Making change happen: A proactive approach to collegial relationships

Paola Mercado: Hello, everyone, and thanks for joining us today. My name's Paola Mercado, and with me, I have my colleague Amanda Kidd, and we are both Be You ECA Consultants. We are here today to talk about our Be You event, which is a part of the In Practice webinar series that Be You offers for you. And today, it's about making change happen, a proactive approach to collegial relationships and in the background, we'd also like to extend our thanks and our appreciation to Kat Clarke, who's behind the scenes as our tech support, and who will be actually using the chat function for us today, and adding links as we go through our session today. So today's webinar builds on last month's session which was about collegial relationships and navigating conflict, and we had guest speaker Jennifer Ribarovski, Managing Director of JR Education Consulting Services join us for that one. And we're going to look today at how we plan for change, and using, we've actually got a real service example to bring this to life for you today. But if you did miss last month's session, the recording is actually available on the Be You website now, so if you can, you can revisit that at any time. And today, when we're planning for change, when we're talking about planning for change, we need to think about two things. So, what do we want people to do differently, and how will we support them to make that change? And thinking about both of those, the what and the how, can help us to create change that's long-lasting and sustainable. So today, we'll explore what this could look like when we're working to strengthen those collegial relationships, and in turn, that supports the educator wellbeing.
But before we move on I'd like to extend and pay my respects to the land that I'm joining you from. Today I am sitting on Darkinjung country, and I would like to pay my respects to elders past and present of, of this particular land, that never was ceded, always was and always will be Aboriginal land, but I'd also like to extend that acknowledgement and pay my respects to all the people who hold the knowledge and the wisdom, of our, of our country and of all of the countries that we are joining together from today. If you would like to also pay your respects and put an acknowledgement in the chat, we invite you to do that, or you can take a moment to reflect on the country that you are joining us from and pay your respects that way.
As we move on, on the screen you will see a little poster. It is a Be You resource that holds mental health services and support helplines. And we will acknowledge that today's content we are going to discuss and it includes topics related to mental health and wellbeing. So, we ask that you take note of what's happening for yourself. We, please remember to take care of yourself during this session. And if at any point you, you notice that you start to feel uncomfortable, we do encourage you to take a
break or step away, and this session will be recorded so you can come back to it. Additionally, if you do need support, please reach out to a trusted colleague or a leader, or you, again, you can refer to these mental health services and support information that's on your screen, and the links, as we said, will be posted in the chat by Kat. So, Amanda, let's have a look at today's focus. And, I'll let you take that.
Amanda Kidd: Thank you, thank you for the introduction, and hello to everybody out there. So, today on the slide you can see we are going to be following this structure, and we're going to be using a practical example of how a service has worked towards mental health, a mental health goal and collegial relationships. So as we work through the example today, we're going to invite you to think about what healthy collegial relationships look like in your own service, and where there might be any opportunities to strengthen your current practice. We'll also explore some key implementation principles and practices. As you listen, you might like to consider how these could complement the quality improvement planning that you're already doing, and think about what stands out for you, and what might you take back to your team to help shape your next steps. So the webinar is being recorded today, so you'll be able to come back to it and use it with your teams at any time.
So, as we mentioned, last month we were joined by Jennifer for our In Focus webinar on collegial relationships, professional communication, and navigating conflict. So, let's just revisit those key messages from Jennifer's webinar, just to get us a bit into the mindset of our, for our conversation today. So, the first, key concept that Jennifer talked about was the key elements of collegial relationships. She spoke about psychological safety, respectful communication, trust, and inclusion. She then went into talking about, professional partnerships. And this was really interesting, because there was this concept of professional generosity that she brought up that was, I found, really connected to, because, you know, it's about this sharing of the load, the emotional load, being respectful and supportive of each other when we're working with children and families and each other. And it's kind of that give and take, and being there with and working through things together, and turning up where we can when we've got the capacity and supporting one another. And then the last one there was conflict is inevitable, and I think this is just for any workplace, really, Paola. Conflict happens. It's something that we know, is, yeah, widely spread across any kind of workforce. But particularly in such an environment where we're working, where it's really, yeah, taxing emotionally and physically as well. Now, we're going to come up against it, and what, Jennifer was really alluding to was it's, it's not that it's not going to go away and we can't get rid of it, it's how we actually manage it and respond to conflict, in a professional and respectful way. And the fact that we've got to normalise that we are going to disagree at points in time. And to focus on ways to improve that kind of way we manage and deal with conflict. Because what we know is that when conflict is, unmanaged, it can actually kind of bubble away, in the
background there, and it can actually cause a lot more harm, than if we'd had these structures in place there.
Paola Mercado: I think that, that was the point for me, sorry, I was just going to jump.
Amanda Kidd: Yeah, go for it.
Paola Mercado: That was one of the points for me where it was really highlighted that, you know, we can't always get away from conflict, but it's how we manage it and how we are able to, I guess, to normalise it to make those improvements. So, yeah, a really good point by Jennifer.
Amanda Kidd: Thanks, Paola. So you can actually, refer to the webinar handout if you'd like to explore these concepts further. But now we're actually going to hear from Jennifer. So one of her other key messages was, the important roles that leaders play in creating healthy collegial relationships. And so, we are going to build on this idea today, aren't we, Paola? We're going to look at how we can really plan for change in this particular area. So, let's play the video. I'll just pop that one on. Let me know if you can hear the sound, and we'll make sure the experience is good for everyone out there.
Jennifer Ribarovski audio: It's not the role of a leader to solve problems all the time. It would be impossible to single-handedly solve everyone's problems. I'd say that's an impossible ask. But what they can do is shape the conditions that either create the problems, or contribute to the problems, or prevent them from existing or escalating, and that's, you know, a really powerful leadership tool. And I think, you know, much as we might say that, we're all over healthy collegial relationships, because, you know, it's in our philosophy, and it's in our policy, and it's in our code of conduct, etcetera, etcetera. The reality is that those documents usually live on a wall or live in a folder. So, I think planning for how we can really do some of that practicing, you know, if your philosophy says that, as a team, we have respectful relationships. You know, unpacking that at a, maybe quarterly at a team meeting, and saying, ‘what do respectful relationships look like for us?’ So that everybody's really clear about that. Or even building a team agreement. That's something that I've gone into centres and done frequently when there's been, you know, some significant conflict that's affected culture, is just working with the team to build an agreement about the way that we work around here. How do we be respectful? What does it look like? I think it's really important to plan for it. You know, we plan strategically for other things, so I think we can plan strategically for healthy collegial relationships as well, because the payoff is worth it.
Amanda Kidd: And I think that was very insightful there. We can see Jennifer really highlights that the important role that leaders play in shaping collegial relationships. And the fact that it doesn't happen by accident, and I think that's the key point to take away from that, and what we're going to be really looking at today, Paola, is that it
takes planning and intentional action. So yeah, anything else points, sort of come out for you there, or
Paola Mercado: I was I think, I think you've wrapped it up, like, that's so insightful, and it's such a, like, a golden, golden little piece of information there that it doesn't, it doesn't happen by accident. We really need to be intentional. So, we're actually going to look at the how of making change, particularly when we're trying to create those conditions for healthy collegial relationships in a service today, so let's move on to the next slide and think about, thinking about the key principles of implementation. So, Amanda, I know that as we were preparing for this event today, we sort of talked through this little bit. Can you unpack it a little bit more for us?
Amanda Kidd: Yeah, sure. I mean, they're there on the screen, but, you know, at Be You, we actually use these principles when we're working with services to support mentally healthy learning communities. They're actually based on research about what helps change to be meaningful and last over time, so that embeddedness and sustainability. When we talk about implementation, we're really talking about how we plan to make, or how we plan for and make change happen. And when we talk about change, we mean improving something that you're already doing to better support mental health and wellbeing outcomes. And so this might involve changes to practices, behaviours, or ways of thinking. So implementation is more than deciding what you want to improve. It's also about thinking carefully about how you're going to make the change happen. So this means being really clear about what do we want to change, why does it matter, what do we want people to do differently, and how we will support the people to make that change? And importantly, something that we want to kind of reiterate here is that implementation isn't something extra that you need to add to your quality improvement planning, because you're already planning for change through your quality improvement plans. Implementation simply just gives you another way, or it aligns or supports you to think about how you can actually make those changes more purposeful and more likely for them to last and be part of everyday practice for the long term. And so, let's have a look at this slide. Can you take us through this slide for us, Paola? And just go through the various steps, on, for implementation for us, of what we're actually going to be focusing on today?
Paola Mercado: Yeah, okay, so there's quite a bit on this slide, and, you know, we've put it into a lovely little succinct little image, but it's actually, it's actually deeper than thinking about, and I think, you know, when you were saying before, Amanda, planning for change is really key here. So, let's start with that. And we've really got to be clear about what you actually want to improve in your service. So, an example might be, that you identify educator wellbeing as something you want to improve. But then we actually need to get a bit more specific, and this is where, you know, really thinking about it and refining that, is really important. So what is it that you actually want to change? And, you know, maybe, perhaps, those educators are being, as an example, a bit self-critical in their own work, which is making it harder for them to experience joy in their work with children. So, the change there might be to support
educators to become less self-critical and a bit more self-compassionate. So, this helps us to get clear about these three things with this example. So, who needs to change? And in this case, it's educators. What needs to change is their practices, behaviours, and perhaps ways of thinking. And why do we want this change to happen? Well, it's to support their own wellbeing, educator wellbeing, but also it helps them to reconnect with the joy of working with children. But we also know that that, supports, their own wellbeing supports the impact on children as well, so that's why that's important. And once we're clear about all of these things, the next bit is to actually set a goal that gives us something practical to work towards. So, for example. if we are thinking that, you know, we need to support educators to practice self-compassion rather than self-criticism, and that's, that's the goal that we might be aiming towards. So, Amanda, how do you think this works across different early learning settings that we, that we see in our sector?
Amanda Kidd: Yeah, I think we need to point out that every service is different. So the way that we actually make change is also going to look very different. And this is where it's really important to think about your context. So, what might get in the way of change, and what might help the change to be easier. And so we call these barriers and enablers. So, going back to our example, that you brought up there, Paola, a barrier might be that educators don't yet understand what self-compassion is, or how to practice it. And an enabler might be, that the team already sees educator wellbeing as an important, concept, or idea, or something that, that, that they want to have as part of their. well, they're, sorry, they just see it as important, and they want to prioritize it. So that's a really fantastic enabler. So once we understand these barriers and enablers, we can actually think about what strategies might help us get in the way. So, what might help us make the change, help us make the change. So for example, we could pick strategies like, coaching or mentoring to help educators build their understanding and confidence with self-compassion. But just having a strategy actually isn't enough. We also need to think about how we're actually going to put into practice the change. So, for example, what might need to, set aside, sorry. For example, we might actually need to set aside some regular time for coaching and mentoring, so it becomes part of the way we work, rather than just something that happens once and is then forgotten about. So yeah, I just think, you know, often we put things forward, and we go, okay, we're just going to do this, and we're going to do some professional development, or we're going to put this strategy in place, but that's not going to really support the change over time, and so we actually need to think about how, and Jennifer's said that in her, her, her video, intro video there.
Paola Mercado: Yeah.
Amanda Kidd: About how we actually really need to think about setting aside regular times, or putting it, implementing it into those everyday practices that we do, or everyday, things that we have already in place to then be able to ensure it's embedded and sustainable.
Paola Mercado: Yeah, absolutely, and that's actually, like, a really great connector piece to where we're moving on to now, because we're actually going to bring in the live example that we have for you today, and we're going to explore what, what the implementation pathway looks like in practice in this context, in improving collegial relationships. So, before we play the video, we would, we would like to acknowledge Libee Koszyk, the Service Director of Balmain Care for Kids Nursery, who has so generously shared the work that she and her team have been doing to address team culture and the needs within their service. We definitely want to acknowledge Libee's really open, honest, and insightful reflections on their implementation journey that you'll be hearing about today. And, of course, we'd also like to acknowledge the support of our very own, Be You Consultant colleague Moniek de Kievith, who is the service’s consultant in working alongside this service to prepare for and facilitating these video segments that we, that were recently recorded and that we're able to share with you today, so we can unpack a little bit more of what, what the implementation pathway looks like. So, Amanda, I'll get you to press play.
Libee Koszyk audio: Libee, I work at a long daycare service in the Balmain area, and we have been operating for around 13 years, and we mostly cater to children who are 0 to 3 and a half years, and we have about 66 children a day. So, we had a need for change. It was identified after an incident of some workplace bullying that occurred prior to my commencement here, at BCFK. Although the matter had been addressed and the impact it had a big impact on the team, and even though that person wasn't with us anymore, I just noticed when I had started that there was, a big decline in the educator morale, and their confidence, and their overall, like, well-being. But through, like, some informal conversations and reflective discussions and day-to-day observations, it just became really clear that they were still recovering from the emotional effects of, the incident that had happened. And although, like I said, that person had left the service, it still had roll-on effects that influenced the team, which led to things like gossiping and tension, and when we had, like, team meetings they were felt, felt very negative. And it just highlighted that we just needed an urgent need to rebuild trust and strengthen our team culture, and implement, implement some proactive strategies to support the educator mental health, and just create a safer, more healthier and positive working environment. So, the atmosphere was really flat. The staff had, like, a bit of a disconnect. They were less inclined to do things outside of work together, or do any team bonding unless it was, like, compulsory. During the team meetings, they, every time we were reflecting in person, it felt really negative. And there was a really negative tone, which signalled that people were just feeling really depleted, I think, personally. And we also saw an increase in people calling in sick, which would then, you know, had a tendency for educators to withdraw from anything that wasn't required of them, and suggesting rising stress and reducing emotional capacity, within our team.
Paola Mercado: Thank you, Libee. Quite a robust example that we've brought for you today. So, what we're going to do now is, go into a little bit of highlighting, I
guess what, what these example, we're going to pull out a couple of things from these examples, but, to start us off, Amanda, let's talk about those first steps, particularly when we were talking about planning for the change, and in this instance, identifying those needs.
Amanda Kidd: Yeah, so a really good starting point for change is understanding what's happening now. And where we might need to be, or where we might need to… there might be a gap, or an opportunity to, improve. So in Libee's service, the need became clear after a bullying incident led to a drop in team morale. And so Libee just, didn't just assume that morale was low, she actually gathered information through informal conversations and reflective, reflective discussions and her own observations. And I think that's a really important piece, is to gather the data. And so this actually helped, her understand that even though the person had left the service, the team was still experiencing this emotional impact of what had happened, so that ripple effect, from the bullying incident. She also noticed that gossip and tension and negativity in team meetings was occurring. And so these observations helped Libee get this bigger picture, this clearer picture of what was happening and what the team needed. And so I think that really shows, that gathering data kind of gives this, you know, it's one thing to assume, but once we start pulling pieces out and noticing things, it might be that we might want to go into a bit more of a deep dive into what it is.
Paola Mercado: Yeah, yeah, so if we think back to that implementation pathway, I guess, where is Libee's service up to now? So they've identified?
Amanda Kidd: Yep. Yeah, yeah, so the need Libee identified was low team morale, and from there, the service was then able to be clear about the change that they wanted to make, which was sort of creating a healthier, more positive working environment, and rebuilding trust within the team. So we can see that the need there and the change are connected, but they're not quite the same thing. So, the need was actually: team, the team morale was morale was low. And the change was that they wanted to improve the team culture, rebuild trust, and create a more positive working environment.
Paola Mercado: A lot there to work with. So, even though it seems something like, yeah, we've identified it, let's work with it, it's, there's actually so much more to it. It's, yeah.
Amanda Kidd: And like, often we're looking at, sort of, one thing and not the other thing. It's kind of like, okay, team morale, let's address team morale. But actually, it's kind of like, okay, we now need to think about those things that we want to change, and we want to improve, and what adds to the team morale that needs to then be addressed. So let's go to the next video of, Libee, where she actually identifies these needs, in a bit more, depth.
Libee Koszyk audio: We introduced an educator survey as an intentional way to gather more robust information and the team's experiences, their needs, and priorities. And then we also did some informal conversations, reflective discussions, and day-to-day observations. And the survey just gave educators an anonymous and safe way to share honest feedback about the service. Including what was really working well, and what changes or improvements that they felt were really needed. And the feedback just helped me to better understand the impact that the previous, you know, bullying incident had had on the educator relationships. And then the overall culture of the service, and it just became, clear that some relationships had been, like, really fractured, and the trust had been affected, and educators just needed to really feel heard and respected and supported to rebuild their sense of connection as a team again. Like, we talk about that with children, so it was really important that we had to do that as a team ourselves. So using the survey alongside these conversations and observations just strengthened my planning for the vision, to help change and identify goals that were grounded in, the team what they had actually experienced and what they needed moving forward to progress. It also helped me reflect on the importance of following through with what I had said, and what I would do so that the educators could build trust with me and feel like their voices really mattered.
Amanda Kidd: So, Paola, you can see there that it's really important to have a clear picture of your needs before you start planning for the change. So, do you think you can take us through, you know, how Libee actually gathered the information to help her better understand what was happening in her service.
Paola Mercado: Yeah, absolutely, and one of the things that I've picked up again in this video is how Libee says, you know, it's like what we do with the children. We gather information, and then, you know. So, I think we tend to forget that, as adults, we can also do this for ourselves in our environment, but we can see from the video that Libee actually used quite a range of ways to gather the information that was needed, both formal and informal, and intentional or non-intentional. So, she included a survey, she included conversations with the team, there were reflective discussions, there was observations of everyday practice, and using these different approaches actually helped Libee build a more, I guess, a complete picture of what was actually happening. And also, the survey helped to confirm what she was hearing through those conversations and seeing herself in observations. And again, this supported Libee to actually understand the impact of the bullying incident and identify that the issue went actually beyond those individual relationships. There was, there were broader concerns about team relationships and the culture of the service, but gathering that information is only actually part of the process, so we also need to make sense of what that information is telling us. And for Luby, it helped to clarify why, why the change was needed. The team needed to rebuild trust. They needed to strengthen their relationships and create that environment where educators felt supported and that their voices mattered. So earlier, we talked about being clear
about what you want to change, why you want to change it, and what you want to achieve. And Libee mentioned in her video a vision for change, and so what do we mean when we talk about a vision for change?
Amanda Kidd: Yeah, great question, Paola. So, at Be You, we suggest creating a vision for change as a starting point for your planning. So, it actually describes what you want your service to look and feel like as a result of the change. Your vision should come from your, from the needs, the gaps, or the opportunities that you've identified, and then it helps you actually get that clearer, get you a bit more clearer about what, needs to change to, what needs to change to move towards that vision. So, a vision should be positive, and aspirational, and written as if it's already happening. So, I think it's, like. making that promise to yourselves about, this is what we envision our place to look like, our service to look like. And, yeah, so it should also describe who will benefit from the change, and what might need to be different in terms of practices, behaviours, or ways of thinking. So think of your vision as, what do we want to see happening in our service? So that long-term change. So let's go back to Libee.
Libee Koszyk audio: In our sector, time, I think, is really valuable, more valuable than people usually realize, and I've always believed that when someone gives you their time, it's because they see you as someone who they value and who really matters. So that belief really shaped our vision from the beginning, creating a culture where we make time for one another and communicate with respect and intention. This was especially important because the team was still recovering from the disruption of the incident, and the educator relationships and morale, really needed that trust to be rebuilt. So we focused the vision on creating the kind of workplace that would support educator wellbeing and healthy collegial relationships, while also restoring a sense of connection and psychological safety. And it shaped our, and shared responsibility, sorry, within the team. The identified needs showed that the sector culture needed to shift to one more where people felt, where people felt more connected. Another important part of the vision was ensuring that leadership was inclined to be held accountable, and that we would, you know, commit to the promises that we made to the team. So, like I said, making sure I had my time, and I was providing them with the time if I said I was going to do that. This was something that the team felt had really been lacking previously, so I wanted to make sure that my leadership helped build trust through consistency and following through. So our vision, for the service was, to be a psychologically safe and respectful workplace where educator wellbeing is everyone's responsibility, healthy relationships are strengthened, and staff voices, reflection, and follow-through are supported through consistent leadership.
Amanda Kidd: I think that's a really strong statement, or vision, should I say. And I think it's been very well thought out, because there's various elements there that, connect to all the data that, Libee had gathered there. What did you notice? Can you help them pack it, Paola, for us?
Paola Mercado: Absolutely, and I think what you just mentioned, Amanda, is, like, it is quite a big vision, but it's also you can see how contextual this is for Libee and their service, because it's something that they've worked with gathering all their data to actually come up with this vision that resonates with them, and they've, and they've done it together. So, and we can see from the script that's written on the slide there that this vision actually gives us a clear picture of the kind of workplace that the service wants to create. It's one that supports educator wellbeing and those healthy collegial relationships, which they identified. It also reflects the needs that were identified earlier, particularly the need to rebuild that connection, that trust, and that psychological safety that Libee really found was an important factor here. But again, back to what you were saying, Amanda, it really makes it clear around who's actually going to benefit from this change. It's the educators, and importantly. it really starts to show what needs to be different, so it's inclusive of leadership behaviours, it's, you know, it's building trust, it's creating those regular opportunities for educators to have their voices heard. So, this vision actually gives the service a clear direction for change. It helps them move from, we know there's a problem to, this is actually the kind of workplace we want to create for ourselves. So, if we want to dig a little deeper, what do we actually mean by change when we're planning for applying that mental health and wellbeing lens in early learning? And Amanda, I'm going to throw to you with this one.
Amanda Kidd: Yeah, so when we're planning for change, it's really important to be clear about what we want to be different, and this will often involve changes to practices and behaviours. So practices are what people do. These are the things that educators and leaders do every day in their work with children, families, and colleagues. But what people do is also influenced by their values, their beliefs, and their mindsets. And so these actually shape how we approach relationships and make decisions and respond to different situations. So, when we're planning for change, it's really useful to think about both. So, what do we want people to do differently? And what might we need to shift in the way they think about, or the approach, or approach the situation? And so understanding both can really help us plan for the change that is more likely to last.
Paola Mercado: Okay, that's very, that's very weighted, Amanda. So, can we now bring in an example, or think about an example of what this might look like in relation, particularly to collegial relationships? Like, if we..
Amanda Kidd: Yeah, so that's…
Paola Mercado: ….bring this back to collegial relationships?
Amanda Kidd: Yeah, so let's think about Libee's service. So, the practice change might be how educators and leaders communicate when there are concerns or disagreements or conflicts. So, this could include things like raising concerns directly, or listening to different perspectives, or giving feedback respectfully, or, also following through on the agreed actions. And so these are the behaviours and the practices
that we want to see happening in a different way. But there are also beliefs and mindsets that sit underneath these behaviours. So, for example, the team might need to build a shared belief that everyone's voice matters. Concerns can be raised safely, and conflict can be addressed respectfully rather than avoided or discussed through gossip. So the change isn't actually about telling people to communicate differently, it's about creating the conditions, the behaviours, and the ways of thinking that support healthier collegial relationships. So this is why actually understanding exactly what needs to change is such an important part of the change process, when we're planning for change. And so, let's move into goals now. Like, we talked about this earlier as an important part of change. Can you take us through why are goals important, and how different are they for, from, like, a vision for change, for example?
Paola Mercado: This is a good one, because this is the one that I often get stuck with, because I want to work towards a vision, but then you think about, well, how do we do that? So, if we, if we're looking at it in this sense, the vision for change describes the bigger picture, and, so that's the kind of improvement we want to see within our, within our environment, within our services, within our learning communities. But if we think about goals, they're, they're, that's what actually breaks down the vision into those specific changes that we want to make. And so. If we simplify it a little bit more, we think of that the vision is Where do we need to get to? And a goal is, what do we need to change to get there? And those goals actually help us to get more specific about who needs to do something differently, and what actually needs to change. Is it their practices, behaviours, or ways of thinking? So, an example is if the vision is to create a psychologically safe workplace where educators feel heard and supported. A goal might actually be to focus on how leaders respond to concerns and create opportunities for educator voice. Goals, we need to remember that they should be actionable and measurable, because this actually helps us to know what success looks like, and what it will look like, and whether the change is actually happening. So, again, the vision gives us our direction, while the goal actually helps us to identify a specific change that we need to make along the way. And we're going to move into the next part of Libee's story, which really gives us a good example of this. We'll look at that specific practice change that the service identified, and the values and beliefs that help shape why that change was needed.
Libee Koszyk audio: …goals were strengthening leadership practices, so communication and responses consistently build that psychologically, respectful and safe community that I was talking about. This was important this was an important goal for me because I recognise that the vital role responsive leadership plays in creating a positive workplace culture. So leadership really sets the tone, shapes the expectation, and helps hold the team together, really. So, and during times of, you know, change or recovery, that's really important, as well. So, previous leadership that was here, and the approach that had been taken, was not fully supportive of a culture that was a safe workplace, and I identified that leadership behaviours,
communication practices and responses needed to become more intentional, consistent, and supportive for the team. For this reason, strengthening leadership became a key focus as an important goal, and a foundation for achieving the broader vision of our service change.
Paola Mercado: Great. All right, Amanda, let's talk through this particular goal, and how it helps the service move towards its vision for change.
Amanda Kidd: Yeah, thanks, Paola. So the information that Libee gathered, along with her reflection on what the team needed, helped her to identify that leadership practice needed to change. So the goal focuses on strengthening leadership through better communication and feedback. So this gives Libee something specific to work on. It moves from the broader vision of a psychologically safe and respectful workplace to a specific area of practice that needs to change. So, underpinning this, change is actually, are actually values such as trust, respect, safety, responsiveness, and open communication. So, like, importantly, this goal actually gives Libee something that she can put into practice and measure over time. So, for example, being more consistent in how she communicates with the team, actively seeking their views and following through, on concern, on concerns is actually something that she can measure, and put into practice straight away. So when, we can see the connection happens here with the vision, so the kind of workplace that we want to create, that's the vision, and then the goal is the specific area of practice that we need to strengthen to help get us there. So that broader vision is about psychological safety, whereas the goal is really focusing on her leadership, and how she can help get to that psychologically safe environment. So, we've identified the service's need, and we've developed, sort of, the div, the, vision for change, and set a goal, the next step to think about, is what might get in the way of achieving that goal. And we can think about this in three ways. First, who or what might get in the way of change. Second, what is currently getting in the way of our vision becoming reality? And third, what do people need in order to change? So, do they have the capabilities, the motivation, and the opportunities to do things differently? So we've talked about these ideas earlier, so let's apply them now to Libee's service and see what she has identified as barriers to change.
Libee Koszyk audio: So, through the process, I've done a lot of self-reflecting on my own leadership style, and what needs to change for this goal to be achieved overall. I recognise that as a leader, I play, like I said, a really important role in setting the tone for the team and supporting everyone else. So one key barrier is remembering to look after myself. Because when I'm feeling really stretched, or time poor, or close to a burnout, it becomes harder to lead with calm, consistent, and responsive approaches, that I really want to model with the rest of my team. So, another barrier is not always I was not always delegating tasks as effectively as I probably could. At times, I can feel responsible for holding too much myself, especially when I want things to run really smoothly for my team. However, I can see now that sharing the responsibilities more intentionally across the team is really important, not only to
reduce pressure on me, but also to build trust and ownership and confidence with my team as well, that it's okay to sometimes make mistakes. And a further barrier is just making sure open communication remains a consistent priority. So, even through busy or challenging periods, for this change to be successful, I need to continue creating opportunities for honest conversations. So I did a lot of things like checking in with the educators, listening to their perspectives, and encouraging the team to communicate respectfully. with one another. Open communication really is the key to rebuilding trust and strengthening relationships, and creating a more positive workplace culture where people can, you know, lean on each other, and that was really something that we were working towards.
Amanda Kidd: A lot to unpack there, a lot of, and I think it's really, we've just, I want to reiterate how vulnerable Libee is being there in terms of really focusing on herself as a leader. It's hard to kind of do that kind of self-reflection, but Paola, do you want to take us through the barriers that were identified there, and, how they might get in the way of change for Libee and the team.
Paola Mercado: Absolutely, and also reiterating, you know, the wonderful work that Libee's done, and it doesn't go unnoticed that there is a lot more work to these sorts of things than, than, you know, we can, we can put into a one-hour presentation. But, if we go back to Libee's example, we noticed that, she was able to take a really reflective approach to identifying her own barriers, and she recognised that her own leadership practice was an important part of creating that team culture that was wanted. Also identified a couple of things that could actually make this difficult. So, Libee mentioned not always prioritising self-care, finding it difficult to delegate, and needing to be more intentional about prioritising that open communication. So, those were key points for Libee there. But these barriers also help us understand why the leadership practices she wanted to strengthen weren't always happening consistently, consistently, sorry. And we can see that, Libee was actually motivated to make that change, and had the knowledge and the skills to do it. But the biggest challenge was around those competing demands, time, and having enough space to lead in the way that she actually really wanted to. So, in this particular case for Libee, the barriers were largely more about an opportunity, both for Libee as an individual, but also within the organisation that they work in. And at this point, I really want to, like, identify that a barrier isn't always about finding a fault, or what we consider to be a fault. It's actually about understanding what is or what could be getting in the way, so that we can work out what support or strategies might help to make the change possible, and work alongside those barriers. And so if we've looked at those now, we might, getting they might get into the way of change, but if we look at the other side, and we think, okay, well, what can help us, to get there and to make change easier? So, on the flip side, we're talking about enablers, and this can be people, resources, conditions, or those existing strengths that can actually support change as you move along. So we've heard about some of the barriers that
Libee identified, but we're now actually going to hear about what she identified as helping her make that change.
Libee Koszyk audio: We had an offer from the educational leader, and which is really great for me, because it just helps me to share the load, like, the leadership load, I suppose. Like, she helps me do check-ins with the team and stuff like that. I also have, we also have an Area Manager who does regular check-ins with me, myself, and she's able to provide things like guidance, adjust expectations when needed, or offer support where possible. And she can also really help me with ideas for things like team building, or ways that I can grow as leader myself. We also have a dedicated Child Safety Officer who also works off the floor and not part of the ratios, which is really helpful because it kind of alleviates that compliance side of things. Obviously, that's very important, but it helps me to kind of focus on my team a little bit more as well. And it just reduces pressure in those areas for me. And then I also do a lot of, self-care for myself, and I go to therapy and things like that outside of the centre.
Amanda Kidd: Let's unpack what Libee talked about. What stood out for you there?
Paola Mercado: Yeah, quite a bit, actually, and this is where it's really important for our participants today, or whoever's watching the recording, to really think about your context, because your context is going to look very different. So, Libee, has an educational leader, she mentioned there's also a Child Safety Officer, there's an area manager that she leans on. But, all of these things help Libee to manage her own workload and creates more space for her to focus on her leadership practice. These also give opportunities for coaching and reflection and support around her own leadership, particularly when she's connecting with an Area manager. But Libee also mentioned looking after her own wellbeing. It supports her ability to lead and support her team, but also, it's part of the role modelling, and the therapy sessions that she mentioned that she was already using were an important support for her. And I think that's an interesting point here because self-care was both identified as a barrier and as an enabler. So, because Libee already had support in place, it's really important to think about, what that barrier is being recognised as, and that she, if she didn't always prioritise her own wellbeing when she was busy or stretched, well, what impact was that having in that culture for change, or in that practice change for herself? So this is also a really good reminder that barriers and enablers aren't always simple, or they're fixed, or, you know, they change over time, or they fluctuate, but the same factor can sometimes work in both of those directions, depending on the context. So, if we've identified the barriers and enablers, what do we do with that information, Amanda?
Amanda Kidd: Yeah, good question. So this is where we actually start thinking about the how of making the change. And we use what we've learned about the context to choose change strategies. So these are the actions and the supports that will help us to, help people to do things differently. The strategies we choose should
really respond to the barriers that we've identified and build on the enablers that already are there. So, let's look at Libee's example. One of her barriers was, competing demands and not always having enough time to focus on her leadership practice. One of our enablers was having an educational leader, and Child Safety Officer who helps share the leadership load, including supporting with team check-ins. So this existing support could help reduce some of the pressure on Libee, and give her more capacity to focus on her leadership practice. So Libee also has, regular check-ins with her Area Manager, which provide the opportunities for guidance and support, reflection, and developing her leadership skills. And these existing supports can be used intentionally to help Libee work towards her goal of strengthening communication and feedback. So this is what we mean by being intentional about change strategies. We're not just choosing something that sounds helpful, we're actually thinking about what will address the barriers and build on the strengths that are already, present in the service.
Paola Mercado: Which leads us to how do those enablers fit into this?
Amanda Kidd: Yeah, good, good question. So Libee's example actually shows us that we don't always need to introduce something completely new. Sometimes we can actually build on supports that are already in place. So her Educational Leader, her Child Safety Officer, her Area Manager, they're all part of those existing conditions, they're already part of the context, that help reduce the pressure and create capacity for Libee to actually focus on her team. So her self-care is another really interesting example. It actually supports her well-being and her capacity to lead, while also being something she knows she needs to actually prioritise more consistently. So, when we're planning to change, we want to ask, what's getting in the way? What do we already have that can help, and how can we use these to support the change that we want to see? So now, let's have a look about how to make the change, like, what is actually happening to make the change happen? Can you talk us through this, please?
Paola Mercado: Sure. So, the work that Libee is deciding to do is to rebuild that trust and strengthen that team culture, which is an ongoing thing. And the three strategies on the slide, they give us a way of understanding how the service is working towards its vision for change. And remember, when we choose a change strategy. We need to be clear about what we want that strategy to achieve. So if we remind ourselves of Libee's service vision, so ‘our vision is for our service to be a psychologically safe, respectful workplace where educator wellbeing is everyone's responsibility, supported by consistent leadership. And regular opportunities for staff voice reflection and follow-through’. So, one of the strategies that, has been implemented and has been thought about is active listening. So, and the purpose for this is to actually strengthen those relationships and build trust between Libee and her team. This responds to the barrier Libee identified around being more intentional and responsive in her communication, but also, Libee talked about listening to educators' perspectives and encouraging that respectful communication across the
team, so not just with her. And those regular check-ins with her Area Manager also, provide her an opportunity to reflect on what she's hearing from the team, and consider how she can respond. So, this isn't simply about listening, it's also about using, using that purposefully to understand the team, to reflect, and to be able to respond accordingly. You mentioned before, Amanda, those existing supports, and, you know, again, this is contextual, so we need to realise that Libee does have the ability to lean on these existing supports, and we know that not all early learning services have these as well. So, think about your own context, but if we're using the people and supports that are already available to help us to make that change, who do you have available around you? Who is part of that support system? That can be supportive to, to you. Libee mentioned her Educational Leader and the Child Safety Officer as important enablers, because they, it was distributed leadership, along with that workload, and it supported things like, team check-ins and compliance and all of those competing priorities that come with her leadership role. And this, of course has that flow-on effect of reducing the pressure on Libee, and allows her to really focus on her own leadership practices and what she wants to strengthen. So again, we're using something that's already in place to help address a barrier that, to support that change. So think about what your context allows for you. And the last sort of strategy that we've got there is that, practicing non-judgment and generosity in communication, and I think this goes back to that very first, or one of our first slides, Amanda, where it goes back to the conversation with Jennifer in our previous webinar. This means that, you know, we approach conversations with openness and empathy, and being willing to understand different perspectives, and avoiding those assumptions, or, or, or blaming, But it also offers people kindness, grace and support, particularly when a conversation is difficult, and we know that we're not always going to be able to avoid difficult conversations. But Libee also talked about being a role model to the team, and role modelling how to appropriately respond during difficult conversations. So, we see that these strategies actually support Libee's vision of a workplace where people feel safe, respected, and heard.
Amanda Kidd: Thanks, Paola. So we can see that these strategies actually connect back to that bigger picture. Active listening and non-judgment support Libee to strengthen her relationships and communication with the team. Using those existing supports, they help create the capacity for her to do this consistently. So together, these strategies support the changes in practice and behaviour that the service is looking for, while also reflecting the values and beliefs underneath those practices, so the trust, respect, openness, and responsiveness. And importantly, these strategies aren't just isolated activities, they're actually part of an ongoing approach to rebuilding trust. And creating a healthier team culture. So, I'm looking at the time, and we're running very low on time, so, can you quickly take us through the actions?
Paola Mercado: Yeah, absolutely. So, actions are the steps we actually want to take to help our change strategies, become practice, and they help us to work towards our goals. So, obviously, this is an important part of the implementation, because
having that strategy doesn't automatically mean that the change will happen, and we really do need to plan for these actions. We need to be intentional about what needs to happen, who will do it, and when. So, obviously, this gives us, an approach and the actions that turn that approach into something that we will actually do. So we'll move on to the next slide and think about what these strategies actually look like in practice.
Amanda Kidd: Yep, so for active listening, the action is to practice the communication technique, and then use it to intentionally, use it intentionally in conversation with the team. For strategic staffing, the action is to make time to plan how tasks can be delegated and how the leadership workload can be shared.
Amanda Kidd: And then, for non-judgment and generosity, the action is to use the approach when responding to educators, so that they know their concerns are being heard and taken seriously. So these examples show that a strategy needs to translate to something specific that people actually do. So again, the strategy is the approach, while the action is how we put that approach into practice.
Paola Mercado: All right, so we are getting very close to time, but we really don't want to leave you without the last little bit, so we're going to quickly go through these outputs and outcomes, and again, we've talked about identifying what we want to change, why we want to change it, and how we're going to make that change happen. So, if we think, if we put out, outputs and outcomes, these actually help us to think about what we expect to see as a result. So, the, I guess what we can think about as outputs, outputs, sorry, they're the more immediate change we can see and measure as a result of putting our strategies into action and practice. So, if a strategic, move is for, sorry, for an example, we've got strategic staffing as one of our strategies. The output might be that regular meetings are happening with the Educational Leader to plan how the workload can be shared, and particular tasks are being delegated. So these are things that we can see happening and measure relatively easy, whereas outcomes, they're the bigger changes we hope to see over time. They might include changes in people's behaviours, in their practices, or their ways of thinking, as well as changes in how people experience their work. So building on from our example, a longer-term outcome might be that Libee actually experiences less stress, has greater capacity to focus on her leadership practice, and feels more confident and intentional in how she's able to communicate with her team.
Amanda Kidd: Amazing. So, I'm just really conscious of the time. Let's just have a look. This is bringing it all together. We know we need to focus on, the vision for change, the goals, so what are we changing and why? And then we need to think about, the barriers and enablers and our change strategies and actions, and these are the things that are the how. For how we're going to make the change. Is there anything else you wanted to kind of.
Paola Mercado: Yeah, I was just going to say, point out that this is a really good visual to see it all sort of happen, and how it all interconnects, and one thing leads to another, and you can't have one without the other, so I really like this visual to be able to see it all put together.
Amanda Kidd: Key messages.
Paola Mercado: Okay. So, to wrap up, because we are right on the hour. We know that leadership matters, so we know that as leaders, you play an important role in creating workplace culture built on trust, respect, and open communication. And leadership has a big role to play in that. Secondly, implementation is about both the what and the how, so it's about being clear about what we want people to do differently, why that change is needed, and how we're going to support that change. And finally, good planning. Good planning helps make that change intentional. This means, you know, having that clear vision, setting those goals, understanding the barriers and enablers in your context, and then choosing and putting into action those strategies that support the change. So, it's not just about adding another layer of work. Implementation is more about strengthening that planning that you're already doing, so you have a clearer pathway to identify a need and make those sustainable changes.
Amanda Kidd: And, your Be You consultant can actually help you through the process, and I could see Libee in the chat there, really promoting that. You know, yes, this was one example, but, having a Be You Consultant can actually help you, adapt for your context, to meet your vision and your goals. So, we really encourage you to, yeah, reach out to be your Be You Consultant, or register and you can be allocated a Be You consultant to help you through this implementation cycle and align it with your Quality Improvement Plan. And…
Paola Mercado: And speaking of implementation cycle, now this is the implementation cycle that we use in Be You. Again, it's really important to understand that you don't need to know this yourself. You can connect with a consultant that can support you and walk with you alongside, just like Moniek did with Libee in today's example. And also, it's really important to understand that moving through this cycle is non-linear, so we found that you can take a couple of steps and then go backwards and need to review it, and today, really, we've only focused on 4 out of all of those 15 steps that are outlined there, so, yeah.
Amanda Kidd: And just to go back to your Be You Consultant, they're there as your critical friend, they're there as your implementation coach, so yeah, really utilise them. And they say feedback's a gift, so, we'd really appreciate your, your feedback today, on today's webinar. We're really sorry we went over time. I know your time is very valuable, and we'll make a note of that for next time, that we won't go over time. But there is a poll on the screen, that you can answer, and that will just give us ways that we can improve in the future, to support your services.
Paola Mercado: We do have lots of existing, supporting resources on our website, so please visit our website and you can find lots of, you can explore lots of things around collegial relationships, educator wellbeing, implementation planning, there's lots on there, so please, go on the website and, yeah, connect with your consultant as well.
Amanda Kidd: And here's some next steps. I'm going to encourage you to take a screenshot or, yeah, a photo of this particular slide, so you can actually think about what you can do, after this particular, session, with your team. And, Paola, you're going to promote our next one.
Paola Mercado: We are, because we will have another session in a little while, and we do encourage you to register for our next In Focus webinar, which is ‘Neuro-affirming practices to support children's peer relationships’, so that's a really good one. And we have a guest speaker with us. We have Sandhya Menon who is an AuDHD developmental psychologist, who will be our guest speaker, and she is from Onwards and Upwards Psychology, so please join us for that. And alongside that webinar, which is happening on the 17th of September at the same time as today, at 4pm Australian Eastern Standard Time, there will actually be another, practical webinar just like this one. That you are attending today, and it's held a month later after that. So, please visit the website, register now, and we look forward to seeing you online for that event. But before you all go, we would also like to say thank you very much to yourself for giving us your time and investing in being with us here today, and also a big shout out to Libee and to Moniek for sharing this experience with us, so we had lots to unpack, and we hope that you have a great rest of your day.
Amanda Kidd: Thanks, everyone! Bye!
Paola Mercado: Bye!