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A week in the life of… a business improvement manager
In March, Peaks & Plains Housing Trust was found to be non-complaint by the regulator, due to multiple safety issues and a breach of a loan covenant. Business improvement manager Lisa Earle has been leading the trust’s efforts to regain compliance through a programme called Foundations. She talks through what her week has looked like
Monday
Monday begins a busy week of managing lots of moving parts, as we continue to navigate our way through our comprehensive, two-stage Foundations programme. I hold a daily stand-up meeting with a core group of people who are involved in the plan’s delivery.
Having completed stage one – to understand and correct our compliance data in five critical areas of fatal risk, gas, electrical, water, fire and asbestos safety – each meeting is centred around agreeing priorities for the week ahead.
Phase one was made up of 156 actions, involving people from across the trust. As such, Monday is a chance for me to check in with anyone and offer support to make sure they are happy, motivated and have all of the tools they need to deliver what’s expected.
Tuesday
Tuesday starts with a brief stand-up meeting to discuss and resolve any issues quickly. We knew launching the Foundations programme was going to be a challenge on our journey back to full compliance [the association was found to be non-compliant in March last year, due to safety issues and breaching a loan covenant], while importantly keeping our tenants, staff and contractors safe in the homes they live and work in.
This meeting is a fantastic opportunity to link in with other managers involved with the project and make dynamic decisions to keep things moving.
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Tuesday morning is also our senior leadership team meeting, where we share updates about the great work that’s going on across the trust and where I update everyone on progress with the delivery of Foundations and discuss any wider issues.
In addition, Tuesday is evidence review day. Absolutely nothing is signed off from the Foundations programme unless tangible evidence is both submitted and reviewed. My mantra is definitely “don’t tell me, show me”!
Wednesday
I attend an all-managers meeting on Wednesday, before chairing a two-hour Foundations meeting where everybody involved attends (albeit virtually at the moment). The focus is to discuss progress against our plans, to look at data validation, compliance reporting tools, IT system solutions, and operational day-to-day delivery issues.
Although we’ve successfully completed phase one on time, there is still lots of work to be done. Stage two is another ambitious plan and is made up of around 340 high-level actions to be delivered between now and the end of June 2021. This plan builds on the great work already completed and supports our robust approach to compliance management.
Thursday
Following my daily stand-up meeting, I meet with heads of service/managers involved with the Foundations programme. At this meeting we conduct a full review of all plans ‘in flight’. We discuss timings, potential deadline extensions and the overall impact on delivery.
We look at resourcing, to make sure the plans remain realistic, and I take this opportunity to challenge any evidence that has been submitted where there are outstanding queries.
Friday
The stand-up meeting on Friday is a great way for each individual to celebrate reaching their goals. I really enjoy this catch-up, as it motivates and inspires me for the week ahead!
The rest of Friday is spent producing and presenting a formal report for our executive team, where we discuss any bigger decisions regarding the Foundations programme. This includes the development of new policies, procedures, process maps, training delivery and new performance reporting.
We intend to look at the remaining 13 areas of compliance and subject them to the same level of scrutiny that we applied to the first five. There’s still a way to go, but I am confident we can build on the success of phase one to deliver long-lasting improvements and regain full compliance.
A week in the life series
Our ‘A week in the life’ series features housing professionals talking through what they do in their job on a day-to-day basis.
Find out about the different challenges housing workers in a variety of roles face in a given week.
We aim to feature staff from housing associations, ALMOs, local authorities and more.
Click here to nominate yourself or a colleague for inclusion
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