Policy Officer, Community Justice
This year has been different for us all in many respects, not least in relation to how we communicate. As a partnership, communication is key to everything that we do, and effectively working together to improve outcomes for people involved in community justice.
We have quickly learned to change the ways in which we communicate, with greater reliance on digital communication methods while face-to-face interactions were restricted. Events, conferences, workshops, meetings and training were all initially cancelled or delayed when face to face work was no longer feasible. We quickly learned to use virtual communications tools, holding virtual meetings with our team and partners, continuing our various working groups and forums and also moving into hosting workshops and large-scale events, you can read about an example of that in our Article ‘The Power of Partnership – social Security Scotland Event’ or our online launch of ‘Something To Lose’, featuring a panel who answered questions from a live digital audience: CLICK THE LINK BELOW TO WATCH THE RECORDING:
Something To Lose
Many of the partners we work with are based in and around our own offices, and so informal communications and the benefits of co-location were no longer as apparent. We had to initiate the contact that would happen naturally while office based with these teams.
COVID-19 also highlighted or exacerbated some equality and inclusion issues. As we have been relying more on electronic forms of communication, it became apparent that many of Glasgow’s citizens experienced digital exclusion. While work was very quickly carried out to mitigate some of these inequalities, and many digital devices and data provided to people across the city, this will still be an issue with many people we would want to communicate with and we continue to find ways to help mitigate this.
Our communications strategy, which covers the same timeframe as our Community Justice Outcome Improvement Plan (CJOIP) – 2018-23, was therefore not reflective of changes in the way we work due to COVID-19 and resultant lockdown measures. Our experiences were used to inform an interim communications update to supplement our strategy and provide some short-term actions until restrictions fully ease, or we know how we will be working in the longer-term.
We continue to have a twitter presence (follow us on @CJusticeGlasgow), and also use this as a way of keeping up to date with our partners’ news and activities. Some of our partners have also found innovative ways of keeping staff and communities up to date, with the Glasgow Heath & Social Care Partnership (GCHSCP) recording a range of video messages from the senior management team, including from Jim McBride, the Head of Adult Services (Homelessness and Community Justice) – CLICK THE PICTURE LINK BELOW TO WATCH THE RECORDING.
COVID-19 Message from Jim McBride
