{"id":4593,"date":"2023-09-22T11:45:10","date_gmt":"2023-09-22T10:45:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ourdorset.org.uk\/innovation\/?page_id=4593"},"modified":"2024-12-04T16:12:00","modified_gmt":"2024-12-04T16:12:00","slug":"reflections-on-a-role-in-tec-innovation-discovery-and-collaboration","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/ourdorset.org.uk\/innovation\/blogs\/reflections-on-a-role-in-tec-innovation-discovery-and-collaboration\/","title":{"rendered":"Reflections on a role in TEC, Innovation, Discovery, and Collaboration"},"content":{"rendered":"
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I\u2019ve been a member of the Dorset Innovation Hub (DIH) Core Team since February this year and together with my Digital colleague Jaime it has been a time of fascinating discovery and learning.<\/p>\n

As I prepare to leave my Technology Enabled Care (TEC) Occupational Therapist (OT) role for Dorset Council, it seems an opportune time to reflect on what being part of the DIH has meant to me and\u00a0how what I have gained professionally, will have a long-lasting impact on how I can improve the quality of \u00a0services for those whose lives can be enriched by TEC.<\/p>\n

The Adults and Housing directorate use various forms of TEC with the aim of enabling individuals to remain as independent as possible in, and outside, of their homes.\u00a0 It can also support people to self-manage their own healthcare and wellbeing, can improve communication between people and the staff that support their health and social care needs, and it can also capture and share information to help staff provide person centred interventions.<\/p>\n

Dorset Council\u2019s TEC Team have an increased focus on aligning Assistive Technology provision with the Council’s strategic intentions and programmes of transformation. A big part of my role has always been to look at innovative systems and devices, test these out singularly or as part of a pilot project.<\/p>\n

In the early days my approach was carried out without the use of the proven principles of project management, and it wasn\u2019t until I had the opportunity to undertake a short 6 week project management course that I began to realise I had missed out on some valuable insights that probably would have changed how I devised and planned the pilots I have undertaken over the last couple of years.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can do anything, but you can\u2019t do everything\u201d \u2013 this is a quote on my calendar for the month of September and is quite \u2018apt\u2019 really as I write this. With pilots I have undertaken so far in the TEC world, I have been the project manager and the project team, and it has been a struggle to properly give my time to a pilot 100% especially as I have usually had other day to day work (non-pilot and project management related) to be a part of in this varied role of a TEC OT.<\/p>\n

So, learning the foundations of project management and the stages you go through, that \u2018linear lifecycle\u2019 of a project has taught me a few key lessons: –<\/p>\n

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1. Try to avoid jumping to potential solutions at the start of pilot planning and focus on clearly defining the problem which you are trying to solve first \u2013 I used to start with the innovative device or system first before properly defining why we needed to \u2018solve\u2019 a problem in the first place.<\/p>\n

2. Properly risk manage the potential in the planning process and create a risk register or log to constantly refer to and review the risks. Also, ensure that there is a \u2018risk owner\u2019 to monitor the effect of the responses on the risk. The risk owner also doesn\u2019t necessarily need to be the project manager either!<\/p>\n

3. Make sure you \u2018resource plan\u2019 a project properly and build that into the project \u2013 resources could mean more staff or colleagues that need to help implement the pilot in practical terms and so defining that \u2018resource mobilisation\u2019 early on is key for myself going forward.<\/p>\n

The principals of project management approach were further embedded when I attended the DIH\u2019s \u2018Fundamentals of Innovation Adoption\u2019 Training run by Sarah and Sandra. Again, good planning and ensuring you have access to specific tools that help you check if your innovative project or idea has the legs to go further with additional design was some further knowledge I gleaned. I particularly took note of the \u2018sustainability\u2019 of a project and that there is nothing wrong with carrying out a small-scale test first before going live with a larger pilot \u2013 very good advice indeed.<\/p>\n

Being part of the Core Team at the DIH has been such a valuable experience for me as it enabled me to get to know a great deal of people with various skillsets and backgrounds who think and approach things differently. There is so much creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills in the team that they really are making a difference to bringing to life innovation that solves real problems in the Health and Social Care sector and they provide a valuable resource to ensure innovative ideas are nurtured, tested, and implemented. It really has been a huge honour to work with them all and I shall miss their analytical mindsets and can- do attitudes but am delighted to stay in contact as a member of the Dorset Innovation Hub wider-community.<\/p>\n

Claire Collett<\/strong><\/p>\n

OT TEC Team Dorset Council\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"parent":3881,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-4593","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ourdorset.org.uk\/innovation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4593","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ourdorset.org.uk\/innovation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ourdorset.org.uk\/innovation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ourdorset.org.uk\/innovation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ourdorset.org.uk\/innovation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4593"}],"version-history":[{"count":25,"href":"https:\/\/ourdorset.org.uk\/innovation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4593\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4619,"href":"https:\/\/ourdorset.org.uk\/innovation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4593\/revisions\/4619"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ourdorset.org.uk\/innovation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3881"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ourdorset.org.uk\/innovation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4593"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}