We embarked on a significant transformation programme in 2024, underpinned by our corporate reviews. The Service Design Community of Practise was established to support the necessary transformation work identified via the reviews by building capacity to increase service design activity and embedding good practise in service design.
Learn more about what we mean by service design and why it's important.
The community's purpose
The Service Design Community of Practise seeks to connect and support colleagues across the Council who practise, or have an interest in practising, service design.
Our mission is to empower colleagues across the Council to design and deliver the best possible services that meet the needs of our users and support the organisation to achieve its policy goals as set out in the Corporate Plan. We believe that service design is one of the best tools we have to do this.
Who the community is for
We welcome anyone who does service design, has an interest in doing service design, or does work related to service design.
There are those in the Council who explicitly practise service design, but we recognise there are many colleagues who do related work such as business analysis, service improvement or transformation work. This work might involve activities commonly used in service design, such as process mapping or analysing data.
No prior experience of service design is needed. All you need is an interest in learning more about service design and the ways we can put it into practise.
What we will do
Through our network, we will:
discuss and learn more about service design
gain relevant skills
share ideas, resources, guidance, and examples of practise
seek advice and troubleshoot issues
get help to do service design
We will host regular events such as meetings and workshops, but members will also be encouraged to interact via online forums (Sharepoint and MS Teams).
Our community activities, conversations and resources will be led by our members and designed around what they need.
Getting involved
If you are interested in getting involved or would like to know more, please contact Helen Sutton, Community Development Manager, at helensutton@gateshead.gov.uk.
