Turning Round a Place-Based Organisation: The Trials and Tribulations of Operations in a Pandemic Clare Abbott, Operations Director It is amazing what you can do when you have to. If we had been asked to plan to move all of our services to phone and video delivery, I would have drafted a project plan and looked at phasing them one by one over the quarter. I would have insisted I was given time to do it right. There would have been a focus on working with people who use our services, consulting staff and volunteers. In February/March 2020 we went from chatting in the office saying “it probably won’t happen” to “it is happening” in the blink of an eye. We were, in March 2020, a firmly place-based organisation. Manchester Mind’s approach has been based on one thing and one thing only, the importance of building kind, trusting relationships, which encourage a sense of belonging. Through experience, we know that for people with poor mental health, the process of building this relationship over time is eased if we work with people face-to-face. We get to see the whole person, build trust, pick up on those cues, which can transform how we work with someone and make our service accessible and effective for them. It can also remove anxiety that comes with using the phone or limited internet access. Within a short timeframe, we were forced to step away from this preferred method of delivery, which we have followed for over 30 years. Annual Review 2020-21
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