Providing clarity

• Ensure all staff have job descriptions that define their responsibilities and clarify the core functions of their jobs.
• Make sure staff understand each other’s remits and responsibilities. People need to know who does what and how this fits in with the aims of the workplace and the wider organisation.
• Ensure all staff are advised of changes to any individual remit, and that everyone understands the impact of the revision. Remind staff of the revised arrangement as often as is required!

Providing Information

• Display school/ centre targets and refer to these regularly. Remind staff of the way in which their respective responsibilities helps to achieve the identified targets.
• Ensure staff are familiar with required standards of performance, for specific tasks and for jobs in general e.g. discuss criteria for successful task completion, display and discuss codes of competencies.
• Provide information about roles and responsibilities in induction training/ information for new staff.

Providing Support

• Encourage staff to discuss concerns or uncertainties relating to their role, remit or responsibilities.
• Be alert to possible conflicts occurring within a role and resolve these with staff quickly and constructively.

Solution Focused Actions

• Focus on success
• Acknowledge strengths in self and others
• Use solution focused language
• Describe an improved future/ goals
• Do more of what is already working
• Notice exceptions to problems
• Minimise problem talk
• Applications

SF Action – Focus on Success

Leaders comment on improvement and achievement on a regular basis. Staff are encouraged to share stories of success and are reminded of the significance of the smallest of improvements. Scales may be used to track progress.

SF Language/ Questions:

• ‘What is going well?’
• ‘What are we doing better than we did before?’ (regardless of further room for improvement)
• ‘Where are we experiencing even small amounts of what we would like to achieve on a wider scale?’
• ‘On a scale of 0 – 10, where were we then, and where are we now?’

Click for summary of Solution Focused Language.

SF Action – Acknowledge Strengths -  in Self and Others

Leaders acknowledge colleagues’ strengths on a regular basis. Staff are primed to notice and appreciate their own skills and qualities. They are also encouraged to provide informal feedback to colleagues on the strengths they observe in each other.

SF Language/ Questions:

• ‘What am I doing well?’
• ‘What am I doing better than I did before?’
• What skills/ qualities do I bring to this situation?’
• ‘What did I do that enabled me to cope with that difficult situation?’

Click for summary of Solution Focused Language.

SF Action – Use solution focused language

Leaders model the use of constructive language in their interactions. Staff are encouraged to do the same. Confidence in the future is reinforced by awareness of past achievement.

SF Language

• ‘What we have done is . . .            ‘What we can do is  . . .’
• ‘What we’re good at is . . .’            ‘What we do want is . . .
• ‘What we have learned is . . ‘            ‘Next time we will . . .’

Click for summary of Solution Focused Language.

SF Action – Describe an improved future/ goals

Leaders work with staff to explore and define goals for improvement.  Staff are encouraged to maintain a focus on their goals, reviewing them as appropriate. Click to read more about ‘preferred futures’

SF Language

• ‘What are we hoping to achieve?’
• ‘What will this look like?’
• ‘What will we be doing differently when we achieve this?’
• ‘What have we seen other people do?’
• ‘What can we do to move us nearer to our goal?’
• ‘How will we know that we are getting nearer to this goal?’

Click for summary of Solution Focused Language.

SF Action – Do more of what is already working

Leaders look for opportunities to maximise positive experiences throughout the workplace. Staff are encouraged to notice, repeat and do more of whatever is working well.

SF Language/ Questions:

• ‘How could we make that happen more often?’
• ‘Where in the school is this working best?’
• ‘How can we roll this out elsewhere?’

Click for summary of Solution Focused Language.

SF Action – Notice exceptions to problems

Leaders and staff notice when a recognised difficulty is experienced as less intense, less challenging or has less of an impact.

SF Language

• ‘Where in the school is the ‘problem’ not occurring?
• ‘When/ where does it have least impact?’
• ‘What is making the difference?’

Click for summary of Solution Focused Language.

SF Action – Minimise problem talk

Leaders focus on exploring solutions rather than describing problems. They help staff to do the same. Staff are encouraged to generate creative solutions based on their personal resources and hopes for the future. Click to read more about Solution Focused Meetings

SF Language

• ‘How have we coped with a similar difficulty in the past?’
• ‘How will we handle setback?’
• ‘How will we talk ourselves through it?’

Click for summary of Solution Focused Language.

SF Applications

SF practice can be used to focus, motivate and support staff across a wide range of personal and professional situations. It is most effective when adopted as an integral part of a positive workplace culture and incorporated into informal conversation as well as formal discussion formats.

• Staff Meetings/ Parents’ Meetings
• Professional Review/ Development Discussions
• Preparation for Interview
• Preparation for HMIe visit
• Personal and Professional Reflection

The success of the approach depends on the regular and consistent use of the practices described above. Introduce gradually and increase use over time.

Originating in the field of family therapy, organisations now use solution focused approaches in the workplace to improve performance and boost staff morale.