In the recent professional curiosity survey, we asked what you felt enabled professional curiosity, and you told us that sharing and collaboration with other agencies is important. On the flip side of that coin, you also told us that a reluctance on the part of partner agencies to share information limits your opportunity to be curious. That view mirrors Government Information Sharing Advice for Practitioners which sees effective information sharing as complementary to information seeking.
Being SMART in documentation is an important way of clearly recording, in contact with families, the information you’ve gathered on your professionally curious journey; that’s so important if concerns arise in the future; it allows you to be clear about the background and to give context to your concerns. We therefore thought it would be useful, to consider both sides of our coin in this resource, by including something about what really SMART documentation might look like.
This isn’t intended to be ‘prescriptive’ or to direct you to follow a very specific format in your records; of course, each contact with a family is different and you will reflect that by using your own particular style. What is offered here are a series of questions which you might ask yourself, to ensure that you have broadly applied SMART principles in a way which reflects your purpose, your actions and your plans for future contacts with a family, so that your records have context and meaning as part of a wider picture, and will help you when you need to pass something on.
It isn’t proposed that you answer all these questions every time; they are simply prompts to encourage thinking around SMART principles so you can decide ‘What? So what? Now what?’ as part any ongoing assessment and review. It’s worth thinking about what was included in the last entry in the record and what you imagine might be included in the next…
Questions to Consider
Have I included information which is Specific?
-
What is the purpose of my contact and does it relate to the plan made at a previous contact?
-
What did I see or hear that I think is important to record? What happened?
-
Are there any concerns which need further action?
-
What did I want to achieve?
-
‘Who’ has agreed to do ‘what’?
-
Am I following any protocols or guidelines which need to be referenced?
Have I included actions which are Measurable?
-
Do I need to measure anything in the future or are all my objectives achieved?
-
Where there are clear actions, have I recorded who is responsible?
-
Where there are clear actions, how will I know they’ve been completed?
-
What, how and when will I check?
-
Where appropriate, how will I know a situation has improved?
Have I included actions which are Achievable/Realistic?
-
Have I set clear objectives and does everyone know ‘who’ is doing ‘what’?
-
What have parents/carers said about the plan?
-
Have parents/carers committed to completing actions and do they think they can complete the actions they have agreed to?
-
Do parents/carers think the action plan is achievable?
-
Are there any factors which might make it difficult to achieve objectives?
-
How have those complicating factors been addressed?
-
Have you established what will happen if actions are not completed?
Have I included meaningful and realistic Timescales?
-
What change would you expect to see and when would you expect to see it?
-
What change would parents expect to see and when would they like to see it?
-
What change would children expect to see, and when would they like to see it?
-
Is there any guidance that you are using to support your expectations?
-
When are you going back to review any change?
We have included questions which we think will support the completion of SMART records, but they are not exhaustive; you may have your own questions. If so, do let us know; we’re always keen to use more examples from practice.