Appreciative Inquiry and Human Factors workshop highlights examples of positive leadership at University Hospitals Birmingham

2023/24 has been a year of challenge, change, scrutiny, and action as University Hospitals Birmingham (UHB) embarked on new ways of working, at significant pace.

Led by the new Chair and CEO, the intensive change programme is addressing concerns raised by regulators, stakeholders and media around patient safety, governance, and culture. It has also been supported by findings from CQC inspections and three independently commissioned reviews, including the voices of over 4,500 colleagues in the culture review, as well as 7,000 colleagues in the national staff survey.

UHB is building a values-led culture to support its 24,000 colleagues to do their very best for patients, by being kind, connected and bold – and, as Chair Dame Yve Buckland acknowledged, cultural change cannot be achieved quickly or superficially, emphasising the significant work ahead to ensure these changes are felt by all colleagues. Consequently, the Trust has been working hard to address the areas of concern, with improving culture and civility at their heart.

Health Innovation West Midlands (HIWM) was invited to deliver an Appreciative Inquiry (AI) and Human Factors workshop at the UHB Care and Compassion: Fostering a culture of civility day on 7th June 2024.

Led by HIWM’s Fran Ives, Human Factors Specialist, and Helen Hunt, Programme Manager, the aim of the workshop was to provide a short introduction to AI and Human Factors to enable those who were unfamiliar with either, or both, areas to gain some understanding and context before being given the opportunity to participate in group activities.

The first exercise asked participants to share personal stories of success, focusing on leadership or personal experiences, at work or at home. Working in pairs, they listened to each other and identified the strengths in their stories. Most of the participants did not know each other, but they found it easy to talk openly about their experiences in this environment.

The second exercise delved a little deeper and saw participants sharing instances of good leadership that they had experienced or witnessed. They were asked to think about what made the leadership effective, what enabled it, and what could enhance future leadership moments. Their responses were analysed and categorised into four overarching themes:

• Behaviours
• Personal Characteristics
• Communication
• Leadership

When asked to identify what was good about the shared leadership moment, the strongest theme to emerge was personal characteristics at 35%. ‘Open-mindedness’, ‘empathy’ and ‘emotional intelligence’ were the most frequently mentioned and good leadership was identified as the main enabler for the example of success. The behaviours that were noted as being enablers for more positive leadership moments to happen included ‘recognition, and ‘positive reinforcement’.

Across all three questions, ‘reflection’, ‘honesty’, ‘effective listening’ and ‘positive communication’ were highlighted as the most important traits exhibited by good leaders.

More detail about the workshop can be found here.

Taking the time to listen to staff and their experiences can yield significant insights and lead to valuable learning. By focusing on positive leadership moments rather than negative ones, Appreciative Inquiry facilitated a different but highly productive learning experience.

Helen said, “It was a pleasure to deliver this workshop for UHB. What a great audience who welcomed a different way of having an appreciative conversation.” 

Fran said, “The insights gained from the workshop can be utilised by UHB in their efforts to improve civility and culture. By identifying the key behaviours and characteristics that staff believe contribute to effective leadership moments, the organisation can focus on fostering and encouraging these qualities.”