[00:00:00] Hi, and welcome to social work sorted the podcast. I'm Vicki Shevlin. I host this podcast and I lead social work sorted, which is an online platform of resources for newly qualified social workers. It is evolved massively over the last couple of years, and I now offer CPD accredited training and consultancy organizations and universities. 

I have an introduction to assessment course, which breaks down the task, undertaken a child and family assessment, something which comes up so much when you work in children's services. 

And I also host online and prerecorded masterclasses. Some of the way that I do that is changing. And I'm going to be talking about that more. In the end of this episode, because I've got something really exciting that I I'm finally ready to share with you, but before I do, I wanted to. Reflect with you really, and think through three of the biggest lessons that I learned, not only in social work, but also in the past two years of having a business that is connected so [00:01:00] much to social work, because I think it's going to be helpful for you as a newly qualified social worker. 

I also feel more and more I want to lean into talking about the fact that I have a business that is so connected to social workers. What I do, I'm really proud of it. I'm really passionate about it. 

And so many of you were really interested in that side of things as well. So I'm going to share three lessons. And like I said, they're going to be useful for you as you were starting in social work, but they are useful in so many other areas of life as well. I'm going to be talking about the power of feedback, the power of listening. 

And the fact that less is more. So first of all, feedback, this won't be news to you. If you have listened to any episodes of the podcast before, or seen me on Instagram lives or how to talk with me or ever bought anything from me, because I will always ask for feedback, whether you come to a masterclass. 

Whether you have purchased their previous guide, even, you know, just through like Instagram stories, I will always ask for your thoughts, your opinions, your views, [00:02:00] because it's genuinely important to me and. Getting feedback and creating feedback loops is something that I was luckily. Taught and supported to do when I was a newly qualified social worker. 

I think it's really easy when you move from being a student or being on any kind of qualifying program into social work. To see feedback as a task that needs to be done and completed as part of a portfolio. And we see feedback as a form, you know, a written form that somebody has to complete, or maybe it's a phone call and somebody rings. 

A service user. Expert by experience that you've worked with. And ask questions and then that then leads to them filling out a form. And it becomes something that is very process-driven or I certainly felt that way at times. When I started in social work as a newly qualified social worker, I began to learn about the importance of feedback in action feedback. Didn't just have to be. 

A formal piece of [00:03:00] paper feedback. Didn't just have to be someone ringing up and saying, how did that social work day feedback could be me? Asking after a home visit, you know, how did you feel like that? When, or if a meeting didn't go too well, checking in with some of the day, what do you think I could do better or differently? 

And there's other episodes on feedback. We'll go into this in more detail and I'll link them in the show notes, but in all of my learning in social work and in the past two years within this business, The best changes and the biggest impact for me. Have come from. The feedback of you guys who listen, who watch, and my biggest learning in social work. 

Has been feedback that has been shared with me kindly and sensitively by the people that I have been working alongside. And I met massively. Recognize the power dynamics and the difficulty, particularly for people, you know, sometimes it's parents that I've worked with children, young people. [00:04:00] There is a real challenge for people on the other side of feedback to share that honestly, when they are so worried about any possible repercussions. But like I said, the feedback. 

That means the most. And it has had the most impact on more people's lives. And my life has been that from. Children and families that I've worked with. 

And so if I could encourage you to do one thing as you enter into this next journey of your social work career, it is to truly. Place the highest value on feedback. The second thing, or the second learning point is about listening to people, which again is similar to feed back. 

But for me, this is about the next stage of the feedback loop. 

So it's okay to get feedback, but actually, if we're truly listening to people, how are we then going to implement that feedback? How are we going to make changes? And I think that when you listen to people, when you take the time. I listened to listen, not listen to immediately respond, not listen to be defensive. [00:05:00]

When you just listened to take things in and reflect on it. 

It can shift your perspective massively. And again, within social work sorted. I'm really proud of the. Community that has been built. The community that's been created a community. Where people listen to each other. And I massively see this in my masterclasses when you know, a host of students and newly qualified social workers can come together, not knowing each other. 

Shall be open, be honest, still being confidential, but all within a zoom chat. And taking the time to listen to each of that and share different experiences and give feedback. And there is so much power in that. And for me, The importance of listening, connects so much with the importance of community as well. 

The third lesson that I've learned, particularly in the past two years is that less is more. And when I think about this in the context of what I do with social work sorted. [00:06:00] It's so important that we see social work as part of something as part of society, rarely as it's changing our moving and. Particularly with new technologies. 

Our attention spans are reducing. I'm not saying it's a good thing at all, but that is what's happening. And so. An hour, a two hour long training. That isn't broken up into smaller pieces. Is often going to feel too much for people social work sorted. Grew at the point when I realized that people scrolling through Instagram at the end of the day, at the end of a hard day of social work. 

We're not going to be able to take in a huge amount of information because it we're tired. Because they were stressed because they had a million things on their to do list. They were going to be able to take in the most simple form of communication. And having that piece of communication in its simplest form meant that it would actually impact them. It was [00:07:00] something easy to remember, easy to read through and easy to implement from the next day. 

And so. Does this idea that less is more, we don't need to overcomplicate things. And I learned this in social work practice, particularly when I was writing assessments and. Trying to use really fancy words and sound really good. And by good, I mean, You know, sound over professional and., like I've used a thesaurus for every other word and actually. 

That wasn't effective. It wasn't useful. It didn't connect with children and family is. It was quite ego driven. If I'm honest, I'm not proud to admit that, but when I reflect on it, it was about my ego. It was about me wanting to seem academic and capable because I associate those things together. 

But when you break down. A worry or concern or a risk, whatever you want to call it into its simplest form. It becomes accessible for everybody, , less is really more in the same way as [00:08:00] a child protection conference chair. A, child protection plan with 15 actions. Is not realistic. 

And I had an amazing manager who drilled and drilled and drilled this into me, but a plan with 3 actions sometimes, you know, We sometimes think that more is better. Don't we, and the more actions, the more productive things are going to be in, the more change is going to happen. When in actual fact, if you have three or even two very clear focus tasks on a plan to action. 

It's much more likely that those things are going to happen. It's much more likely that change is going to come from that. So when I say less is more, I'm not talking about. The level of quality or a lower standard. I'm talking about the quantity of either information that we can take in or that we can share. And hopefully with those examples, you can see how that translates across so many different areas of social work. 

And hopefully you see art through this podcast. You know, some episodes are longer, they are guest episodes. We're getting into really [00:09:00] interesting conversations. Some of the episodes will only be 10 or 15 minutes and that's okay because I still believe that you can get something from a 10 or 15 minute. 

Podcast and. 

That connects to practice, you know, children, , as a children's social worker. Children have short attention spans that's okay. Your child cannot be expected to sit down for a significant period of time to do any one activity. That is just not in bill, in children in terms of when you think about the importance of play and child development, but actually a good quality piece of direct work, a piece of connection, even in, you know, 

It was going to say the word engaging, even though I hate the word engaging, but engaging, participating in play, it might only be five or 10 minutes, but that is still valuable. And when you are completely stretched for time, which I know so many social workers are really coming back to that principle that at times less is more. 

And the its quality over [00:10:00] quantity can support you when all you have in your head is I haven't got enough time. 

So these three lessons, definitely more than three lessons that I've learned, but three lessons about feedback listening, and the fact that less is more. Uh, really things that have inspired this next step for social work sorted, because my, one of my favorite things to do. 

Because I've connected with so many of you through the masterclasses, some of those are free to access. Some of these are paid to access. And I've listened to your feedback and from building a community I'm from this realization actually less is more. 

I have decided to change the way that I run live masterclasses. And encourage community building, encourage accessibility, encourage this idea that less is more, but we can still. 

Take on board. Clear feedback, take on board listening and bill community. And I'm so excited [00:11:00] that my new membership, the collective. Is nearly ready to go live. The collective is all about bringing together. New social workers in an online space. A lot of you will know that I have been quite disenchanted with social media recently. 

I love Instagram for the platform that it's built and for the way I've been able to connect to the world. 

I've been thinking so much recently about the alternatives and the different ways to connect and be together in a. A smaller group and a safer space online that is closed. That is accessible only to members. 

The collective is a monthly membership with on demand video masterclasses plus live Q and A's with me. It is a membership with everything that you need for your first year in social work and massive learning hub with new resources that I'm going to add in every single month. This is about you [00:12:00] having access to resources that are realistic for practice. 

That are full of quality, but not necessarily going to take you all the time in the world to access. I want you to save time. I want you to save stress and I want to make sure that you don't feel alone. At any part of your social work journey? 

When you joined the collective, you get access to a private community space with all my exclusive training, focusing on building your confidence in practice. There was going to be one brand new masterclass prerecorded every single month. So you can access it at the time and place at you need to, there'll be one new pre-recorded meditation every month. 

You'll know how much I advocate for taking care of yourself and making the time, even if it is two or five minutes. To slow down and reflect. 

There's going to be a closed forum for your questions so I can respond to you as, and when you need to throughout the month. And there was going to be a live Q and a with me. And the last week of every single month. So [00:13:00] you get access to that high quality mentoring and skills development, but it's completely personalized to you. 

And the scenarios, the issues, the worries that you have, you can bring to that every single month. 

This is for you. If you have ever been to a masterclass and found it helpful and applicable for your practice, this is for you. If you are starting in social work, whether you are a newly qualified social worker. Or a student heading out on a placement. This is for you. If you want to build your practice skills,

if you want realistic resources that genuinely connect to the day-to-day challenges in social work. This is for you. If you want nonjudgmental support. High quality training. 

Uh, focus on building a strong foundation for your career progression. And this is for you. If you want to have a work-life balance, if you feel overwhelmed with their sheer amount of information that is out there for you, and you want something to be simple and succinct so that you can enjoy your life outside of social work. 

And that when you are within social, where you can [00:14:00] enjoy the parts that matter to you, like being with people, building relationships, actually impacting change. 

As a member of the collective, there were two key areas I'm going to help you with the first. Getting you through your first year in social work without burning out. And the second is to set you up with skills for a lifetime for your career in social work and any other future careers that you might have as well. 

To join. The collective is 15 pounds per month. There were no contracts you can leave at any time. If you want to join for a month to access that month's masterclass and any of the resources in the video library, you can do that. And if it's not right for you, you can leave. You can come back whenever you want. 

I want this to be accessible as possible. And I know the power in having a community of like-minded people that you can get to know, and that you can get to support. And I know the power and having that consistency of support. So you have somebody that you can come back to with your questions. 

But it is also so important to me that you have freedom within this as well. I'm not going to lock you into a membership and [00:15:00] say that you can't get out of it. 

I've got so much more information on this coming soon, but I wanted to tell you about what is coming up. And if you are interested, Then make sure you join the community mailing list, where I send out all the information about anything that I do first, before I share it on any other form of social media. 

I'm so looking forward to being able to support you through your first year in social work. 

And if you've got burning questions, just can't wait. You can get in touch with me over email vicki@socialworksorted.com 

uh, hugely appreciate you listening to this podcast. If you've enjoyed this episode, please do take the time to leave a rating. It makes such a difference more than you realize for an action that takes a couple of seconds today. And before I leave, like I always do. I want to encourage you. To take a moment to slow down. 

Close your eyes. If you feel comfortable. Focus on your breath. 

And just for a couple of seconds, [00:16:00] try and empty. Your mind. 

Thank you so much for joining me for this podcast today. Take care.