Gentofte Municipality
Strengthened MED cooperation as a lever for implementation
Background and need
Gentofte Municipality has for some time worked strategically on strengthening its capacity to implement change closer to practice. A key challenge has been to ensure that changes are not only decided and communicated centrally, but also lived and owned in day-to-day practice by employees and leaders.
Here the MED cooperation plays a central role as a link between strategic decisions and the day-to-day reality. The municipality therefore wanted to strengthen and develop collaboration in the MED organisation so it could support, drive and accelerate implementation to a greater extent.
Solution
A joint seminar was designed and run for MED committees within care and health, focused on strengthening the MED cooperation's role in implementation. The programme took its starting point in implementation research, organisational psychology and brain research - inspired by, among other things, Hverdagsimplementering (Dansk Psykologisk Forlag).
The aims of the seminar were to:
- Create a shared language about working with implementing change in practice.
- Provide concrete tools for working with change - in terms of creating direction, motivation and agency.
- Increase understanding of reactions to change and how, as a MED representative, you can support safety, meaning and engagement.
- Create a space for shared reflection, sparring and network-building in the MED cooperation.
The content was:
- Shared understanding of MED's role in implementation work. How can MED play an active role in turning decisions into action - without taking responsibility away from leadership or employees?
- Early involvement and shared attention. How can MED be brought into play earlier in change processes - and how do we spot what's standing in the way of change succeeding in practice?
- When the brain plays a trick on you in change. What does the latest brain research say about our ability to be rational? What does that mean for our understanding of the concept of 'resistance to change' - and how do we best handle what could also be called a defence against uncertainty?
The three efforts that matter most for working with change management in practice were brought together in the Safari model - set direction, take action, give agency and work with engagement.
Results
The seminar has created a new shared understanding in the MED organisation of how to play an active role in implementation work. At the same time it has given participants concrete tools and methods that they could immediately take home and apply in their practice. Participants have also gained an increased understanding of psychological reactions to change - including how, as a MED representative, you can support safety and foster constructive dialogue about difficult topics. Finally, a number of participants have expressed that they feel they can make a difference themselves - even as MED representatives - in change processes.