Customer feedback and testimonials - Whose Shoes?
What do Whose Shoes? customers say about the game?
This is a fantastic tool which I have used many times to guide staff through change, interact with commissioners and explain to service users about what services are available, it enables discussion and flow of ideas for all. Think of Monopoly and you are not far away - it's fun and makes you think outside of the box. Gill is the creator of something truly wonderful, which has the opportunity to develop and get better and better!
Philippa Codd (Service Development Director - Housing, Health & Social Care, Mears Group)
"This is an excellent way of exploring the range of views held in relation to personalisation. It is fun, non-threatening but very challenging. It’s a great teaching tool" - Ali Gardner, Senior Lecturer, Department of Social Work, Manchester Metropolitan University
"The impact Whose Shoes? can have re developing User and Carer knowledge and understanding about the Personalisation Agenda is fantastic - and with the additional social outcomes it has for partnership and peer learning - its phenomenal. People absorb more when they are having a good time!!! We are just waiting for two games to arrive and can't wait to get started." - Barbara Dalby, Carer, Phoenix Support Group, East Riding
“I was blown away with how much any one person coming from whatever perspective can gain in knowledge by playing a game in the right context (training days/ presentation & interactive workshops etc)" - Sharon Terry, Service User, Phoenix Support Group, East Riding
“Really useful learning tool which helps creative and practical thinking” - Rose Bradley, Practice Trainer, Worcestershire County Council
“People have universally enjoyed the game” - Jo Yelland, Lead: Putting People First and Integration, Plymouth City Council
"Whose Shoes? has been very well received in Newham since we purchased it last year. In July (2010), we will be focusing on Self Directed Support as part of the Mayor's town show. We will be using the board game to assist members of the public to ask questions and participate. We will send further feedback after the event" - London Borough of Newham
It stimulated a lot of very good discussion, it raised a lot of issues and concerns from the team which were aired and clarified” - Carol Rowe, Workforce Development Manager, Bradford City Council
“The poems were fab and funny” - Gill Manning-Smith, Programme Manager, Adult Social Care Transformation, Buckinghamshire County Council
"It’s a fantastic idea which worked well during training sessions with social work teams” - Steve Morgan, Workforce Development Officer (Adult Provider Services), Gateshead Council
"It went down very well and provided an excellent way of EVERYBODY getting involved and talking about issues and it was FUN” - Maggie McNamara,
Commissioning Officer, (Self Directed Support), Nottinghamshire County Council
“Middle managers are looking for answers - but answers will emerge as we move forward. It is all about professional judgements. This is an excellent tool to help us find those answers and make progress” - Learning and Development Manager, large County Council
"This is an ideal learning and development tool for those aiming to make progress with personalisation" - Glasgow Social Care Providers Forum
'Whose Shoes?' has received great reviews throughout the country and is widely renowned as a genuinely useful tool for helping people to think about the bigger picture, and how Personalisation can be realistically achieved - Senior Manager in East Midlands Local Authority
We really liked the idea that you weren't playing in competition with each other, but as one team, driving to co-deliver changes to adult social care; also the fact that it was a very different way to engage in conversations / capture issues with regards to Transformation - and got away from the fatigue people suffer with email, newsletters etc! - Laura Walker, Communications Advisor, Adult Transformation, Newcastle City Council
Feedback from the staff reference group was very positive. The game generated a lot of discussion from different points of view and helped staff to see the bigger picture. Discussions were more informal and interactive than generally occurs at large meetings and staff found the experience enjoyable and beneficial… The staff present represented all service user groups as well as other teams, eg welfare rights, extra care housing, reviewing officers etc - Sandrina Mapletoft, SDS commissioning officer, Nottinghamshire County Council
In Nottinghamshire, the Self Directed Support Team love the game and are becoming sufficiently confident to champion it wider across the adult care workforce now. It is also so exciting that we have good robust collaborations with service users and carers and are working hard now to develop collaborative learning with health colleagues …I feel the game can support us here. Also, we are just about to discuss the curriculum re Putting People First with local HEIs … so, again I would want to use the game here - Veronica Bell, Team Leader (Training) Self Directed Support, Nottinghamshire County Council
"We had a trial run of Whose Shoes? yesterday. The feedback was very good – we particularly liked the way in which the cards prompted lots of discussion (too much at times!) and that even people with no prior knowledge of personalisation were able to contribute. We will definitely be using the game as part of our training programme - Kerry Davies, Senior Development Consultant, Walsall Council
Using Whose Shoes? is a really good way to get a lively discussion going, the game highlights the main points and issues about Personalisation. All staff can take part, learn and share their knowledge in a relaxed atmosphere. Local Authority Manager, North West region
....and what do organisers and participants of Whose Shoes? workshops say?
Thank you so much for the day, Gill, we have received a lot of very positive feedback. It was great and people were thrilled with your game - Kym Billington-Baddley, Head of Staffordshire Social Care Workforce Partnership (SSCWP) - (Whose Shoes? workshops at SSCWP conference)
Thanks again for your time, enthusiasm and support yesterday to make our festival of ideas event another fabulous success! Well done to you! (Workshop Gill ran as part of GSCPF "Festival of Ideas"). I attach the evaluation we have pulled together from everyone’s comments. Great stuff! - Charlie Barker, Director, Glasgow Social Care Providers' Forum
I really enjoyed the workshop (in Manchester - 29/4/10) - Whose Shoes? is a challenging, but safe, fun way of exploring a range of views and perspectives on personalisation. A great learning and development tool it can also be used in other arenas such as team meetings to generate personalisation big picture discussions. - Dorothy Lowe, Learning and Development Business Partner, Care and Person Centred Planning, National Autistic Society
Thank you for giving this learning opportunity. As a student and almost a newly qualifying social worker, the game developed my understanding of the personalisation agenda and how it’s implemented in practice. The discussions when playing the game outlined some dilemmas and challenges within practice. I now feel equipped, taking on what I learnt within my future practice and remain committed to the values of the personalisation agenda. Angela Yeboah, final year social work student, Manchester Metropolitan university
Whose Shoes? has also been recommended by the British Institute for Learning Disabilities (BILD)
Many thanks to all those who completed the customer questionnaire (September 2009). We are delighted to report that the response was extremely positive. EVERYONE reported a high level of satisfaction with the game and it is really exciting to hear the imaginative ways in which people are using this learning and development tool to make progress with their personalisation journeys.
Here is a summary of what people said:
Where and with whom is the game being used?
EVERYWHERE AND WITH EVERYONE!.... team meetings and development days, training sessions, open days, induction of new staff, PQ training, with service users and carers, providers and commissioners, front-line staff, self-directed support champions, voluntary sector and other partners, training managers, senior management teams, elected members, other local authority departments, university students, NVQ assessors, ….. the list goes on
What were the learning objectives?
Very varied according to the needs of the group but typically to raise awareness of the wider issues around personalisation, explore issues and stimulate debate.
How did people respond to the game?
Typical comment: “People’s reactions to the game were generally very positive and they thought that it was a fun way of looking at personalisation. It was easy to understand and play and the majority of participants felt able to contribute and speak freely”
Specific comment: “Our management team was initially not convinced that a board game was a suitable training tool (not “serious” enough!) But when they tried playing it themselves there were some heated debates! Suddenly they realised that communication was an issue and that it was a great way of identifying problem areas and really engaging people”
(These quotes both come from large County Councils)
What worked well?
Typical comments:
“An informal relaxed atmosphere. The active discussions were very useful and the issues raised helped people to understand personalisation from different perspectives”
“Most of it – people love the shoes, the tiles, the cards and the rules – even when they have to “put back”!
“For us, having three sets of games so we can maximise the number of people in a training session who can participate fully”
“People have fun while they play the game and learn at the same time!”
….. and less well?
“People started to realise the enormity and complexity of the agenda!”
Any future plans to use the game?
Yes! Everyone is planning to keep using the game – some are clearly getting huge value from it!
- Many people are using multiple copies of the game as an integrated part of their training programme
- One large county council is using it systematically with every team as part of a “total transformation” programme to find out "where each team is" with personalisation as a key part of their evaluation
- Another has designed an imaginative “Put yourself in my shoes” training day which is being repeated regularly over the coming months, including a DVD with a narrated version of the “Setting the scene” poem
- Others are planning to use it with new groups – (eg service users and carers when they have so far only used it only with staff)
- Manchester Metropolitan University has included the game as an integral part of their new “personalisation module” for BA and MA students and are evaluating it as part of a research project
Are you talking to any other organisations using the game?
Some useful collaborations are emerging between customers – either regional (eg in East Midlands) or between partners from different sectors (eg local authorities / universities – North West.)
People generally seem very happy to help each other so if you are doing something new (eg planning to use the game in a larger event or with new groups) please get in touch and we can probably identify another organisation that has already done this to help you with your planning!
Any tips that could be included in the notes for facilitators?
Thank you to everyone who offered some great tips about getting best value from the game. An update of the “notes for facilitators” has been sent to all customers.
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The Whose Shoes? logo is subject to UK Trade Mark No. 2502651.
The Whose Shoes? board game is subject to UK Registered Design No. 4009563.