Success Stories
BEST DRAGONS’ DEN
Following feedback received from BEST Leaders and teams throughout 2007, including feedback from the BEST Open Space event held in September 2007 and Employee Excellence Focus Groups , the BEST Support team launched ‘BEST Dragons’ Den’ based on the popular BBC2 series.
The pilot for the BEST Dragons’ Den took place on 8th of May at the Custard Factory in Digbeth. The five Dragons in attendance that day were Jason Lowther – Strategic Director for Policy and Delivery, Richard Billingham – Head of Organisational Development and Training, Raffaela Goodby – Employee Engagement Manager, Jill Cheshire – BEST Programme Manager for Children Young People & Families Directorate and Tony Ashfield – Regional Manager for West Midlands Regional Improvement & Efficiency Partnership.
To win a spot to face the dragons, BEST Leaders, managers and Teams sent in application forms with a description of the actions that they needed funding for. Applicants were shortlisted and invited to attend and pitch their ideas to the dragons. Out of the five teams four were successful on the day.
First off was the team from Reameadow Children’s Centre, in the Children’s Young People and Families directorate, who applied for assistance to complete their sensory garden. They were awarded the maximum £1000 funding to help them purchase outdoor furniture and paint and musical instruments such as wooden pipes for the children to use. They are also going to be holding a parents “Bring a Plant” day to help them populate the garden with flowers. The dragons also donated the services of the BEST team to go and assist for the day in doing some of the hard work and ‘getting their hands dirty’.
Next to enter the den was Kevin Duffy – District Librarian for Perry Barr & Hodge Hill based in Housing and Constituencies, who attended on behalf of his staff at Shard End Library. Kevin wanted to reward the dedication that his staff show to their community by arranging a team building event and achieving extra funding for their upcoming Community Fun Day which is taking place on 14th June and will include, the Birmingham Poets Laureate, face painting, circus skills performers, bouncy castles, magic shows, workshops and perhaps most importantly- cream teas!
The staff and service users from Ebrooks Day Centre, in the Adults and Communities directorate, impressed the BEST dragons with their interactive presentation surrounding the renovation of an old storage room into a pleasant and useable coffee lounge for service users, staff and visitors to use in break times to relax and socialise. The money will be used to help towards new carpet and comfortable seating and giving the room a fresh modern look.
Finally the Transport Strategy team from Development & Culture led by Sinead Stevens, approached the dragons with an unusual idea to combine team building and research. The team plan to travel to London to investigate 6 different methods of sustainable transport used within the city to see how they could be used with Birmingham. They will be looking at cycle lanes, the bus service, the London Underground the use of boats and much more. The team have also arranged to meet with Ken Livingstone to discuss the transport schemes that he initiated during is time as Mayor for the city. The entire team will be going on this trip and they will be having a team lunch with certificate presentations to members of staff. The findings and results from this trip will help the team develop future transport strategies for the city.
The day was a great success with both the Dragons and applicants leaving feeling invigorated . Dragon Jason Lowther said “I left thouroughly refreshed by the passion displayed by our front-line teams!”. The BEST team were thrilled to see so many staff demonstrating Birmingham City Council’s Core Values of Belief, Excellence, Success & Trust. Dragon Richard Billingham said: ‘ I thought the standard of the applications was excellent and highlighted how our staff really understand their customers, and how small changes can make a big difference.’
The Next Dragons’ Den will be taking place on July 17th and applications are already coming in. if you wish for your team and their actions to be considered check out www.birminghambest.co.uk, visit the BEST inline pages or contact Lucy L Kenny via lotus or on 0121 675 1579.
