When collaborating with people from different organisations, the way you kick things off can set the tone for everything that follows. Get it right, and you’re on your way to smooth sailing. Get it wrong, and you might find yourself playing catch-up from day one.
But why does the start matter so much?
A solid start ensures everyone is on the same page, understands expectations, and feels aligned on what success looks like. It builds trust, fosters collaboration, and helps everyone hit the ground running. So, it’s not just about launching your new project to design a fostering recruitment hub, it’s about setting it up for long-term success.
Six steps to start strong and set the right foundations for your fostering recruitment hub.
Clarify the big picture
You might think everyone knows what a fostering recruitment hub is about - but people are likely to have different interpretations. Take time upfront to clarify the vision. Get everyone on the same page about the why, understand the specific needs of the region and define what success looks like.
Define roles and expectations early on
The last thing you want is ambiguity about who’s doing what. When working with others from different local authorities, it’s easy for responsibilities to overlap or slip through the cracks. Right from the start, define clear roles and set expectations. What role does the lead local authority have vs other authorities? Who is responsible for what? Having this clarity from the get-go prevents frustration.
Get in a room together!
In any project, building strong working relationships matters. Getting to know each other helps break down silos and makes collaboration feel more natural. As you will be working with people from other local authorities, prioritise getting together in person. When teams come together in person, they can engage in more meaningful discussions, share ideas and address any misunderstands or conflicts as they arise. Getting together in person will support you in shifting your team’s fostering mindset from competition to collaboration, which will be crucial for the success of your hub.
Be open
It’s crucial to establish open communication norms early. You can’t work well together if you’re not talking to each other. Setting up space for open dialogue across all levels of your fostering service will encourage people to share, whether that be information, resources, best practices or feedback. If a culture of openness is created, staff are more likely to understand each other’s perspectives and consider new ideas and approaches. This is an opportunity to be innovative when designing your hub and openness will enable this.
Leverage diverse expertise
Working together, you should leverage each local authorities’ strengths, recognising this as an opportunity to learn from one another. Humility is essential for effective collaboration. Local authority teams should acknowledge that they do not have all the answers to recruiting foster carers and be willing to seek help and advice from others. Designing your fostering recruitment hub is an opportunity to bring together diverse expertise and engage with people who understand fostering best – foster carers. Bring them into the design phase, learn from them and listen.
Be transparent about challenges and risks
Whichever local authority is leading the design and set up of the fostering recruitment hub will not just be responsible for setting a positive tone but also acknowledging the reality of challenges and risks. Working with teams across local authorities to design and set up a new fostering service will involve aligning processes and where possible standardising practice. This is not easy. Anticipating and discussing potential challenges from the start means you’ll be much better prepared to work together to find solutions.
If you'd like to talk more about your Fostering Recruitment Hub, feel free to contact Anya Kemble.
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