Forget Facebook, say bye-bye Bebo, and even log-off Linked-in, as the IDeA launches the Efficiency Exchange, a social networking site for public sector workers looking to trade best practice. Rob Whiteman explains

General consensus can be a challenge between elected members of different political hues, and between local government officers, but if there is one word which unites the public sector, surely that word is ‘efficiency’.

The task ahead of us is how we improve services, but at lower cost. My new role as managing director of the Improvement and Development Agency (IDeA) comes at one of the most challenging – and therefore, also the most exciting – times for the sector. Tough times call for radical action and, with this in mind, the IDeA is launching the Efficiency Exchange, a new online resource designed to boost efficiency and transform the way we share knowledge and collaborate on improvement.

The 10-point checklist produced earlier this year by a task-force on efficiency suggested using new and tried ideas on efficiency, earmarking the Efficiency Exchange as a useful resource.

The facility is a web-based professional social network. Although still in its trial format, it already has almost 700 members, including some from as far afield as Australia and Canada. They share their working knowledge with the aim of improving efficiency and joint working.

I know from my five years as chief executive of Barking and Dagenham, where we all worked hard to raise the council’s Audit Commission rating from two stars to four, the challenges involved in boosting standards and services.

But I also know the vital role of collaboration, sharing good practice, and asking for advice when aiming for excellence. For the next five years, as a sector, we will be driven more by achieving value, efficiency and productivity than by inspection scores. The Efficiency Exchange uses the principles of the IDeA’s group of professional social networking forums, the Communities of Practice, offering Facebook-style contact with hundreds of public sector experts. Visitors get the best new ideas and problem-solving tips, together with news, targeted at your profession.

But, what will set it apart from other social networking sites is a benchmarking standard, which is due to be launched in September. This would allow users to compare costs and performance on a range of national and regional services.

The Efficiency Exchange’s forthcoming benchmarking use would allow people to upload their data on a particular service area – the cost of youth services or the quality of street cleaning, for example – and compare that information against data from other councils. Users could see at a glance if they were in the top or bottom of the list compared with other councils regionally or nationally.

However, this would not be a chance to name and shame those struggling or paying above average for services. It would be far more constructive and collaborative than that. As well as an indication of what the levels of efficiency should be, users would be signposted to practical tips. They might get advice on how to improve by contacting top performers, or set up a review of their service. In addition, a lower score would automatically bring up related guidance or suggested reading.
v And, thanks to the fact that uploaded information is clearly ‘tagged’ – saved under easily-searchable key words – it’s quicker to identify relevant good practice, something that will help speed up improvements in services.

Frequent ‘hotseat’ events are now being developed, including drawing on experts from the private sector to extend the guidance.

Rhona Bywater, principal policy and external relations officer at Barnsley-based South Yorkshire Joint Secretariat, speaks for many of her fellow Efficiency Exchange members when she describes the resource as ‘a one-stop shop for policy development, case studies, and a valuable tool to help with responding to a whole raft of policy directives from central, regional and local government’.

Ms Bywater recently used the network to ask about a reference to a policy document mentioned in one of the blogs. An instant response from a fellow member saved her time carrying out an Internet search.

She says: ‘I think the Efficiency Exchange helps practitioners stay at the cutting-edge of developments. There’s always someone with something interesting to say on the Efficiency Exchange.’

The challenge for the Efficiency Exchange is that its success relies on growth – we need more of you to join, despite the fact that some councils are not keen on social networking tools.

Any doubters should consider the new resource as a creative lab or an innovation library, where people can prove what’s worked or put forward ideas and test them. Excellence and value for money need not be mutually exclusive – and the Efficiency Exchange will help prove that. n

Rob Whiteman is managing director of the IDeA. Join the Efficiency Exchange at http://www.communities.idea.gov.uk/c/436525/home.do. Follow the Efficiency Exchange on Twitter http://twitter.com/Effxchange. The Efficiency Exchange is due to be launched on 20 May