‘’One small step”: A psychologically informed reflection on making ‘progress’ in these challenging times…

23.10.2020: When reflecting on the past week as the Lead for Psychologically Informed Environments (PIE) at the national youth homeless charity: Centrepoint, I began by thinking about my contribution to several key meetings. These involved reviewing the progress of several on-going initiatives (e.g. Well-being & Inclusion: People Strategy; PIE Physical Environment Fund/Story of Christmas) or informing the development of new initiatives (e.g. HOMES: Housing Operational Model: Environment and Services), that have had or will involve a significant role for PIE. It has now been nearly 18 months since I joined the organisation to lead on the development of a PIE approach to our work with homeless young people and our wider organisational culture. If I am honest, not everything I have wanted to complete during this time period has been possible (e.g. delivering the full staff PIE training), often because of external circumstances (e.g. the COVID-19 global pandemic). I have also faced organisational challenges, such as the lack of resources that many charities like Centrepoint constantly face, and relational challenges where it can be hard to inspire excitement in PIE, when so many staff are ‘surviving’ and managing significant personal or professional challenges during these recent ‘unprecedented times’.

However, this week when I was thinking about the topic for this blog, I came across the image above, which I have found particularly helpful to remind myself of to keep my motivation in the longer term, especially as the nights grow darker and the traditional winter time to ‘hunker down’, is almost upon us. Although it may be slow or small, it is important to remember that any progress we make towards our goals is of course still progress! Consequently, I think it is important to reflect, as we enter not only the autumn/winter season but also another potential period of COVID-19 lockdown(s) across the UK that may be creating a natural sense of ‘Déjà vu’ for some of us, that we have all probably made some progress in the ‘new normal’ this year. Leaving aside national government COVID-19 policy, within Centrepoint specifically, I believe there has been some positive progress made this year across the organisation. This is particularly in terms of the increased recognition for the value of PIE in the language we are using around psychological well-being and the value of ‘relationships’, the strategic direction of the organisation, and how PIE is now beginning to influence our operations (e.g. HOMES), policies and procedures. I may at times get frustrated at the pace of progress because I am a very enthusiastic advocate of PIE approaches (being a psychologist!) and I passionately want the best outcomes for our staff and homeless young people. However, I am also aware (and used my own supervision this week to manage these feelings) that I need to remember where we started from and when to keep things in perspective in terms of the time it may take for the wider system change that I know PIE can create.

Importantly, one small but not insignificant step in progress this year has been an increased recognition at the highest levels of the organisation for the value of the work that our ‘frontline’ keyworker staff undertake directly with homeless young people. This often involves building relationships with very complex, challenging and vulnerable individuals, who unsurprisingly given their backgrounds and early experiences can take some time to trust us. In addition, we have also seen great adaptations in how we work (e.g. the use of technology to facilitate remote working for our support teams) or even fundraise without involving big face to face events (e.g. #STAYUP: https://stayup.centrepoint.org.uk/), and our policy team have also lobbied successfully for small but significant changes this year (e.g. https://twitter.com/centrepointuk/status/1296809561303678978). Moreover, within our own PIE team, there have been some examples of ‘PIE progress’. For example, the roll-out of monthly reflective practice sessions to our amazing frontline staff as well as ad hoc to our valuable support team(s) staff, or the changes to some of our physical environments that I have received photographs of this week, showing how our ‘hostels’ are slowly becoming ‘homes’ for vulnerable young people.

As Keats et al (2012) note in their case study section of the PIE Good Practice Guide (c.f. https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/340022/1/Good%2520practice%2520guide%2520-%2520%2520Psychologically%2520informed%2520services%2520for%2520homeless%2520people%2520.pdf), a PIE can look different in different contexts, but the one thing that it does have in common is often the time it can take to embed within an organisation. In addition, when something is an ‘evolution’ not a ‘revolution’ as our PIE is, then by definition it will not happen overnight! Consequently, what is key therefore is ‘keeping going’ and remaining motivated to continue to pursue our goal and recognise any progress, however small towards that goal.

I have discussed in a previous blog, the concept of motivation from our individual perspective (c.f. https://drhelenmiles.medium.com/keeping-yourself-and-others-motivated-and-energised-to-face-the-current-challenges-a-861ce90351dd) but this week I have been thinking about this topic from a wider systemic or contextual perspective, and more specifically in relation to our working lives. This is arguably very important right now, as we are not returning to our old ways of working any time soon, and many of our staff continue to juggle working from home with personal challenges whilst our frontline staff are still taking significant personal risk to keep our services open for homeless young people. One term I have heard this week both internally at Centrepoint, and externally from old NHS colleagues, is the term ‘organisational fatigue’. We probably all thought COVID-19 would be over by now, or at least perhaps better contained, and keeping our focus on our future progress is getting harder. This is most definitely turning out to be a marathon and not a sprint!

Consequently, what does psychology say about goals, motivation and progress that might be relevant or helpful for us to reflect on here? Several psychologists (e.g. Bandura, 1977; Carver & Scheier, 1981) have described the psychological processes by which we continue to strive and meet our goals / make progress. They have argued that our ‘self-regulation’ is key. This essentially involves three interconnected psychological activities; self-monitoring (the attention we give to the goal), self-evaluation (how we judge how much progress we have made towards the goal), and our self-reactions (how we respond to how much progress we are or are not making towards the goal). In other words, if we don’t pay attention to the goal we want to achieve, regularly reflect and evaluate on how much progress we are making towards it, and be kind to ourselves (and others) when we are doing this (i.e. recognising what we / they have done rather than just what we haven’t), then we may become demotivated and give up!

Clearly then, setting the right goals is important to make progress. I often hear the acronym SMART being used to describe what makes a good goal to work towards at work (i.e. Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time-limited) and there is psychological research to support these ideas. Setting goals also aids our progress because they direct our attention to the relevant activities we need to undertake, help us to mobilise and sustain our effort, and encourage us to use the knowledge we have relevant to the task rather than get distracted (Lock et al, 1981). However, many of our ‘goals’ or the progress we need to make in our everyday work roles are not set by us personally, but by our wider teams or the organisations that we are employed by. Psychological research suggests that such goals are more likely to lead to progress when they are ‘sold to us’ (i.e. as relevant) rather than ‘told to us’ (Latham et al, 1988), and given with plenty of feedback (Erez, 1977) and accompanying external commitment / resources (Klein et al, 1999). Of course, some of our personal work goals are also the same as the organisation (e.g. to improve outcomes for homeless young people), and the most progress we make at work is often made when our personal and the organisational goals align.

Reflecting more on the idea of ‘progress’ and what effects this; evidence also suggests that it is not just the goals we set but also the plans we make. Plans are necessary for all actions, although some planning may be very quick or instant in a moment (e.g. managing challenging behaviour), some may be a few minutes (e.g. what to cook for dinner) and others still make take much longer and require more steps (e.g. supporting a young person from unemployment through education, training and on to employment). Clear tangible plans, with achievable steps, wherein we build in rewards if we make progress on each step, are most likely to keep us motivated. Of course, right now, in these unstable or unpredictable times, flexibility and adaption in our plans (or having a Plan B or C!) is also key. For example, currently Centrepoint is keeping under review and having to revise some of our operational service plans in light of changes to COVID-19 legal restrictions and local lock-downs, which of course can feel very unsettling or challenging.

The context or wider system in which we are operating within is therefore crucial when thinking about our progress. Obviously some occupations within the organisation may take longer to see ‘progress’ in their work goals and some of this progress can be difficult to quantify or measure compared to others. For example, the time taken to engage a young person before being able to support them to make changes to their lives and reach their potential is likely to take much longer than a relatively more straightforward task of completing a policy review or financial transfer. However, all of these goals are important, and contribute to the wider functioning of the organisation and the positive outcomes we are all striving for with homeless young people in the UK. What is common however, as noted in the psychological literature (e.g. Kanfar et al, 2017), is that progress towards our work goals is also effected by external factors. For example, work specific contextual variables can influence our progress, such as our supervisor support (e.g. Lord et al, 2017), co-worker relationships, team cohesion, identity and efficacy (e.g. Chen & Kanfar, 2006; Chen et al, 2007; Dietz et al, 2015), collaboration between different parts of an organisation, the ‘climate or culture’ of an organisation, and any operating processes, policies and procedures. These therefore need to be encouraging of progress rather than creating additional barriers.

So what else effects our progress? Often interestingly, it is not just ‘rewards’ (e.g. our salaries!) that are a defining feature of us making progress towards our goals. Although money can sometimes motivate higher performance (e.g. Rynes et al, 2004) and may be one of the reasons we get out of bed in the morning(!), it is other aspects of our jobs that can be more of an influence in how much progress we make on a daily basis. Organisational psychologists (e.g. Hackman & Oldham, 1975,1976; Eheldon & Ellio, 1999) have specifically noted the importance of job ‘task’ or ‘characteristics’. These include task variety, the significance of the task, our autonomy or control over a task, our ‘trust’ to undertake it, the amount of feedback we receive on our progress, the meaningfulness of the work, and our levels of responsibility. Of note, Humprey et al (2007) found that ‘task meaningfulness’ was the most important influence on our work motivation and progress. Consequently, knowing why you are trying to progress something and how it may benefit or change something else assists in making progress towards a goal (c.f. Sheldon & Elliott, 1999).

Finally, given the value of positive psychology approaches, it is also important to mention the importance of having a ‘strengths’ based focus and to consider our well-being in relation to our goals and progress. Psychological research (e.g. Linley et al, 2010) has shown that utilising and focusing on our strengths is associated with making more progress towards our goals, which importantly is also associated with increased levels of well-being. Specifically, the extent to which we make progress towards a personally relevant goal that is aligned with our values and strengths, the more positive affect and greater life satisfaction we achieve. Consequently, if we are trying to progress something, it can be helpful for both our motivation and our well-being to link the goal to our core values and focus on doing more of what we are already doing well (our strengths), rather than solely focusing on what we cannot achieve at that moment. To paraphrase a systemic psychology term, we need to ‘push where it moves’, which is something I have found very helpful to hold in mind over recent months. Of course, we need to reflect on and identify where we might not be making so much progress, and see what we might be able to do now or in the future to change this, but again making changes based on our existing strengths and capabilities is more likely to result in progress. This is also important when working directly with our young people as therapists, keyworkers, support staff or coaches. If we can highlight and harness their strengths in pursuit of their goals, then this is more likely to lead to positive outcomes (and indirectly often can address any needs).

However, working towards a goal and trying to make progress however small, can be exhausting and deplete our resources to cope, especially if we feel we are not making as much progress as we (or others) expect. Whilst positive well-being reinforces us to keep going when we face challenges or difficulties, if we are not feeling good this can have a spiralling detrimental effect. This is where it is critical to keep looking after ourselves (and each other in our teams) especially when our progress towards our goals might not be as significant as we would like or have hoped. This might involve being more compassionate to others and ourselves, not taking a comment or rejection personally or trying to hold in mind the bigger picture. Most importantly, we need to continue to create space outside of work for other things such as sports / hobbies (Sonnentag et al, 2008), ensuring that we get enough sleep (Welsh et al, 2014), maintaining our boundaries by turning off work computers / phones after we have finished our day or shift (Lanaj et al, 2012), taking our annual leave (Fritz & Sonnentag, 2006) and planning in respites during our working day (Trougakos et al, 2008). These past few months have stretched all our resources, changed many of our plans and thwarted progress that we perhaps we wanted to make. However, remembering to ‘re-charge’ when running that marathon, focus on ‘doing what we can’ and recognising even one small step forward as some progress towards where we want to get to, will hopefully help us to keep going over the next few months…