Macarthur Street CRU has a team of staff that have been working together very well for the past five years. In that time there has been very little staff turnover and until recently no client turnover. The family of a person living in the house have requested that their family member move closer to their home. This person has moved to their new accommodation and a new person Anne has started living in the CRU.
This change has been very difficult for the staff to adapt to as Anne has a range of behaviours that the staff have not dealt with before and find very challenging. When Anne moved into the house the staff had access to a brief history and some training about the behaviours Anne displays. The House Supervisor and Residential Manager have had ongoing discussions about how Anne is settling in and how the staff are coping with this change. After deciding that neither Anne or the staff were adapting well they decided to implement Action Learning with the staff.
The following is the process the staff and managers followed:
This strategy was very successful with staff feeling confident in their ability to deal with the behaviours. Anne also settled into the house and began to develop positive relationships with the other people and staff.
When this program began the House Supervisor and Residential Manager took a lead in the process and helped the staff to concentrate their efforts and stay on track. By the end of the process staff felt they could continue the Action Learning process on a number of other issues and report to their House Manager on a regular basis, calling for assistance as required.