power.  At present all social media is a jostling between subversives, establishments and everything inbetween.

Just as the access to people has drawn those with real world power, the same has also been true of those who have previously found themselves ignored, discounted or acted against.  Social media, for the time being at least, has evened some of these hierarchies.  This is by no means guaranteed to be the case indefinitely. Social media is only the sum of the ways in which it is is used and is constantly in flux; making it even more important that we seize the time to make social good happen via social media.

Relationships

In a Nominet Trust paper published in 2011, Charities’ use of the internet – Current Activities and Future Opportunities: A state of the art review, Dr Eleanor Burt and Professor John Taylor explore the ways in which charities are using the internet as a means to generate value.

They write about an emerging way of doing things online, with people’s online activities representing a series of expectations which, far from the mass consumption model of previous generations, “these consumers, it is argued, look to create relationship value with organisations, value that is personal to them, value that can be sustained or reduced by the specific encounters that they make”.

‘Relationship value’ is one key to understanding the potential and actual benefits of social media.  People who are engaged with social media are not passive recipients of information.  They are people who are actively seeking relationships with those that they follow, be they individuals, institutions or organisations.  According to Burt and Taylor: “citizens (who are also the employees, volunteers, service users, and other stakeholders of third sector organisations) come increasingly to embrace the online environment, there will be growing imperatives to adapt and change in pursuit of new information-intensive relationships.

Increasingly, what we recognise as the public sphere is extending further and further into social media space and what happens in social media space is increasingly influencing the rest of the public sphere.

One of the most exciting, and challenging, aspects of social media is that it’s happening right now.  It does not happen when the newspaper publishes a story based on a press release, or during office hours.  Social media is a constant and never ending river made of packets of information.  It constantly rolls past the attention of people observing.

As social media brings people together around interests (this is what I am interested in) and affinities (this is the kind of person I value) people with strong interests often find themselves conversing and sharing on a relatively level playing field, rather than finding themselves being divided by traditional organisational, structural, geographical or professional barriers.   In this lies the potential for social media to jump traditional divisions between peers, and between organisations and the public.

Building something bigger than us alone

While relationships that extend across geographical and professional boundaries are the building blocks of social good through social media, the real horizon for building social good through social media is its potential to help us build things that are bigger than us.

Social media connects us with each other, with information and ideas and possibilities by creating ways in which we can all share little bits of something.  That something might be a single tweet, a blog, a comment, a bit of time processing data, a few minutes proofing a document, a few pounds towards the funding of someone elses project.  Social media has made it easier than ever before to share little bits of our surplus resources in ways that it make it easier for ourselves or others to aggregate them into something much bigger.

If anyone has witnessed how quickly a meme grows or how fast the process of developing an idea can move when it’s powered by social media-enabled relationships, they’ll have seen this process at work.  Where once we were limited by people we had met in real life and with whom we could organise a face to face or telephone conversation, or by people we had met virtually and could communicate with by letter, now we can devote our resources to a social good working closely with people we have never, and will never, even meet.

Good reciprocal relationships make for good conditions for sharing and building together.  That’s the opposite of ‘building your brand’.

It’s this something much bigger that really interests me, and which I hope to explore on the 29th April.  I’ll be asking: in what ways can we use social media as a way of bringing together lots of little things to make a big change?  I’ll be exploring how we make sure that social media does not lose its potential to disrupt in positive ways without succumbing to the crushing, deadening logic that turns social media from a zone of possibility and adventure to an arena for corporate message advancement.

I  look forward to you joining me, Shirley Ayres and Paul Taylor on the 29th April to be part of a very social conversation. Book your ticket now – the early bird price ends 18th April.

PS: If you cannot access paypal we can provide an invoice but we will need to charge the full price to cover the additional costs involved.

PPS: If you are unable to attend and want to support what we are doing let us know if you would like to sponsor a place! 

You can follow the discussions on Twitter using the hashtag #socialconvo

Social conversations, social media and social good

You may have picked up that Mark Brown @MarkOneinFour,  Paul Taylor @PaulBromford  and I are running an event on the 29th April in Central London. We are exploring “What can social media do to make social good better?”

 

What makes it special for me is that Mark, Paul and I come from very different backgrounds but we have a shared interest in how social media is defining care, support and community engagement both online and offline in the digital age. We are also exploring what it means to be a social business and the importance of seeing social media  as part of a core vision to transform your business rather than a marginal activity. 

We are delighted that we already received sponsorship for a place at the event which has been awarded to Alison Cameron @allyc375. If you  would like to sponsor a place at the event do get in touch!  We look forward to discussing the questions submitted by participants and via Twitter.

Whether you work in the public, private, charity or social enterprise sectors understanding the impact of social media for social good is now essential. We do hope you will join us on the 29th April for a very social conversation. You can follow the discussion on Twitter using the hahtag #socialconvo. Following the considerable interest in my post “Is social media putting the ‘social’ back into care” we particularly welcome people from the care sector interested  why “Social media is a fundamental shift in the way we communicate” .

Our conversations started when Stu Arnott @MindingsStu and I interviewed Mark and Paul for the Disruptive Social Care podcast. The podcasts have been downloaded thousands of times but just in case you missed these interviews…….

Mark Brown has been described as one of the smartest thinkers in the worlds of social media and mental health. Mark edits One in Four, England’s only national mental health and wellbeing magazine written by people who experience mental health difficulties. Mark is a director of Social Spider a community interest company helping people to make change happen. 

 

Paul Taylor specialises on Innovation, Service Design and Research
and Development at Bromford a social business providing homes and support to over 80,000 people. Paul leads the Innovation Lab and he is particularly interested in the development of preventative social solutions and the power of technology to connect people. Paul was a key part of the team who developed the Bromford Deal which aims to shift resources away from reactive interventions and into more person centred customer care and support.

 

We look forward to you joining us on the 29th April to be part of a very social conversation 

Connected Care Camp survey – what are the priorities?

Connected Care Camp on the 7th December is bringing together front line staff, managers, people who use health and care services as well as carers to explore how we can improve the wider care sector including housing.

Connected Care Camp is part of the Public Service Launchpad a new programme to help passionate people who work either paid or unpaid in all kinds of public services – whether in local government, housing associations, health services, the third sector, social enterprises or elsewhere to develop ideas to solve the problems that they encounter every day. Ideas can involve small changes or radical redesign of services.

Not everyone can attend this one-off event in person but you can join in on Twitter using the hashtag #psicare.

We know what many of the problems are, many are making headlines on a daily basis so we are looking for solutions that work and that can scale. We need a clearer vision of what works and who could benefit so that we can optimise the skills and resources we currently have. This includes decommissioning services that are not effective.

In a fragmented health and care system we need to be clear about who has responsibilities for action, how organisations and communities can be more effective and how health, care and housing can be better co-ordinated around people who could benefit.

To help us organise the day and better engage the wider community via social media we would welcome your responses to our survey.

Click here to take the survey

Find out more about Connected Care Camp and book your place here

Who would you like us to interview for the Xmas Disruptive Social Care podcast?

https://twitter.com/shirleyayres/status/376749048591437824

@shirleyayres I'd love to hear @ermintrude speak! Her tweets are amazing

— Kylie (@kykaree) September 8, 2013

@kykaree great suggestion @Ermintrude2 is very special but we video all of our podcasts & atm she has to remain anonymous!

— Shirley Ayres (@shirleyayres) September 8, 2013

@kykaree must admit we've never interviewed a cartoon cow on the Disruptive Social Care podcast! @Ermintrude2

— Shirley Ayres (@shirleyayres) September 8, 2013

@shirleyayres My festival director Errol Francis – Anxiety 2014 arts festival we are running Anxious Xmas 18.12.13 a perfect antidote 2 xmas

— Anna B Sexton (@annabsexton) September 8, 2013

@shirleyayres try David Behan.

— Alan Rosenbach (@AlanRosenbach) September 8, 2013

@shirleyayres point taken. I nominate our new CI Andrea Sutcliffe. 🙂

— Alan Rosenbach (@AlanRosenbach) September 8, 2013

https://twitter.com/wwwframeworks4c/status/376756666563579906

@shirleyayres suggest @clentonF

— martin routledge (@mroutled) September 8, 2013

@shirleyayres I nominate @CormacRussell – he'd be great , give a unique perspective , and I could meet for #flashlunch afterwards 😉

— Paul Taylor (@PaulIanTaylor) September 8, 2013

@shirleyayres @Crouchendtiger7 suggest @alexsharedlives Alex Fox then at Shared Lives or @SianCommCats community catalysts or both.

— Alan Rosenbach (@AlanRosenbach) September 8, 2013

@RichardatKF @AlanRosenbach you know I'm committed to promoting digital leadership across the #care sector it's the furture 🙂 #digilead

— Shirley Ayres (@shirleyayres) September 8, 2013

@shirleyayres @MindingsStu Yeap defo @Ermintrude2.. @MentalHealthCop & @444blackcat..@ManishaMahen 4 final yr student perspective on future

— Lou (@leat72) September 8, 2013

@leat72 thanks for suggestions @MindingsStu & I self fund #deukcare so limited in our interviews! @Ermintrude2 @MentalHealthCop @444blackcat

— Shirley Ayres (@shirleyayres) September 8, 2013

https://twitter.com/Ermintrude2/status/376778696319041536

https://twitter.com/annabsexton/status/376782475059810304

https://twitter.com/Ermintrude2/status/376783850791510016

https://twitter.com/Ermintrude2/status/376783916138786816

@shirleyayres someone from service providing organisation would be good, practitioner or first line manager preferably, not a big cheese

— Richard Humphries 💚 (@RichardnotatKF) September 8, 2013

@shirleyayres @Ermintrude2 @AlanRosenbach @amcunningham @coyle_mj @BendyGirl @BeresfordPeter panel discussion ?

— Richard Humphries 💚 (@RichardnotatKF) September 8, 2013

https://twitter.com/Ermintrude2/status/376785631504269312

@Ermintrude2 @AlanRosenbach @amcunningham @coyle_mj @BendyGirl @BeresfordPeter that would a breeze for @shirleyayres & @MindingsStu 🙂

— Richard Humphries 💚 (@RichardnotatKF) September 8, 2013

@shirleyayres @Ermintrude2 @RichardatKF @AlanRosenbach @amcunningham @BendyGirl @BeresfordPeter flattered to be in such company

— Martin Coyle (@coyle_mj) September 8, 2013

. @shirleyayres Given all +ve feedback you get surely ppl wld buy podcast @Ermintrude2 @RichardatKF @AlanRosenbach @amcunningham @coyle_mj

— GeorgeJulian (@GeorgeJulian) September 8, 2013

@shirleyayres @Ermintrude2 @RichardatKF @AlanRosenbach @amcunningham @coyle_mj @BeresfordPeter sounds a great idea 🙂

— BendyGirl (@BendyGirl) September 8, 2013

@BendyGirl @shirleyayres @Ermintrude2 @RichardatKF @AlanRosenbach @amcunningham @coyle_mj Hope this happens!! all best peter

— Peter Beresford (@BeresfordPeter) September 8, 2013

@shirleyayres hi wld love 2 nominate @ShahanaRamsden @clentonF & @m55sal 4 disruptive social care p'cast. Share yr passion 4 changing system

— jaimee lewis (@jaimeelewis) September 9, 2013

@shirleyayres & @ShahanaRamsden wld b awesome in sharing work she's doing w national co-production group to reach those who aren't heard

— jaimee lewis (@jaimeelewis) September 9, 2013

@shirleyayres Hi shirley – how about Marc De'ath on the work of Digital Pioneers from Our Digital Community?

— Access Dorset (@AccessDorsetUK) September 9, 2013

@shirleyayres I think he can be found at @CreativeCoop

— Access Dorset (@AccessDorsetUK) September 9, 2013

Disruptive Social Care News and Innovation Video Podcast 20 now online!

Welcome to our twentieth Podcast , we hope that you enjoy it!

Reblogged from the Disruptive Social Care website

Please leave comments and let us have a conversation. Also, come and “Like” us on Facebook if that’s your thing, and follow Shirley and Stuart on Twitter:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/DisruptiveSocialCare
YouTube Channel: www.youtube.com/disruptivesocialcare
Stuart Arnott on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MindingsStu
Shirley Ayres on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ShirleyAyres

Shownotes

Citizen 2013 June 13th London provided the opportunity for a stimulating and provocative discussion about digital engagement and government service in 2013. https://twitter.com/CareQualityComm has over 21,000 followers but only actually follows 215 people. http://citizen-2012.org/

The Kings Fund International Congress on Telehealth and Telecare 2013
http://www.kingsfund.org.uk/events/third-annual-international-congress-telehealth-and-telecare

Challenging comments from George Crooks @NHS24 “if you always do things the same way and never redesign services then #telehealth will always cost more” and “tech is potential disruptor, but service redesign is key. The workforce are trying to work round deficiencies in the current structures which include blocking staff from using social media”.

Panel debate on the pros and cons of Telehealth and Telecare chaired by https://twitter.com/RoyLilley and including ttps://twitter.com/mellojonny

Kent Care in the Digital Age conference
https://shirleyayres.wordpress.com/2013/08/25/kentdigicare-a-milestone-for-connected-care/ #kentdigicare

Congratulations to Andrea Sutcliffe https://twitter.com/Crouchendtiger7 Chief Executive of the Social Care Institute for Excellence who has been appointed by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) as its first Chief Inspector of Adult Social Care.
Watch her on DSC Podcast 6: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAF4Q5qx8gs

Growing old (dis)gracefully: Choice for the late middle age
https://twitter.com/JohnW_Bromford
http://www.24dash.com/news/housing/2013-08-28-Opinion-Growing-old-dis-gracefully-Choice-for-the-late-middle-age?utm_content=bufferb78b0&utm_source=buffer&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Buffer

NHS re-organisation
Follow https://twitter.com/clarkmike
Subscribing to monthly eNewsletter http://www.telecarelin.org.uk/
An alternative guide to the new NHS in England by the Kings Fund
http://www.kingsfund.org.uk/projects/nhs-65/alternative-guide-new-nhs-england

Ermintrude2
https://twitter.com/Ermintrude2 has started writing again
Social Work Journal Club Chat
#swjcchat.
http://swjcchat.wordpress.com/2013/07/07/what-is-the-social-work-journal-club/

Health & Illness in a Connected World
Fascinating post about online peer support in the digital age

Tweets by clarkmike

http://1.usa.gov/17MH9dJ

HealthyWalks
https://twitter.com/healthywalks network run by https://twitter.com/RamblersGB & https://twitter.com/macmillancancer

http://bit.ly/1f4yB4I Walking for Health
Free local easy walks
http://www.walkingforhealth.org.uk/

Systems Thinking for Girls
We recommend the writing of https://twitter.com/STforgirls who challenge every day management thinking and sexism.
http://systemsthinkingforgirls.com/

Challenges and opportunities of Digital Leadership

Tweets by clarkmike

10 top tips asks whether a ‘digital’ leader any different from a ‘traditional’ leader.
https://shirleyayres.wordpress.com/2013/08/08/digital-leadership-10-top-tips-from-clarkmike/

Lessons in Digital Leadership (from South Korea and Uganda)
https://twitter.com/PaulBromford
http://paulbromford.wordpress.com/2013/08/08/lessons-in-digital-leadership-from-south-korea-and-uganda/

Three Ways To Get Cool Stuff Done Quickly At Work

Tweets by HelReynolds

http://paulbromford.wordpress.com/2013/08/12/three-ways-to-get-cool-stuff-done-quickly-at-work/

Meet Helen Reynolds the #socialmedia guru who makes Monmouthshire rock
http://www.theguardian.com/local-government-network/2013/aug/23/social-media-monmouthshire?utm_source=buffer&utm_campaign=Buffer&utm_content=buffercc007&utm_medium=twitter

The living map of ageing innovators

Tweets by nesta_uk

provides a guide to some of the most exciting things happening in the world of ageing. http://ageinginnovators.org/

Living map of job innovators

Tweets by nesta_uk

The most exciting things happening in the world of job creation and tackling worklessness.
http://jobsinnovators.org/

Nominet trust Social Tech, Social Change – seeks to inspire more entrepreneurs to develop new ventures using digital technology for social impact.
http://www.nominettrust.org.uk/what-we-support/our-investment-programmes/social-tech-social-change

The Digital Edge is an investment programme to fund innovative, tested ideas for using digital technology to improve young people’s economic and social participation.
http://www.nominettrust.org.uk/what-we-support/our-investment-programmes/digital-edge

The Life Transitions programme funds innovative ventures using digital technology to support people during periods of transition, such as moving in and out of employment, bereavement, or moving in and out of a healthcare environment.
http://www.nominettrust.org.uk/what-we-support/our-investment-programmes/life-transitions

Nominet Trust 100
http://www.nominettrust.org.uk/knowledge-centre/nominet-trust-100

Click Guide to Technology for Adult Care
https://shirleyayres.wordpress.com/2013/02/21/available-now-the-click-guide-to-digital-technology-for-adult-social-care/

Mindings Update
http://www.leightonbuzzardonline.co.uk/news/community/snap-up-a-place-in-this-trial-to-tackle-loneliness-1-5350730

Kickstarter “Be Natural”: Alice Guy-Blaché
The first female director in the motion-picture industry and is one of the first directors of fiction films.
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/benatural/be-natural-the-untold-story-of-alice-guy-blache

Let Toys Be Toys
Campaign to stop retailers limiting children’s imaginations and interests by promoting some toys as only suitable for girls, and others only for boys.
http://www.lettoysbetoys.org.uk
Sign the petition!
https://www.change.org/petitions/toy-retailers-in-uk-and-ireland-stop-promoting-toys-as-only-for-boys-or-only-for-girls-2

Twitter Tips and The Art Of Tweeting: Do’s And Don’ts

Tweets by ValaAfshar

http://www.informationweek.com/social-business/social_networking_consumer/the-art-of-tweeting-dos-and-donts/240157863?utm_source=buffer&utm_campaign=Buffer&utm_content=bufferab9ff&utm_medium=twitter

UP-COMING MONTH

5 September
WonkComms: Rent-a-quote? Think tanks, media and strategy.
http://wonkcomms.net/2013/07/17/event-rent-a-quote-think-tanks-media-and-strategy/

5 September
Social Care Curry Club
https://socialcarecurryclub.wordpress.com/
https://twitter.com/SocialCareCurry
Started by https://twitter.com/Mattbowsher and supported by https://twitter.com/GeorgeJulian

September 10
World Health Organization and the International Association for Suicide Prevention (IASP) will co-sponsor World Suicide Prevention Day

Tweets by WHO

Tweets by IASPinfo

#FOLLOW FRIDAY

@whatsthepont
http://whatsthepont.com/

@TryLife_tv
Online drama series
https://twitter.com/PaulRIrwin (Director)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTSa9HxxWLI&feature=youtu.be

@allyc375
“Health and social care hell raiser”

@LetToysBeToys
Campaign to stop retailers limiting children’s imaginations and interests by promoting some toys as only suitable for girls, and others only for boys.

 

#kentdigicare a milestone for connected care?

On the 12th July an exciting event took place in Sittingbourne Kent. 150 professionals and volunteers from care, health, housing, community services and the voluntary sector joined together with service users and carers to discuss how digital technology can enhance care services. They were joined online by people with an interest in social innovation for care from across the UK. The aim of the event was to explore how digital technology can help to improve the wellbeing of individuals who need care and support as well as their families and carers.To encourage social learning from the event we have gathered together all of the resources shared before, during and after the day.

#KentDigiCare was the first collaboration from the Connected Care Network. We are now in discussions with a number of organisations and further collaborations will be announced in the autumn.

Welcome to #kentdigicare @shirleyayres

Why I’m excited about #kentdigicare by @uk_james

Conference Programme via @KentSocialCare

Presentations

@dominiccampbell “Care in the Digital Age: The Use of Technology in Care 

Can online innovations enhance social care? Shirley Ayres 

Workshops To understand how social networks are now influencing innovations in  care the first workshops provided participants with the opportunity to find  out more about using social media and providing digital leadership. A big thank you to  all our  workshop facilitators who travelled from far and wide to support Kent Care in the Digital Age!

Social Media – The Basics @paulbromford

Social Media top tips for #kentdigicare from @clarkmike and @shirleyayres

The event was followed widely across the UK !  #kentdigicare a quick video summary thanks @ailinmartinez

Resources provided for the workshops

Monmouthshire County Council Social Media Guidance for staff and members

Bromford Group Social Media Guidelines

NHS Employers HR and Social Media Guidance

Engage: Digital and Social Media Engagement for the Police Service

Social Media 

The Public Sector Social Media Survey 2013 Infographic from Goss Interactive provides a snapshot of the public sector’s current use of social media on an organisational level.

20 Things They Never Told Us About Going Social – Paul Taylor

Seven Twitter mistakes we all have to make – Helen Reynolds

Social Media Playbook – ELOQUA

Twitter in 15 minutes A beginners guide by @besttechguyever  Facebook 101 for health and care organisations@claireOT

Social Media in Mental Health Practice @VictoriaBetton

The Click Guide to Digital Technology for Adult Social Care

An archive of all the Live Stream recordings made during the day by @johnpopham is available to watch on YouTube 

The tweets were storified thanks to @clarkmike

#KENTDIGICARE – 12 JULY 2012 (WITH IMAGES, TWEETS) · CLARKMIKE

#KentDigiCare – the discussions continue – 15 July 2013 (with tweet)… 

You can still join in the discussions and share resources via the #KentDigiCare hashtag on Twitter.

#KentDigiCare Symplur Analytics Headline Numbers: over 2,643,755 impressions, 194 people participated online and an average 46 tweets per hour.

Blogs

My first blog post! Care in the Digital Age Reflections @TeresaTinsel

#KentDigiCare – a giant leap for Social Movements @whoseshoes

Mindings and Care in the Digital Age @MindingsStu

What did we achieve?

Every participant to make at least five new connections, learn about five new technology innovations that will enhance care in their communities and taking  learning points to share with colleagues in the workplace and community connectors and builders.

Conclusions

“The Kent Care in the Digital Age event created a fantastic environment for engagement, improving understanding and furthering discussion about how  professionals can widen their understanding of the digital opportunities that exist.  We need to understand  how technology can support people to connect with their communities, provide tools for family carers and professional staff and  importantly put people in more control of their own lives. One of the key messages coming through from #kentdigicare was that we need to support people, whenever possible, to use the technology themselves to complement more “traditional”health and social care support. It’s time for health and social care to catch up and enter the digital age.” James Lampert Commissioning Manager Kent County Council @uk_james

Digital Leadership – 10 top tips from @clarkmike

Is a ‘digital’ leader any different from a ‘traditional’ leader? Following on from top ten tips on social media http://bit.ly/16v9eGf, Mike Clark suggests some of the likely characteristics of digital leaders.

1 You don’t have to be a techie

Digital leaders do not have to be experts on tech detail, but need to understand how to exploit it to make connections and achieve good outcomes that make a difference

2 You don’t need an organisation

Digital leaders don’t always have organisations, budgets or staff – they don’t need structure charts – they may have more connections and followers outside of their own organisations

3 Its 24/7/365 and chaotic

Digital leaders operate in a 24/7/365 disrupted & chaotic world not cosy hierarchies, clubs and niches – they build new connections & collaborations at speed – they may be on their own but they communicate extensively

4 You listen more to people with opposing views

Digital leaders seek out people with different views and perspectives to understand how barriers can be overcome – they have wide reach, they question and challenge, summarise and synthesise, simplify and de-clutter when necessary

5 Restrict social media access and you may lose your followers

If organisational managers restrict social media access in work hours, staff will find digital leaders out of hours operating 24/7/365 in open, accessible environments. Equally, giving staff access to social media is unlikely to turn around a poorly led organisation

6 Inspire in 140 characters & trust your staff

If as a leader you are not able to summarise your vision in simple terms in 140 characters, someone else on social media will probably be the inspiration for your staff. Sadly, staff are often forced to leave their digital skills at the office door – digital leaders help nurture and develop those skills

7 Be courageous

It takes courageous leaders to allow their own hierarchies to be disrupted – digital leaders can build external followers before looking at how they can develop & engage their own organisations. Digital leadership is not the role of the Comms Team

8 Use multiple platforms to source ideas and communicate success 

Digital leaders use social media on multiple platforms as a test bed for their ideas and innovations – crowdsourcing, cajoling, capturing and continuously looking for and communicating small wins

9 Think real time, not part time

Digital leaders acknowledge sources, build trust and show appreciation in real time using multiple platforms that work for their connections and followers who appreciate the recognition of their contributions

10 Review and dismantle barriers

Digital leaders review and dismantle traditional infrastructures that act as barriers to innovation or which do not add value – they support and champion people that are close to service users and customers – they help people unlearn bad habits & some non-digital skills that impede progress

Mike Clark has worked as an independent consultant in health and social care since 1992. You can currently find him reporting on telehealth, telemedicine, telecare, digital and mHeath as well as UK health and social care for www.telecarelin.org.uk, https://www.rebelmouse.com/clarkmike/ or Google at ‘Mike Clark Telecare’