A new manager is crediting iMatter for helping her to get to know her new team in depth.

Andrea Stewart, directorate support manager for surgical services, moved to her new role at Monklands Hospital earlier this year.

Andrea said: “The team report was carried out at a time when I wasn’t the team manager. So I thought it was a great opportunity to have a team meeting about it as it would bring us together and I could learn more about them.

“It’s a big team; there are 56 members of administration support. So, I decided to ask for one person from each specialty to represent their colleagues.

“I had sent the report to everyone before the meeting for them to discuss in their own specialties.”

Andrea used an example from the iMatter pack, which asked teams to draw a river and identify where they felt their team was in the journey to where they want to be.

Andrea said: “I drew the river and took some post it notes with me. We relaxed and had a bit of a laugh through the process, which I think was important.

“We went through each section of the report and drew up an action plan to help us to get to where we want to be as a team.”

Andrea’s team’s actions included creating a contact list for all consultants and their secretaries at Monklands. The list has now become an invaluable communication tool for the department.

They have also reminded all doctors to select the appropriate type of letter on their Dictaphones to ensure that they can turn work around as quickly as possible.

Andrea added: “Since completing iMatter, I have seen an impact on my team. It helped to give my staff a voice as they were given a dedicated time to speak their minds on what is important to them.

“It’s about making sure that staff are engaged, listened to and valued.”