The Effectiveness of Different Mechanisms for Spreading Best Practice

A research project report by the Office for Public Management.

Contents

1. Introduction + Methodology

2. Key Findings and Conclusions

2.1 General Points
2.2 Specific Findings

3. Specific Mechanisms for Spreading Best Practice

3.1 Networks and Beacons

3.2 Guidance Materials and Databases

3.3 Champions

3.4 Customising Information: What do People Want?

4. Holistic Approaches and Models

4.1 Overarching Strategies

4.2 Dissemination Models

5. Evaluations Planned or Currently Under Way

6. Key Sources and References

1. Introduction

This research was carried out by the Office For Public Management on behalf of the Cabinet Office.  The aim was to identify and summarise the findings of existing research on the effectiveness of different mechanisms for spreading best practice across the public sector.

Specific questions to be addressed included:

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Methodology

Our methodology for the research was a combination of desk research through Internet, library and recommended literature sources to identify published research reports and evidence-based articles and contacts with key individuals and relevant organisations. Most of the summaries we have included are based on published reports and literature, but we have also been able to obtain views and feedback from many individuals who are leading the development of best practice initiatives and their dissemination. This latter process produced a relatively wide range of recommended sources, particularly in the health sector, many of which we have included.

As we outline in the Key Findings and Conclusions, it is clear that this issue is attracting considerable attention in many sectors, and many of those we contacted have asked for feedback on the research. Plainly, it is by no means a new question, particularly within industry, as the existence of journals of change management, knowledge management and transfer illustrate. It is also clear that although much has been written and researched about these topics, relatively little comprehensive evaluation has taken place. In our research, we have been able to identify a rich vein of existing information from which to draw our conclusions. Our research has shown, too, that in the public as well as private sectors there is a considerable amount of current and planned activity in this respect, and we have listed some of these initiatives in the report.

In summary, the main sources from which we have drawn our data include:

The project was carried out by Sue Ollerearnshaw and Ewan King, and Sharon Wright from the Office for Public Management. We would like to thank all the individuals who gave time to advise us on research and literature sources and to discuss their views on effective mechanisms for disseminating good practice.

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2. Key Findings and Conclusions

2.1 General Points

Our work on this study has generated considerable interest, largely because many of the individuals and organisations we have contacted are planning to carry out evaluations of their dissemination strategies, or have seen the need to do so, but have not yet initiated such evaluations.

Although there is a certain amount of evaluation of best practice initiatives themselves, relatively little attention has been given to considering whether the methods used to encourage their spread are effective, or whether alternative methods may work better. This general finding is reinforced by points made in two of the main US literature sources we identified. In If Only We Knew What We Know – the Transfer of Internal Knowledge and Best Practice (O'Dell and Jackson Grayson, 1998), for example, the authors stress the importance of understanding how each ‘enabler’ affects the process of best practice transfer, and comment that, in the companies they have studied, measuring the impact of knowledge and best practice transfer does not seem to be prevalent.

Where there had been no systematic evaluation, those concerned with the initiatives we have reported had generally obtained feedback through a combination of user surveys, discussion and reports on the use of their publications; seminars; databases, etc., and had developed a multi-faceted approach to dissemination in order to maximise impact.

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2.2 Specific Findings

A number of common themes have emerged from the research. These have been reflected both in research findings (where research has been carried out) and in feedback from those contacts made with specialists and officials in government departments and elsewhere.

A major finding relates to the importance of involving people (as opposed to paper) at all stages of the best practice identification process and in dissemination. ‘People, rather than electronic methods transfer the knowledge.’ (Nancy Dixon, 1999)

Systems should be avoided in which best practice is identified through a long term research process, carried out at a distance from those who are continually developing and refining it, and disseminated in the form of ‘instructions from the centre.’ People need to trust the source of the data, and its identification as ‘best practice’ if they are to take it on board. This will best be achieved if they or their peer group are involved at each stage of developing, defining and disseminating best practices. This point applies equally to staff involvement within organisations as it does to people/user involvement across sectors or common interest areas.

This approach is reflected in the definition of best practice contained in the DTI Management Best Practice Framework for Local and Regional Policy (April 1999): ‘ For any organisation, it is the particular mix of practices, processes and standards that deliver sustained success in satisfying the requirements of all the stakeholders including customers, shareholders and the people working within it.’

Our research has identified several models and ‘checklists’ which reinforce these points. These models contain consistent themes, such as, ‘the higher the grade of knowledge the lower-tech the solution will be’ and ‘Tacit knowledge is best shared through people, whereas explicit knowledge can be shared through machines’. As this second point illustrates, the models we have identified clearly recognise that there will be situations in which the need for one-to-one or personal contact will be less important, usually where basic tasks, or operating procedures and systems are concerned. If these best practice rules or guidelines are to be fully accepted, however, their source and applicability still need to be trusted and this will again be most readily achieved if users can see that practitioners they trust and value have been involved in their development (see Nahapiet and Ghoshal 1998; Fraser, 1999)

Many of our sources have made the fundamental point that the effectiveness of any dissemination strategy lies in the response it elicits: i.e. in its take-up by intended users and in the results obtained. In addition to the need outlined above for users to be involved in the process of identifying as well as receiving best practice (whether directly or indirectly), it is important to identify clearly the nature of the intended user group, the influences which will determine the extent of take-up, and their preferred mechanisms for receiving information. Simply providing information is not the most important element of effective dissemination. The key is to gain people’s commitment and ‘community of interest’.

Similarly, people are more inclined to adopt or develop best practice if they can identify for themselves what will work best in their own circumstances, based on guidance or models they have received from elsewhere, but with the opportunity to learn and discuss rather than simply to import it wholesale. Strategies which allow for continuing contact through networks, benchmarking or other interactive systems will therefore be important. Networks and benchmarking processes often provide a framework in which the continuing process of identifying, sharing and implementing best practice can be carried out effectively. The Business Excellence Model was cited by the Civil Service College and others as a supportive framework within which practitioners could operate and learn from each other’s experience.

The following detailed points have emerged from the research, and reinforce the above principles.

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Developing dissemination strategies to fit the complexity required

‘… it is possible to take a more systematic approach by looking carefully at the type of knowledge, matching it to the most effective transfer method and using a set of coherent design principles to produce an effective transfer system, In any organisation there may be several different types of knowledge that need to be transferred, each calling for a different transfer method. The answer is to make a match.’ (Nancy Dixon, 1999)

Several key points have emerged from our research, with substantial consistency.

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Identifying objectives and recipients’ needs

Organisations need to identify what they want to achieve through their dissemination strategies as well as the nature of the audience/recipient group and their specific needs. Several key points have emerged under this heading:

The process of involving users and recipient communities by consulting them on their needs and preferences is also an important part of the approach which sees best practice development as a continuing cycle of feedback and sharing.

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Leadership

Leadership is an important element in ensuring that individuals share and apply best practice experience and knowledge. Some commentators have recommended the identification of senior level ‘champions for change’ who facilitate this process. (DfEE, 1998). Cultural change may be discussed in networks and seminars but not reflected in formal plans and negotiations, unless leadership ensures that this happens.

Additional points made are that individuals cannot necessarily be expected to embed the good practice they obtain from an information sharing process on their own, or without top level commitment. Similarly, effective best practice dissemination will often be most successful if it is embedded through a team approach. Those mechanisms which involve in-depth work with several members of the same organisation, who will continue to work together to install new practices within their organisation, will be most successful (although plainly this will not always be practicable).

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Local champions and facilitators

Several sources had developed or studied strategies which involved the use of local champions to take a lead in ensuring that best practice is identified and shared. In If Only We Knew What We Know, facilitators were recommended who would act as co-ordinators of information and knowledge transfer.

The need for strategies to take account of local circumstances is identified, for example, by the NHS Centre for Reviews and Dissemination and in the PACE Kings Fund example. Several commentators referred to the need for people to be able to adapt best practice to local situations and needs, if they are to embed it effectively.

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Timing and co-ordination

The timing of best practice dissemination is crucial. Similarly, different methods have different ‘lives’ and this can have an impact on how and when they are used. When a new initiative is launched, dissemination of appropriate information will need to correspond with the timing and schedules of the initiative’s components and a co-ordinated approach will be crucial. Various strategies have been adopted for this form of co-ordinated dissemination, ranging from extensive learning networks and interactive database systems to the appointment of individuals as the focal point within organisations or across sectors with responsibility for ensuring effective dissemination.

‘Long’ and ‘shorter’ life mechanisms can be used effectively to complement each other, e.g. through a newsletter/ good practice guidance series linked to a continuing practitioner network, or a series of follow-up action points and checklists following a seminar.

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Culture, influence and motivators

Simply providing information is not the most important element of effective dissemination ‘Just creating databases will not cause change to happen’. The key is to gain the commitment of users and a ‘community of interest’ (Chalmers 1993; Irwig et al. 1998).

It is also important to have a culture of sharing and acting as a group. If this culture is not already in place, steps will be needed to foster it (Rogers, 1995). Several factors have emerged under this heading:

One of the questions to be addressed in the research concerned the extent to which different approaches may be appropriate for different parts of the public sector. Overall, most of our sources suggested that the differences between private and public sectors can be overplayed and that, although it is important to identify the particular needs and preferences of each user group, such factors may be less likely to relate to sector differences than to individual and organisation-based differences. If the process of listening to and involving users takes place effectively, this should be sufficient to identify cultural or other preferences for different dissemination techniques. In this context, two equally important questions will be:

Some commentators referred to a tendency in the public sector to focus on policy development and planning processes rather than change strategies (See North West HAZ report) and to a relative lack of Internet use in local authorities.

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Ensuring flexibility

Many commentators have said, ‘There is no single approach to best practice’. People work best if they can develop and identify best practice for themselves rather than ‘receive instructions from the centre’. In If Only We Knew What We Know companies describe the dangers of promoting a single ‘best practice approach’, (see also NHS Centre for Reviews and Dissemination, 1999; Kings Fund, 1998)

Similarly, no single dissemination method will be sufficient in many if not most circumstances. Organisations need to develop multi-faceted and multi-layered approaches geared (a) to reaching as wide a user group as possible and (b) to reflect different levels of complexity and ‘newness’ of the information to be provided.

This does not negate the basic principles already identified above, however, in which certain methods and strategies will work best in defined situations. In developing flexible and multi-faceted dissemination strategies, the aim of those initiatives and models we have reported on was to identify clearly their objectives and needs as the basis for developing appropriate mechanisms.

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Practical points and issues

Several practical comments emerged from the reports and initiatives we have covered, identifying points which can usefully be taken into account in developing strategies:

Models and checklists