Exploring the value of a design for service approach to develop public services in the Community Voluntary Sector: a comparative analysis

This paper presents the findings from two action research case studies that explore the value of using a ‘design for service’ approach to develop public services in the community voluntary sector (CVS). Each case study was conducted within a CVS organisation that was developing or offering public services. Both were local charities that are part of UK federations; the first offering mental health and wellbeing services, the second providing community education services. The paper will present the outcomes of using a ‘design for service’ approach, including systematic inquiry, visualisation, and challenging existing stakeholder perceptions. The comparison will identify similarities and differences in each case. Factors that appear to affect the success of the approach in this context will be discussed, including organisational culture and the perception of ‘design’. These two case studies form the basis of an on-going doctoral programme. Further case studies are planned, to inform an approach framework with implications for a broad range of CVS contexts. This work will add theoretical rigour to design praxis in the emerging area service innovation for CVS organisations

Doubt, uncertainty and vulnerability in leadership: using fiction to enable reflection and voice

Exploration of our organisational life has much to gain from fiction so as to reflexively engage with provisional processes of uncertainty, doubt and paradox. These are often neglected qualities of how we go on together in our organizational lives. Taking an autoethnographic approach I present one narrative of a fraught meeting that I was part of to explore my leadership development. I do this in relation to Homer, Shakespeare and Allen-Poe to explore leadership issues of: paradox and how we become enmeshed in unfolding events; the interaction between a leader’s future intent and how this plays out in action. In doing this I offer an invitation to explore literature that speaks to and develops our practice of leadership and how we might develop and communicate useful insights

The emergence of trusting relationships: stories and reflections

With this project, we set out to investigate how trusting relationships develop in the workplace, and the consequences of losing trust. We began by exploring relevant literature and undertaking in-depth case studies, and in our original proposal we suggested experimenting with form and length of narrative material. It soon became clear that one page of text would be about the right amount to stimulate thinking among busy managers and OD/HR practitioners. So, following discussion with Roffey Park’s head of research, Dan Lucy, in June 2015, we agreed to produce a series of short readings that could act as ‘prompts’ for discussion and learning: (i) mini-stories about trust, drawn from our case studies, and (ii) short pieces reflecting on relevant literature, which originated as blog posts (see https://trustingrelationships.wordpress.com/) by either Rob or Alison

Exposing charities to design-led approaches through design research

This paper discusses the value of using design research to expose Voluntary Community Sector (VCS) organisations to design-led approaches. The discussion is based on the findings from two qualitative, exploratory doctoral inquiries into the relevance and applicability of adopting a Design for Service (DfS) approach to effect transformation in VCS contexts. Using Action Research and a case study structure, the DfS approach was introduced and applied within four VCS organisations in succession. The research findings have provided valuable evidence and insight into design’s capacity to incite transformational change, and the challenges of doing so, at a critical time for the sector

Kaleidoscopic views of trust

We embarked upon this project of commissioning and editing this special themed issue of e-O&P with a shared assumption that trust is an essential feature of hopeful personal and organisational relationships. Yet as soon as we started to think self-consciously about trust, it seemed beyond our comprehension. Questions such as: What is trust? How can it be measured? What are its ‘parts’? How can we improve the quality of trust? all seemed inadequate. Yet, daily, we form trusting relationships, we offer something, we show vulnerability to, and see it in, others. There is clearly a response and context through which trust is either mediated or undermined. Intuitively, we knew that trust is important for us and for those around us. There is fear of being let down, yet a hope that relationships might develop in mutually beneficial ways. And we can envisage that such hopes and fears are mirrored in those with whom we interact. We sense powerfully that – whatever it is - trust is important. If so, can we find helpful ways of talking about and embodying trust? We embarked upon this writing project to see whether – with the contributions of others – we could find some answers

The Role of Design As a Critical Friend to the Voluntary Community Sector

This paper presents one of the key findings from a recent Doctoral inquiry into the relevance and applicability of adopting a Design for Service (DfS) approach to effect transformation in Voluntary Community Sector (VCS) contexts. The research used case study method, reflective practice and content analysis to establish that the use of design at a systemic level of a VCS organisation could incite transformational change. The paper reveals that the stakeholders’ initial trust in the designer is more important than their trust in the DfS approach (methods and processes), which becomes crucial to increasing the influence of design in the organisation. Once the designer becomes a ‘friend’ to the organisation, they can operate at an embedded level as a ‘critical friend’, which allows them to challenge the status quo and create new organisational perspectives. The paper finally presents a ‘critical friend’ model depicting how design can be used to effect transformation in such settings