A very talented lady we support named Angela, who has set up her own business designing, creating and selling knitted goods, was keen to meet Glen. Angela invited us to her home so she could tell Glen the story of her business Knitty Kitty and maybe make a sale.
We were greeted by Angela and two members of her staff team, Jill and Christine and we all sat down together to have a chat about Great Interactions. What actually happened was something quite different. From the moment we arrived at Angela’s home, we were part of and surrounded by Great Interactions. As we sat at the kitchen table admiring Angela’s catalogue of knitted goods I witnessed Jill supporting Angela to explain how she had developed her knitting skills and had been busy taking orders, knitting goods then delivering the items ...and most importantly collecting payment! It was so clear that Jill knew Angela very well and could spot the exact moment to step in and support Angela and when to step back again. Angela enjoyed having the floor to tell us all about Knitty Kitty but regularly looked to Jill for support and reassurance. Jill responded in a different way every time; a nod to reassure Angela that she had explained something correctly; a prompt to enable Angela to recall something; a smile to mirror Angela’s excitement. After a short time, Angela decided she didn’t want to chat any longer and went out to her beautiful back garden for some quiet time. Jill and Chris then chatted to Glen about the training they had had to support the development of Great Interactions, how they had implemented this and how they planned for continuous improvement in their team.
When Angela joined us again, she sat down and put her head on her arms on the table. Chris, who was sitting next to Angela then leaned over and touched Angela’s hand and spoke to her. Angela raised her head, looked at Chris and smiled, then put her head back down. Chris then moved her chair closer to Angela so they were sitting side by side and their heads almost touched. Chris spoke quietly again to Angela asking her if she wanted to go out and deliver her latest creations to her customers and buy some more wool. Angela immediately responded by standing up and starting to prepare for her busy afternoon. Angela was, in her way, telling me and Glen to leave! Chris had observed Angela’s communication and then responded to this in a very subtle and appropriate way.
Jill, Chris and Angela summed up Great Interactions for me that day. I could have spent hours chatting to Glen about the theory of Great Interactions and in fact, we spent the afternoon with MacIntyre colleagues going into detail about the history and development of Great Interactions and all we do to embed this within MacIntyre, but when we got back in the car, Glen and I both agreed that the best way to understand Great Interactions is to spend time with people like Angela, Jill and Chris.
I was very privileged to have shared that morning with Angela and I was and am, so proud to work for MacIntyre and be part of what makes this organisation and the support we deliver, truly great.
Anna O’Mahony
Head of Operations, Adult Services (North).