Verto Case Study: working with the South West Academic Health Science Network
The South West Academic Health Science Network (SW AHSN) is one of 15 AHSNs across England set up to deliver significant change in the way the health and care sector identifies, develops and adopts innovation. Each AHSN works to improve the health of its local population and generate economic growth in the area.
AHSNs have to regularly report on their plans and progress to NHS England. They also have to report to their own board on the progress they’re making delivering their strategic objectives and work programmes.
The SW AHSN has a mission 'to improve the health and patient experience of people in the South West by supporting and accelerating innovation and quality improvement'. To deliver this, they have three strategic objectives supported by ten work programmes encompassing a wide range of individual projects.
They work with 18 member organisations and a wide range of stakeholder organisations from health and care sectors in the South West and nationally.
What the SW AHSN wanted to achieve
The SW AHSN’s staff team comes from a diverse range of backgrounds including academia, frontline health and social care, research, IT, analytics and NHS support services.
This means, while they are all committed to achieving a common aim, they have a wide range of work practices. This difference was causing an inconsistent approach to project management.
The SW AHSN needed a way to easily and clearly report back to NHS England and their board on their work programme, in particular in relation to individual project outcomes. They also needed a system that would make sure they had the most up to date information in their reports. This would mean they could clearly evidence the impact of their work and identify and manage risk.
To move to this position the SW AHSN committed to go through a change management process, including a change in culture, to one where they had:
- A consistent approach to project management
- A commitment to clearly evidence impact
- Easy access to accurate information on individual projects and programmes of work
- Comprehensive, easy and flexible reporting
- Robust risk management
How we’re helping the SW AHSN achieve their goal
We started working with the SW AHSN in October 2016 and had their system live by February 2017. This rapid installation of the project management software helped them move smoothly through the changes they needed to make.
Because Verto is cloud-based project management software, the SW AHSN staff and its contractors can access the system. In the future their member organisations may also have access to the system, which will further help develop a consistent approach to project management across the network.
We tailored the Verto dashboard to match the brand colours of the SW AHSN. This familiarity helped their staff engage and feel more comfortable using a new system.
Verto has given them a shared database, which means they can generate reports at all levels. And Verto’s tagging facility means they can create reports from the data they choose.
“The team at TMI have been really helpful and Verto is proving to be an excellent project management tool. We now have a richness of information we didn’t have before. Being able to tag fields so we can tailor reports is a significant benefit. And we’re able to use Verto to quickly and easily create our quarterly reports and business plan for NHS England. All this has helped us to implement the change we needed to make in both our practice and our culture.”
Claire Higdon, Director of Corporate Services, SW AHSN
The benefits the SW AHSN is seeing
The SW AHSN have found Verto really easy to use. Some staff are happily using it without having had any training. However, those who have taken part in a short training session are, to quote Claire Higdon, ‘really flying.’
In particular, staff have found Verto is saving them time as they only need to fill in information such as project descriptions and objectives once.
The SW AHSN now has a much clearer understanding of how projects are allocated across the staff team and can clearly see who is working on what. They can also get an instant report on all the projects each member organisation is involved in.
They are able to capture more information on each project and programme of work. This is making it much easier to see what they’ve achieved and evidence progress. It also means they are better able to identify and manage risk.
One of the key benefits the SW AHSN has found is Verto’s tagging facility. This means users can tag the data they want to include to create exactly the report they need.
With Verto they can also produce reports as PDF documents. This has proved to be really helpful when staff need to take information to a meeting or share it with someone who doesn’t have access to the system.
“The strength of working with TMI has been how they’ve tailored our Verto system to our exact needs – making it part of our organisation, not a bolt on.”
Louise Witts, Interim CEO, SW AHSN
In March 2017, the SW AHSN sent their first quarter end report to NHS England using Verto. Claire Higdon told us it was really quick and easy to do. She went on to say:
“Although many of the changes we’ve seen since we introduced Verto seem fairly basic, they’ve really helped us to engage and motivate staff and members.”
We’re still working with the SW AHSN and are currently helping them use Verto to capture more information from their projects and develop more detailed reporting.
To find out more about how Verto can help your AHSN please call us on 0118 334 6200 or message us here.
Our five golden rules for a successful meeting
Our five golden rules for a successful meeting
In our post on 9th March, we looked at the top five skills all project managers should have. Number five on our list was being able to manage meetings. Because well-run meetings are such a vital part of a project’s success, we said we’d look at them again in a future post.
So today, we’re going to look at how you can make sure your meetings are a success.
The professional meeting goer
Many of us go to so many meetings it can seem like that’s all our job is. An endless round of agendas, minutes, background papers, reports, coffee, biscuits and hoping you’ll be able to park.
Will your morning meeting be over in time so you can go back to your office before your afternoon meeting? How many of the people who were in your last meeting will be in your next meeting? How many people do you only ever meet in meetings?
What are all these meetings for?
But, however much we may moan about them, we do need meetings. They’re a key part of how we share information, make decisions and keep a project moving forward.
Meetings can also be the only time different people involved in a project get to see each other. So they can be an important way to keep partners connected and involved.
How to make sure people come to your meetings
When people are confident that your meetings are relevant, useful, well run and overall a good use of their time, they’ll come to them. And, perhaps more importantly, they’ll keep coming.
This is key, because consistent commitment and participation from the right people is one of the things that will help your projects succeed.
So take a look at our golden rules for how to run a successful meeting. They’ll help your meetings succeed and, as a result, help your projects succeed too.
Our five golden rules for successful meetings
1. Make sure you invite the right people
Only invite people who are involved in the business of the meeting, can contribute to it and make decisions - or who have a direct link to those who can. This is particularly important with public sector organizations where the decision-making process can have several layers and be complex.
Generally, for a meeting to be effective no more than 12 people should be part of the core group. However, from time to time you may also want to invite people who you need to hear from or who need to hear what you’re discussing.
2. Plan the meeting carefully
When you’re putting the agenda together make sure you stay focused on a clear outcome (or outcomes, but not too many – see point about timing below). Think about what the meeting needs to decide, discuss and hear about now. If something doesn’t require immediate action or isn’t clearly relevant, leave it for a later date or don’t include it at all.
Show whether each agenda item is for decision, information or discussion. As people are usually more lively and creative at the start of a meeting, put items that need mental energy and clear heads at the top of the agenda. However, it can also be helpful to put items of significant interest and concern further down the agenda. This can help people get over the natural attention lag that happens about 20 minutes in to a meeting.
It’s also worth thinking about the impact agenda items will have on the group. Some will bring people together while others can create a divide. The order in which you include these items will make a difference to the whole atmosphere of the meeting. For example, it is worth ending the meeting with an item that creates consensus so that people leave on a positive note.
3. Time the meeting carefully
Set a time for your meeting and stick to it. And try not to let it last longer than two hours. Meetings that go on too long become less effective.
Include the start and end time on the agenda as well as the timing for each agenda item. This will help keep people focused and prevent the meeting from overrunning.
We all hate lengthy meetings that go on and on so doing this will help people look at your meetings in a positive way and encourage them to attend regularly.
4. Set the right tone
You, or the chair, need to set the tone for the meeting from the start. Make sure it’s purposeful, focused and energetic. However, you also want people to feel comfortable and able to contribute so make a conscious effort to include everyone and allow some time for a more easy-going approach.
The right tone also relates to what happens outside of the meeting. So make it clear you expect people to prepare, to turn up on time, to participate and to carry out actions they commit to.
5. Follow-up the meeting properly
Once you’ve held your meeting send the minutes to everyone promptly, preferably within a week. Include the actions you agreed on and the names of the people who will carry them out.
Minutes also help people who weren’t at the meeting catch up on what was discussed and agreed. If necessary, get in touch with them in person to share what happened and discuss any particular issues with them. This will show they were missed and encourage them to stay committed to the work of the group and attend next time.
Well-run meetings are particularly useful when you’re managing multi-agency projects. They can bring people together who otherwise wouldn’t meet. They can help to define the partnership. And they can help people to understand both their collective aim and the way in which they and others can contribute to and influence this.
To find out more about how Verto can make your project management easier please call us on 0844 870 8785 or message us here.
How we can help you help your clients
Verto is widely used across both the private and public sectors.
For example, our clients include Capita PLC, Northgate Vehicle Leasing, NHS and councils across the country.
Many of our private sector clients also work with public sector organisations, helping them build shared services, deliver change and realize challenging efficiency savings.
Even when several organisations from different sectors are involved, Verto’s tools make it easy for them to work together. Because with Verto, everyone can work on the same platform and communicate with each other quickly and easily.
Here are some examples of how we’re helping our clients and what they have to say about us.
Capita
Capita uses technology to create and deliver smarter process management and professional support services across the public and private sectors.
They say:
“I have been working with the Verto team for the last 18 months and in that time we have built an excellent working relationship. The reason for this is that not only is VERTO an excellent PPM tool, but what makes the product stand out is the team behind it for their responsiveness, help, support and ability to go the extra mile in both promoting and delivering the tool to clients. The VERTO team understand real problems and issues and how to resolve them in a fit for purpose way and do so in a friendly and open manner that is very refreshing.”
Onesource
Onesource provides shared back office support services for local government and other public services. They use Verto to support their project and programme management.
They say:
“We have found Verto to be very flexible, especially when embedding our corporate methodology and workflow into a cloud-based application. [It] has enabled better collaborative ways of working and greater transparency in all aspects of project management and expenditure. Furthermore, TMI [Verto] has consistently provided an excellent customer service and [been] willing to support us at all times. We’ve enjoyed working with TMI to achieve our corporate PMO application requirements.”
Denbighshire Council
“The support from TMI Systems from day one has been outstanding, they are always willing to listen to new ideas and respond to all system enquiries almost by return.”
Wolverhampton City Council
“The support provided by TMI Systems has been brilliant to get the system up and running. The system enables us to have a cross directorate view of the projects and programmes currently being managed within the Council.”
To find out more about how Verto can help you and your clients please call us on 0844 870 8785 or message us here.
Why Verto’s Cloud-based Software Will Make You a Better Employer
We designed Verto’s software to make it easier for you to manage projects and work in partnership with others.
And that’s exactly what Verto does. Its tools and cloud-based platform mean you can do all this, in an instant, whenever you need to and wherever you are:
- Manage risk
- Create reports
- Share information
- Communicate with one or more people
- See the status of all your projects at a glance
- Manage your team’s workload and performance
- Track your project’s progress and monitor its costs
There’s more to Verto
So Verto does what it promises. But it has other, less immediately obvious benefits. One is that Verto makes flexible working easy to put into practice and manage.
Increasingly, flexible working is becoming the norm. This is because it is good for both employees and employers. According to the 2009 Flexible Working Taskforce report:
65% of employers said flexible working practices had a positive effect on recruitment and retention
70% of employers noted some or significant improvement in employee relations
How to make flexible working work
Flexible working requires trust and confidence on both sides if it is to be a success. Staff need to be confident their managers are committed to flexible working and trust them not to abuse it. Likewise, managers need to allow their team members to have more control over their working week and trust them to maintain their performance.
Verto’s tools make it easy to manage a team, manage projects and maintain contact even when people are working in different places at different times. Exactly the support flexible working needs to be a success.
Key benefits of flexible working
One of the key strengths of flexible working is that it’s attractive to employees. So, as noted in the Flexible Working Taskforce report, it will appeal to candidates when you’re recruiting, it will help you retain skilled and experienced staff and it will help improve your employee relations.
There is a wealth of evidence to show (for example, Scandura and Lankau 1997) that flexible working leads to higher levels of commitment and job satisfaction.
This is because flexible working motivates and empowers your staff by giving them more control. For example, they’ll be able to more easily meet their family and other commitments. As an added benefit, they’re also more likely to take a flexible approach to work. So when you need people to put in some extra hours they’re more likely to do so willingly.
Less direct benefits can include cuts to travel time and costs, which can also contribute to your organization’s carbon management and reporting. Staff who are able to avoid the rush hour will probably arrive at work in a more positive frame of mind too!
At its simplest, trusting your staff to work flexibly shows that you’re committed to them not just the organization.
To find out more about how Verto can help your project management - and as a result, flexible working - please call us on 0844 870 8785 or message us here.
How Verto is helping the NHS deliver improvements
Health services are under constant and increasing demand. So the best way for healthcare staff to respond to this demand and meet the needs of their patients is through partnership working. As experts in collaboration, Verto is well placed to support the NHS in these partnerships.
In 44 areas covering the whole of England, the NHS, local councils and other providers are working together to improve health and care. Each area has developed a proposal, called a sustainability and transformation plan (STP), that focuses on the needs of the local population.
We have been working closely with the Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire (BNSSG) area.
The BNSSG STP
The whole of the local health and social care community in BNSSG has been involved in developing the STP. This includes hospitals, local authorities, community providers, mental health organizations, the ambulance service, GPs and other commissioners.
Their aim, under the STP, is to design and deliver health and care services that are affordable and sustainable. The different organisations are working together under one vision that focuses on keeping people well rather than treating illness.
We’ve worked in partnership with them to create a collaboration hub that makes it easier for them to work together and successfully deliver their STP.
The key numbers
1 vision
Covering 21 overarching projects
For 15 partner organisations
With more than 48,000 staff
Serving a population of nearly 1 million
Spending nearly £1.5 billion every year
What Verto is providing
We have created a cloud-based collaboration hub where staff can:
Manage projects and programmes together
Access their project toolkit
Read the STP and other project documents
Find information on new processes
Access a shared calendar with dates for events, meetings and workshops as well as key project deadlines
Find out the names and contact details of people working on projects
Complete standardised project management approaches
Complete and review reports
Share files and documents
Because Verto is based in the cloud it supports mobile working so staff can access the hub from any device, whenever they need to and from wherever they are.
It also means staff will receive real-time updates. These will keep them up to date with everything that’s going on. They’ll know when actions are complete and they’ll know if things start to fall behind. This will help make sure the STP stays on track to deliver its 21 key projects.
And Verto’s instant messaging tool means staff can communicate with each other quickly and easily. Whenever they need to they can chat to one person, a specific team or everyone involved in a project.
We’ll include a case study of our work with the BNSSG STP area in a future post. In the meantime, to find out more about how we can support your partnership working, please call us on 0844 870 8785 or message us here.
How Verto’s mobile working tools make collaboration easy for you
In our last blog we looked at the benefits of collaborative working and why it’s worth investing in. It’s been shown that when we work together costs go down, results go up, our learning improves and we have a more united voice.
This is why, increasingly, both public and private sector organisations are being encouraged to develop and maintain strong partnerships.
But, as we also acknowledged in our blog, collaborative working isn’t always easy. For example, how do you enable people across a range of organisations to communicate quickly and easily? How do you make sure everyone has access to the most up-to-date information? And, with so many people involved in a project, how do you stay on top of what’s going on?
We understand both the value of collaborative working and the barriers to making it a success. This is why we designed and developed tools that directly overcome these barriers. And allow you to enjoy all the benefits of working with others.
Project updates and notifications
Verto’s updates and notifications help you track projects and stay on top of tasks.
You can create different task lists to help people manage their work. These lists can be for individuals, specific teams or everyone involved in the project, whichever is best for you.
You can then set Verto’s notifications to keep you and other members of the project up to date with what’s going on. You’ll know when someone has completed a task and you’ll know when things start to fall behind. This means you can take action immediately and make sure your project stays on schedule.
Instant messaging
Verto’s instant messaging tool means you can keep in touch with everyone involved in your project, quickly, easily and whenever you need to. And they can keep in touch with you too.
You can check in with one person, bounce ideas off a whole team and update everyone involved in the project.
You don’t always know when you’re going to need a piece of information - perhaps you’re in a meeting and you’re asked for a specific cost that you don’t have to hand. That’s no problem with Verto as you can simply message the person who has the answer. And they can get back to you in an instant.
File sharing
When a lot of people are involved in a project, it’s vital everyone has access to the same information. Verto makes this easy too.
When you use Verto you can store all your documents in the cloud. This means anyone who needs to can access a document to read or update it. Whenever they need to and from wherever they are.
Crucially, Verto’s inbuilt document control tool also means you can be sure you’re always looking at the most up-to-date version of any file.
And remember, because Verto is based in the cloud, you can use it on almost any device, at any time, wherever you are.
To find out more please call us on 0844 870 8785 or message us here.
Why it’s Worth Investing in Collaborative Working
No one ever said collaborative working is easy. To make it a success definitely takes effort. But making that effort is worthwhile because the benefits of collaborative working can be significant, for both your service users and the organisations taking part.
In future posts we’ll look at some of the barriers to collaborative working, what can go wrong, and how you can make it easier.
But for now, perhaps because we’re still in a positive New Year frame of mind, we’re going to focus on the benefits of collaborative working.
What is collaborative working?
Before we start, it’s worth being clear what we mean when we say collaborative working.
There are many definitions posted on the web and published in guidance documents, some of which will suit your organisation and specific collaboration better than others.
From our experience supporting people and organisations involved in collaborative working, we’re happy with:
Collaborative working is two or more departments or organisations working together. This may be to contribute to a particular activity, function or project, or to contribute to a new organisation. The arrangement may be for a fixed time or it may be permanent.
Why do we work in collaboration?
It’s also worth looking at what’s driving us to work in collaboration.
The impetus may come from public opinion, government policy and the ongoing public sector drive for improved efficiency and effectiveness – most likely it’s a combination of all three.
However, what initially led to the collaboration is less important that what the outcomes may be. Because when collaborative working goes well, these can be extremely positive.
- Collaborative working helps you save money
Organisations working together are usually much more cost-effective than, what we now call, silo-based working. From joint procurement to cutting duplication, there are many ways that collaborative working can lead to savings. As evidence of this, our clients are currently using Verto to help them track £13.2 billion of planned savings.
- Collaborative working helps you be more effective
At the heart of collaborative working is improving outcomes for service users. When we focus more on why we’re providing a particular service and work together to find solutions, both of which collaborative working makes us do, we’re more likely to make a positive difference.
- Collaborative working helps you learn, share and repeat success
Closely linked to the point above, working with others and learning from their knowledge and experience, helps us understand more about what we really need to provide and how best to do this. Over time, services can become more resilient and expertise in teams can grow.
- Collaborative working helps you build a strong and united voice
When we share our knowledge and experience, we may also uncover shared problems and concerns. If we then need to lobby for change, one clear message sent by many will have much greater impact.
We designed Verto to help make collaborative working easier and more successful for you. In future blogs we’ll look in more detail at how Verto’s specific tools do this. Because whether you want to make communication, reporting, risk analysis, task management, resource management, performance planning or document storage and sharing easier, we can help.
For more information please call us on 0844 870 8785 or message us here.
Three Key Ways Verto’s Project Management Software Will Help Your Projects Succeed
Managing a single project can be hard, never mind the challenges of being responsible for several projects at once.
Because even the simplest project will involve different people and activities. And more complex projects may also involve different organisations, teams, stakeholders and funding streams.
When you add in budget constraints, challenging time-scales and the need to produce accurate reports, it’s easy to see how projects can go off the rails.
To help your projects succeed you need to keep in touch with everything that’s going on and everyone who’s involved, while maintaining a clear focus on each project’s intended outcomes.
Verto’s project management software will help you do this.
Instant messaging
Because Verto is cloud-based software, you can use it on most devices, wherever you are and whenever you need it.
This means you can use Verto’s instant messaging tool to easily keep in touch with everyone involved in your projects.
Imagine you’re in a meeting and suddenly need a budget update from someone else on the project team. All you have to do is send them a message and straight away they can get back to you with the most up-to-date figures.
Whether you need to quickly check something with one person, brainstorm with a particular team or update a whole group of people, Verto lets you do this.
So you and everyone else involved in your projects can share information and ask questions, in an instant and at the exact time you need to.
Direct document sharing
Along with keeping in touch with everyone involved in your projects, having the most up-to-date information is also critical for success.
Verto makes this easy too.
Because you can store all your project documents in the cloud, you can access them wherever you are, whenever you need them. You can read the latest versions and make changes without having to go back to the office.
Anyone who needs it can have access to read or update documents. And because Verto has a clever, automatic document control tool, you can be sure you’re looking at the most recent version.
Get real-time updates
Another of Verto’s clever tools is its real-time updates.
You can set Verto’s notifications to keep you and other members of the project team on top of your tasks and on-schedule with daily notifications and updates.
And if things do start to fall behind on a project’s to-do list, Verto will let you know straight away so you can take action immediately.
Of course, there’s much more to Verto. From risk analysis to flexible reporting, performance planning to resource management, Verto gives you all the tools you need to manage your projects from start through to successful completion.
For more information on how Verto can help your projects succeed please call us on 0844 870 8785 or message us here.
Northgate Vehicle Hire, Aylesbury Vale CCG and Perth & Kinross Health & Social Care Partnership All Choose Verto
We are delighted to now include Northgate Vehicle Hire, Aylesbury Vale CCG and Perth & Kinross Health & Social Care Partnership to our list of Verto users.
Northgate Vehicle Hire
Northgate vehicle hire provide van hire and leasing options to businesses as an alternative to purchase, contract hire or lease. With a growing network of 75 branches from Aberdeen to Plymouth their business continues to grow. Their fleet is made up of LCVs from the UK's leading manufacturers, including Mercedes Benz, Ford, VW and Peugeot, and a majority of branches have their own workshops which enables maintenance to be planned and scheduled at times that will cause least disruption to customers. Northgate Vehicle Hire also have a partnership in place with the AA to provide breakdown support and recovery. Verto enables them to maintain communication with their suppliers, while supporting their PMO and the management and delivery of their key projects and programmes.
Aylesbury Vale CCG
Verto has proved popular amongst many CCG's and now Aylesbury Vale CCG has been added to our list of users. The clinically led membership organisation is responsible for commissioning local NHS services to meet the needs of local people. Supporting the development of partnerships between patients, healthcare professionals, social care, voluntary services and commissioners in North Buckinghamshire, Verto is also instrumental in helping Aylesbury Vale CCG support collaboration amongst their project teams and with partner organisations, allowing them to build effective working relationships with other CCGs including Oxfordshire and Milton Keynes.
Perth & Kinross Health & Social Care Partnership
An initiative of Perth & Kinross Council, this strategic commissioning plan has been designed to ensure that the needs of the local community and individuals are met. Perth & Kinross Health & Social Care Partnership use Verto to support their coordinated approach to the way in which care services are delivered. This includes working collaboratively with GPs, hospitals, health workers and social care staff forming integrated partnership arrangements.
Find out more about which organisations are using Verto here.