With responsibility for delivering services for 115,000 children each year in the family courts across all of England, steering a team of 13 leaders who are responsible for 1500 frontline social workers, Christine Banim, national director of practice at Cafcass, faces social work challenges every day. Here are her top five management tips for leaders of social work teams.
You don’t always get it right
Sometimes you make a decision and you get it wrong. It happens to all of us. When it happens, it’s important that you can acknowledge you’ve made the wrong decision and reflect on it. Being stubborn and sticking to the path you originally chose to follow, despite knowing you’ve made a mistake, can end up in disaster.
Some people think changing a decision they have made is a sign of failure – I disagree. I think it’s one of the most important social work skills and a sign of your ability to think critically about a decision, which is absolutely key to being able to make positive improvements to the work you carry out day-to-day.
There’s always a solution
Over the years I’ve learnt that whatever problem you face, there will be a solution – you just have to do some work to find it. Taking an open, positive approach to your work is crucial. When Cafcass centralised its London early intervention team we initially struggled to make the service work. Recruitment was difficult and the costs high, impacting the quality of delivery.
I had to think positively and outside the box, so decided to move the work out of London to our teams in Coventry, where it was easier to recruit and costs were lower. Going about the task with a “can do” attitude gave me the power to work through the difficult aspects of the situation and create significant changes for the better.
You can’t do it alone
I used to prefer working with only the people I felt most comfortable with. But I have learnt that everyone has their own set of skills and a different perspective they can bring to the table. By engaging directly with individual members of your team and working to their strengths, as well as bringing everyone together, you are well-equipped to make a real difference. Team effort is vital in bringing about change in social work.
Look after yourself
Time out is underestimated. In children’s social work we are all working very hard in a highly pressured environment, so it’s important to make time for ourselves and our friends and family. If we don’t take time away from work, our ability to perform diminishes and our stress levels can rise.
Throughout my career and still now, I have always made efforts to maintain a good work-life balance; making sure I look after my own health and spending time with my family and friends. It’s not always easy to achieve the balance and you have to work at it, but it means you will be happier and more effective in your work in the long run.
Have fun
The work can be tough but it’s not all doom and gloom! My monthly management meetings with Cafcass’ senior leaders are intensive, jam-packed days in which we discuss some of the most important business matters at a national and local level, and make pivotal decisions. But we always find ourselves having fun at times during the day. As a leader, taking responsibility to generate fun can make all the difference; being able to smile and see the brighter side can go a long way when times are tough.
This year, Christine Banim was awarded an OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours for services to children. The title recognises her outstanding contribution to frontline social work in child protection and transforming Cafcass from an organisation rated “inadequate” in 2010 to “good with outstanding leadership and governance” in 2014. A turnaround accomplished by driving changes and creating a robust business model. It also recognises her work at Lincolnshire county council, taking them from a “poor” to “outstanding” rating.
Content on this page is produced and controlled by Cafcass, sponsor of the Guardian Social Care Network children’s services hub.
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