Pro Bono O.R. Summer newsletter #ORblog

The OR Society: Pro Bono O.R. (Summer newsletter - Issue 3)

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Promoting Pro Bono O.R.

IFOS (International Federation of Operational Research Societies) has been promoting Pro Bono O.R.

in its quarterly newsletters.

In March it published a case study carried out with Crimestoppers: ‘Pro Bono O.R. delivers quick response to call centre problem’ which can be found on page 12 http://ifors.org/newsletter/ifors-march2015.pdf

In the latest edition it published a case study with HARCVS: ‘Pro Bono O.R. addressing loneliness in rural North Yorkshire' which can be found on page 11 http://ifors.org/web/june-2015-newsletter/

Career Volunteer’s sister company Charity People helped to increase the profile of Pro Bono O.R. by publishing a blog explaining how Pro Bono O.R. can help third sector organisations in the UK. 

 

Pro Bono O.R. offers free consultancy services to third sector organisations across the UK. The OR Society wants more organisations to benefit from operational research and recognises that third sector organisations have an even greater need to be more efficient. Organisations may seek a wide range of operational improvements:

• Strategic planning/review
• Impact measurement
• Process improvement
• Data analysis
• Business planning
• Efficiency improvement
• Options appraisal
• Decision making

Whatever the aim, O.R. can offer the flexibility and adaptability to provide objective help.
Visit: Pro Bono O.R.  for more information or send an email to Felicity McLeister to request Pro Bono O.R. support.

Volunteer Experience

Are you considering skilled volunteering? Wonder what it might be like? This guest blog from Sarah Culkin tells you about her experience of Pro Bono O.R. with Harrogate and Rippon CVS.
http://probonoor.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/addressing-loneliness-in-rural-north.html

                                    

The findings will help inform forward planning for this service and also help to support funding bids’ CEO

 Have you got a story to tell?  If so I’d love to hear from you and would happily publish the article as a guest blog and promote via my social media channels.

With the initiative growing we are always on the lookout for new volunteers.  If you know of any individuals or organisations that would like to get involved with skilled volunteering please ask them to contact Felicity McLeister or complete the online volunteer details form.

Third sector SIG

The OR Society has a Third Sector special interest group that puts on events three to four times a year.  This year the Spring Seminar looked at ‘Services to Young People’ that included talks from four Pro Bono O.R. volunteers who had carried out projects with Joseph Rowntree Foundation, The Childhood trust, Elfrida Rathbone and AYME.  The latest event hosted a talk by Tom Cherrett - O.R. & Oxfam: optimising donation bank collections using remote monitoring sensors.  Both writes ups and video (OR & Oxfam) can be found here

Skilled volunteering really makes a difference

Thank you for the feedback from Noise Solution.  It’s always great to get such positive feedback about the work our volunteers are doing: 

'The commitment shown to the idea of the project was excellent. The volunteer did a really good job of understanding what was required. He produced some excellent work, which looked visually great and has been instrumental in me being able to demonstrate clearly the impacts that we are achieving with Noise Solution.'

Project updates

Since the start of the year we have completed 9 projects including Noise Solution, Parentskool and CALM (keep an eye on the webpage for the case study slides).  We have had 26 new enquires and have started 12 new projects which includes The Care Forum, Extra Care and St Michael’s Fellowship.

Thank you for all your support.

Felicity McLeister

One click away from skilled volunteering #ORblog

Skilled volunteering is a fantastic way to use the skills you already have to make a real difference to third sector organisations.

Whether its a few hours or a few days, both the organisation and the volunteers benefit from volunteering.

To see what some of our volunteers have to say please read these two articles written by volunteers who worked with RSPCA and HARCVS:

Volunteer experience article RSPCA
Volunteer experience article HARCVS

To see the who we've worked with and the types of projects we've completed please visit: case studies

Signing up to become a #ProBonoOR volunteer only takes a couple of minutes but could have a long term impact on both yourself and the organisation(s) you work with http://ow.ly/Or0Mq 

Please share and get in touch for further information felicity.mcleister@theorsociety.com 

Please follow me on Twitter and LinkedIn for further information and updates.

Pro Bono O.R. is skilled volunteering for individuals with operational research/analytical experience.  Please note projects can be carried out individually, in teams and with a mentor if required.

For information on other skilled volunteering organisations please visit:
Career Volunteer or Reach Skills

Doing good at doing O.R. #ORblog

As part of Pro Bono O.R. I like to seek feedback from both the volunteers and the organisations to find out how the projects are going.  The scheme has received overwhelmingly positive support since launching in September 2013 and I wanted to take this opportunity to share the latest endorsements.

Thank you to Simon Glenister for the feedback on the #ProBonoOR project carried out for Noise Solution on behalf of The OR Society: 'The commitment shown to the idea of the project was excellent. The volunteer did a really good job of understanding what was required. He produced some excellent work, that looked visually great and has been instrumental in me being able to demonstrate clearly the impacts that we are achieving with Noise Solution'.  

The project case study slide will be posted soon - watch this space!

Two Pro Bono O.R. volunteers started supporting Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) back in 2014, giving independent & expert advice on the commission & use of poverty models. Thank you to Chris Goulden for the feedback on the support you've received so far: 'I've been extremely pleased with the O.R. input'. 

Lastly, thank you to NAVCA who promoted Pro Bono O.R. in their latest publication, sharing an example of how Pro Bono O.R. helped Harrogate & Rippon CVS 'to get a robust picture of the costs of running the well being service and any issues to be addressed in the light of forthcoming finding cuts and contract changes' 

Pro Bono O.R. provides free support to third sector organisations across the UK, helping them to make operational improvements e.g. 

• Strategic planning/review  
• Impact measurement 
• Process improvement 
• Data analysis 
• Business planning 
• Efficiency improvement 
• Options appraisal

To find out how your third sector organisation could receive free support please contact: felicity.mcleister@theorsociety.com

To sign up to become a volunteer please Pro Bono O.R.

Share the good news #ProBonoOR #ORblog

The success of the Pro Bono O.R. scheme has been can be largely attributed to two things, firstly our amazing volunteers and secondly those that endorse the scheme in order to help more organisations hear about the work we do and be able to sign up for support.

Today I would like to thanks NACVA for publishing an article promoting the scheme and HARCVS who have given high praise for the work pro Bono O.R. carried out for them. https://twitter.com/ChiefExecHARCVS/status/608536394198331392

To continue the success of this great scheme that is making a real difference to UK based third sector organisations please consider signing up to become a volunteer here as well as telling others about the scheme.  Third sector organisations can benefit from a wide range of operational improvements through Pro Bono O.R., including efficiency improvement, business planning, options appraisal, impact measurement, strategic planning/review, process improvement, data analysis etc.  Whatever the aim, O.R. can offer the flexibility and adaptability to provide objective help.

For further infomation please visit the webpage or contact me at felicity.mcleister@theorsociety.com

Addressing Loneliness in Rural North Yorkshire: The project and my experience as a Pro Bono volunteer #ProBonoOR #ORblog #ThisisOR

Addressing Loneliness in Rural North Yorkshire

The project and my experience as a Pro Bono volunteer

By Sarah Culkin, UK Department of Health

The problem:

An organisation in the North of England took over a rural visiting service for the elderly and was very keen to ensure that as much benefit as possible could be provided for recipients of the service.  It therefore requested a pro bono study from the UK OR Society to help a project team understand how a strategy for improving the service could be constructed.

The approach

I was assigned to the task by The OR Society and started work by collecting information and evidence through interviews with stakeholders, accompanying the project team on visits to clients, reviewing survey feedback and finance information.  This information was used to produce an initial system diagram. I then facilitated a workshop with key stakeholders to present, discuss, amend and build on the system diagram (see figure 1).

Figure 1. Part of the System Diagram

The system diagram allowed a birds-eye view of the service, helping to see how people flow through the service and how it interacts with other neighbouring services and stakeholder groups.

Back at the office I reviewed the map and conducted thematic analysis on all of the interview notes and other textual information.  This analysis allowed clarification and quantification of major themes and topics occurring in the information and led to a list of clear recommendations. For example, it showed that volunteers were not being used to good effect, instead visits were mostly performed by the three staff members, and links and communications with other organisations were also underdeveloped, leading to a confusion and sometimes duplication of work.  By refocussing the work of the permanent members of staff to these areas, meant that the service could grow and also be more targeted and efficient. 

These recommendations were assembled into a strategy map, showing how they link together and lead from inputs to desired outcomes.  From this a balanced scorecard of measures can monitor progress and outcomes of the service to ensure maximum benefit (see figure 2).

Figure 2. Strategy mapping of recommendations

My experience as a volunteer

I was made to feel very welcome by rural visiting team, right from the beginning. There could have been some suspicion about my role, as the review had been arranged through the chair of the umbrella organisation that the service sat under. The service had only recently been taken over by that organisation, and was based remotely, so it was seen as a good opportunity.

The service team in Ripon was small, but they were very dedicated to their elderly clients, this was easily seen as I accompanied them on home visits. In my role it was important that I ingratiated  myself, made the team feel at ease, and explained clearly what I was and wasn't there to do.  At the same time it was important to remain impartial and analytical, and be prepared to deliver recommendations that may rock the status quo.  This balance was something I also felt quite keenly when writing up the final conclusions and recommendations in my report.

The experience was so rich, like nothing I have experienced in my day job at the Department of Health.  For example, at the end of the stakeholder workshop where we reviewed and refined the system map, the service team leader hugged me because she was so pleased with the results - definitely not something that has happened in a civil service meeting before!

Because I was getting experience of a sector directly related to the work of the Department of Health, I was fortunate to be able to do this project as part of my CPD hours. As a result I have brought back so much that informs my day-to-day work, my understanding of the realities of care and the challenges the front-line face. In many ways it has been far more valuable than a training course, and without the cost. And the thought that I may have influenced decisions about this valuable service for the better is incredibly rewarding.

The benefits of the study

·         As a result of the analysis the client, project team and analyst all gained a thorough understanding of the service and the wider system it is part of ;

·         A Strategy map for reducing loneliness was identified and evidenced. This would be used in future, for example, to track numbers of volunteers used, how they contribute to the numbers of visits made, and how well the service works in partnership with neighbouring  organisations;

·         The client  was ‘taken on the journey’, so now understands where strategies come from;

·         The work produced a solid foundation from which to re-model the service and apply for associated funding.

At the end of the study the client said: “I’m really pleased with the report and it will be very useful indeed for forward planning and to support our Big Lottery bid “

    

The value of LinkedIn for Third Sector organisations

Having recently read Alex Swallow's post on 'How LinkedIn changed my life' it really struck me how valuable LinkedIn has been for Pro Bono O.R. (Operational Research). It has helped me build up connections with people I would never have been able to otherwise and has enabled me to explain what O.R. is and how it is and can really benefit Third Sector organisations in the UK.

To then back this up I then received an email yesterday from Karen Weaver (CEO of HARCVS) who has written an article on how LinkedIn offers opportunities for charities:

Linking In offers opportunities for charities

'Volunteers find their way to charities via many routes and of course take on a wide
variety of roles. In recent years social media has become a valuable additional channel and HARCVS has just benefited from excellent support from a volunteer which commenced with LinkedIn.'

To find out how Karen discovered Pro Bono O.R. and how the project went please read the following article on pages 6-7: Care in Action Newsletter

Our latest success story with Harrogate and Ripon CVS (Quotes, photo's and case study slide)

Here are a few photo's of our volunteer analyst, Sarah Culkin, in action at Harrogate and Ripon CVS.  The project has just finished and has been a resounding success on both sides.

Karen Weaver (CEO): 'The findings will help inform forward planning for this service and also help to support funding bids.  The project has also played a part in assisting with the integration of this service into the wider organisation.'

Sarah Culkin: 'This project really opened my eyes to the challenges of the third sector, which I will bear in mind in my day job.  I also appreciated seeing the direct impact of my work and using OR skills in a new environment.'

Please click on the following link to see the case study slide: HARCVS case study slide