Greater
Manchester
Health and
Social Care
Partnership
GOOD CONVERSATIONS GUIDE
Supporting you to have good conversations with your manager
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This Good Conversations Guide is designed to
support a different conversation between team
members and their manager.
The last year has been challenging for us all;
as we have supported the pandemic response
and balanced our own personal challenges
at home. We also continue to operate in a
landscape of uncertainty with the ongoing
Integrated Care System development work. It is
more important than ever that we are all having
good and meaningful conversations.
This guide is a refresh of our Personal Development
Review (PDR)/appraisal process with the aimof
creating a ‘one team’ Partnership approach to
regular 1:1, quarterly conversations, and annual
reviews.
This guide is aligned with the Partnership’s internal People Plan
and has been developed by our People Groups.
This guide is for everyone at the GMHSC Partnership, no matter
OVERVIEW
your employment or contract status.
This guide will support both individuals and managers to have good
conversations, which are focused on what is important to individual
members of our team and support them in their role.
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CONTENTS
GOOD CONVERSATIONS
Let’s talk about you and what
you want to talk about 4
How often to have
a conversation 5
Making time to have
good conversations 6
Where to have your
conversation? 6
Planning for your
conversation 7
Your 1:1s 8
Your quarterly
conversations 9
Your annual review 10
Keeping a record of your quarterly
conversations and annual reviews 11
RESOURCES TO CAPTURE
YOUR CONVERSATIONS
1:1 22
My quarterly conversation 22
My annual conversation 22
Discussion wheel 22
360 feedback tool 22
What I want to achieve 22
KEEP THE CONVERSATIONS
GOING 23
SUPPORT FOR MANAGERS
Top tips 19
Feeling safe in conversations 20
Wellbeing 21
CONVERSATION THEMES
My wellbeing 13
My development and aspirations 13
My achievements 14
My challenges 14
About me and my role 15
My values and behaviours 15
Flexible working 15
Compassion and inclusion 16
My feedback and impact 16
What I want to achieve 17
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What is a good conversation?
A good conversation is focused on you as an individual and the
issues that matter to you. It should cover the person as a whole;
from your wellbeing, your experience of work, your development,
your successes and where you want to improve.
A good conversation is not a tick box exercise, but a meaningful
way of supporting individuals to develop – and be at their best.
A good conversation is just that – a two-way conversation where
team members are listened to by their managers, and also have the
opportunity to receive feedback.
A good conversation is an ongoing process – that you build on
throughout the year, coming back to reect on key themes and
progress.
GOOD CONVERSATIONS: LET’S TALK ABOUT YOU
AND WHAT YOU WANT TO TALK ABOUT
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Some people prefer very regular conversations
with their manager and others not as frequently.
This guide is designed to be exible to meet your
needs, but we would encourage you to have:
• 1:1 conversations – as regularly as you and
your manager feel is appropriate. This may
be different for different people, anything
from weekly to once a month
• Quarterly conversations – three per year
(in the fourth quarter you have your annual
review)
• Annual review – once per year
HOW OFTEN TO HAVE A CONVERSATION
If you are (or have been) on
redeployment during the pandemic
please speak with your substantive and
redeployment manager to agree the
process for having your conversations.
You may want to have a meeting so you
can all agree this together.
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MAKING TIME TO HAVE GOOD CONVERSATIONS
Often nding or making the time to have regular
conversations can be a challenge; with busy workloads
and back to back meetings, it is difcult to ensure we
commit to regular catch ups.
Here are some suggestions for ways we can all make sure we
are making the time for good conversations:
• Plan ahead and agree a time that works for you and your
manager and book in all your conversations throughout the
year well in advance
• Agree a rhythm that works for you both and is realistic to
commit to
• Preparing in advance is an
important part of having
a good conversation –
pencil time in your
diary to prepare and
make sure you get
the most from your
conversation
Where to have your
conversation
Where do you feel most
comfortable having a
conversation? Discuss your
ideas with your manager
and agree a location you are
both comfortable with, while
ensuring to follow the latest Covid-19 restrictions.
Some suggestions:
• MS Teams at a time when you feel at your best and to suit your
work/life balance
• A walking conversation or even a standing conversation – in a
local green space
• And as restrictions are lifted you may want to do it face to face,
sitting down (in line with the latest Covid-19 restrictions)
It is up to you to choose the space that is right for you; to have the
conversation you need, safely and condentially.
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These conversations are about you and this
is your opportunity to share and to shine.
Ahead of your conversation take some time to
think about:
• What is important to you and what do you
want to talk about?
• Think about your past, present and future
• You may want to speak with your colleagues
to hear their reections and feedback. Click
here to access this handy 360 tool.
• Take time to focus on your aspirations and
development
• Use this Discussion Wheel tool to help
your thinking – particularly for your quarterly
conversation and annual review
• Think about what you set out to achieve and
what your goals are going forward
PLANNING FOR YOUR CONVERSATION
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This is your opportunity to:
• Catch up with your manager on the things that are important to you
• Provide an update on your programme of work
• Talk about how you’re doing and any support and/or
development you need
• Review what has gone well and what you have found
challenging
• Receive support on any issues as and when they
happen
• Give and receive feedback with your manager
Recording your 1:1
You do not need to keep a formal record of 1:1
conversations, but it is good practice to agree some
actions for your next meeting. Click here to access our
1:1 conversation template which you may like to capture
notes on.
YOUR 1:1s
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This is your opportunity to:
• Have a more in-depth conversation with your manager about how
things are going by using all of the themes included in this guide to
help frame your conversation
• Review the last three months
• Scope any skills development you feel you would benet from
• Celebrate what has gone well and what you did that made it
a success
• Think about what you could do differently
• Refocus what you want to achieve for the next three
months
You and your manager may want to complete your
Covid-19 Risk Assessment during your quarterly
conversations.
Recording your quarterly
conversation
Click here to access our quarterly conversation template
which we would encourage you to completed to capture your
conversation.
YOUR QUARTERLY CONVERSATIONS
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This is your opportunity to:
• Build on your quarterly conversations and have an in-depth
conversation with your manager about how things are going, using all
the themes included in this guide
• Review the last year and assess progress against your objectives
• Celebrate what has gone well and what you did that made it a
success
• Think about what you could do differently
• Refocus your priorities for the next three months and for the
following year
• Agree any skills and development opportunities and any actions
required to progress these
• Discuss if you have met your objectives, completed your statutory
and mandatory training requirements and where applicable, if you
have met you increment pay progression.
Recording your annual conversation
Click here to access our annual review template which you need to
complete with your manager to capture your conversation. This is your
PDR/appraisal and your evidence if you have met your increment pay
progression.
YOUR ANNUAL REVIEW
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You and your manager will need to agree on how to make and
retain a shared record of your quarterly conversations and annual
reviews. We would encourage recording the conversation in our
quarterly conversation and annual review templates (you will
need to do this to evidence any pay increment met during your
annual review).
It’s a good idea to refer back to the record you made for any
previous conversations you had with your manager.
Keep an ongoing record of ‘What I want to achieve’ and revisit it
at each quarterly conversation and annual review.
Remember to revisit your Discussion Wheel at each quarterly
conversation to review progress and how you are feeling.
Don’t forget – your role may require you to maintain your CPD
and professional portfolio.
KEEPING A RECORD OF YOUR QUARTERLY
CONVERSATIONS AND ANNUAL REVIEWS
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My wellbeing
My development and aspirations
My achievements
My challenges
About me and my role
My values and behaviours
Flexible working
Compassion and inclusion
My feedback and impact
For each of the conversation themes there are some questions
for you to reect on with your manager during your conversation.
These are designed to be discussion prompts, you may not feel
you need to cover them all. Remember, it is a great time to hear
your managers feedback as well.
CONVERSATION THEMES
We would recommend discussing the following themes at your
meetings:
• Your 1:1s – my wellbeing, my development and aspirations,
my achievements and my challenges.
• Your quarterly conversations – all of the themes.
• Your annual review – all of the themes
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• Share how you are feeling
• Share how you feel about your
work/life balance
• Share what helps you to stay
well
• Share what you nd
challenging
*You might nd it helpful to have
a read of our Wellbeing Toolkit
when thinking about your
wellbeing.
Wellbeing
My development and
aspirations
• Share when you have had access to
the development opportunities you
need to do your job well
• Share when your personal
development and future
career aspirations have
been listened to and
encouraged at work
• Share your thoughts about
your opportunities to learn
and grow in the last year. What
did you learn? What can you
share?
• Share your thoughts about
how you would like to learn
and grow over the coming
months/year
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My achievements
• Share what you are most proud of at work
• Share a story about your most enjoyable experience at work
• Share what you hope to achieve in the coming year
We are keen to share achievements as good news stories, if
you have an achievement you would like to share please let the
Workforce Team know by emailing gmhscp.hr[email protected]
My challenges
• Share what challenges you most in your role
• Share a story about something you have found challenging
and how you would do things differently next time
• Share what gets in the way of you performing at your best
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• Share what a good
day looks like at
work for you
• Share what is
important to you at
work
• Share something that
you are grateful for at
work
• Share what have you
learnt about yourself
in the last quarter/
year
• Share how you think others would describe working with you
• Share what you do well
• Share how you know if you are doing a great job
About me and my role
My values and behaviours
• Share what values and behaviours are important to you
• Share how you feel your personal values complement the
aspirations of your team and organisation
• Share when your goals and priorities at work have aligned with
what is important to you
• Share how you feel exible
working is working for you
• Share what else you might
need to help you manage
your work/home life balance
effectively?
• Consider our exible working
conversation starter ahead of
your conversation
Flexible working
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Compassion and inclusion
• Share how you feel valued by your team
• Share whether you feel your diverse characteristics and
needs are valued
• Share where you feel you are being supported
compassionately by your colleagues and manager
My feedback and impact
• Share feedback you have received at work
• Share a story about when you have received recognition and
positive praise about your performance at work
• Share when your feedback or ideas at work have been engaged
with and acted upon
• Share when you have raised a concern about something troubling
you at work
• Share your thoughts about the difference you have made in the
last year/quarter
• Share when your ideas and contributions have been valued and
listened to at work
• Share a story of how your work contributes to our / your purpose
and meaning
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After talking through the conversation themes, at each
quarterly conversation and annual review discuss
and agree with your manager what your priorities and
objectives are for the next three months.
Don’t forget to agree:
• Any actions to take this forward
• The timescales
• When you are going to review your progress
It is really important you keep a record of
these. Click here to access our ‘What I want to
achieve’ template.
WHAT I WANT TO ACHIEVE
My priorities
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We’ve created this Discussion
Wheel to help you prepare for your
conversations. Rate each section of
the wheel from 0—5 in terms of your
satisfaction. (0 is low and at the centre
of the wheel, whilst 5 is high and is
on the outside edge of the wheel).
and have it with you to share at your
conversation.
Click here to download a copy you can
complete and save on your computer/print.
DISCUSSION WHEEL
Update and review your
Discussion Wheel at each quarterly
conversation and again at your
annual review, so you can see
progress and changes over time.
My challenges
My wellbeing
My development
& aspirations
My achievements
About me
and my role
My values
& behaviours
Compassion
& inclusion
Flexible
working
My feedback
and impact
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Top tips
The Workforce Team are here to support you and your team to
have good conversations.
During the conversation keep in mind:
• It is key your team members get to lead the conversation about
what is important to them, as well as you providing updates and
feedback
• Understand and recognise when to listen, to step in, and to offer
guidance
• Commit to regular conversations – try not to cancel or change at
the last minute where possible
• The conversations need to be adaptable to the needs at the time
• Recognise your team member’s successes and where they are
asking for your support
• Familiarise yourself with the Partnership’s Skills & Development
Protocol for accessing training and development
• When having good conversations, it’s important to make sure that
wellbeing is at the heart of your discussions. See page 21.
• Don’t forgetstaff who are currentlynot in work and consider how
you are keeping in touch with them
SUPPORT FOR MANAGERS
• Everyone has had a different experience during Covid-19
including at work – are there key achievements from
redeployments and/or secondments? Are there particular things
as a manageryou need to bepaying attention to?Remember
people might be fatigued returning to work and need support
from you as their manager
By having these regular conversations, you’ll be fullling PDR/
appraisal requirements regardless of your employer and
ensuring staff are supported in their wellbeing, development,
completing their mandatory training and successfully
progressing through pay gateways. Remember to record
your annual reviews through your relevant organisation’s
process for increment purposes. If you have any questions,
contact your HR team.
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Feeling safe in conversations
We know psychological safety is key to great teamwork – and this is also
true when having good conversations. Creating a safe space is a crucial
part of the preparation and thought needed for good conversations. This is
especially true as we are working in remote settings, so having more and
more conversations virtually.
It’s important to create this safety for team members to feel that they are
able to be honest and open in a conversation, and is sustained through
the trust that your build and demonstrate over time.
You may want to think about the following tips to help build good
psychological safety with your team:
• Reect on how you approach conversations with team members, and
are open to listening to what they have to say
• Equally important is how you respond to the discussions, and whether
you do what you have discussed in your conversations – do you see
through the actions you have agreed?
• And nally, how do you as a manager share your own psychological
safety with your team, so they can see/hear you role modelling what you
are asking them to do
These are practical tips to build these relationships with your team on a
day to day basis, and the foundations of trust to have good conversations.
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• There is also a template of a Wellbeing Action Plan that you can
keep as a record to help you understand how to help build the
support for a great working environment
Wellbeing
Good wellbeing is when we are able to be at our best, both at
work and home. It is something that is personal to the individual
and we all need something different to maintain good wellbeing
for ourselves, depending on our circumstances, norms, and
behaviours
• Since the beginning of the pandemic, the impact on the ways
that we work, and our home lives have been unparalleled. As
the pandemic continues, and we are all feeling fatigued by the
sustained nature of evolving changes at work and the impacts
of national restrictions – it is critical that we continue to pay
conscious attention to our wellbeing and our teams
• When having good conversations, it’s important to make
sure that wellbeing is at the heart of your discussions. Our
Wellbeing Toolkit looks at how we help colleagues to look after
for themselves, to support colleagues and practical links and
tools to nd help when needed. There is a dedicated section
for managers and team leaders to help build wellbeing into your
working practice, and this is supported by practical guides that
you may want to refer to
Greater
Manchester
Health and
Social Care
Partnership
GREATER MANCHESTER
WELLBEING TOOLKIT
Supporting the wellbeing of our workforce in Greater Manchester
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RESOURCES TO SUPPORT AND RECORD YOUR
CONVERSATIONS
My Good Conversation – 1:1
This is a useful template to keep a note of your conversation. You
do not need to use this template if you and your manager have
other ways of keeping a record of your conversation.
My Good Conversation – Quarterly
Conversation
Click here for a template to keep a note of your quarterly
conversation. Record your conversation and share with your
manager via email afterwards so you so you both have a copy.
My Good Conversation
– Annual Review
Here you’ll nd a template to keep a note of your conversation.
Record your conversation and share via email afterwards so you
both have a record. This is your evidence of whether you have met
your increment pay. Please also send a copy to HR (Email).
Discussion Wheel
Complete this in advance of each
quarterly and annual conversation
and share it with your manager
to support your conversation and
measure progress and changes
over time.
Feedback Tool
It can be great to get feedback ahead of your quarterly
conversations and annual review from the people you work with.
Click here for our 360 feedback template.
What I want to achieve
Use this resource to keep an ongoing record of your priorities and
goals, your development and the support you need to achieve
these. Review and update at each quarterly conversation and
annual review. Start a new record each year.
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Thank you for taking the time to read this Good Conversation
Guide.
The importance of good conversations between you and your
manager is key to helping colleagues feel supported; to feeling a
sense of belonging to the Partnership team; supporting you to be
the best you can be and having the opportunity for you to grow and
develop for your future.
KEEP THE CONVERSATION GOING
Please remember to refer back to this guide as and when you need
it – it is so important that we keep the conversation going.
The Workforce team are on hand to support you and your manager
with implementing this guide. Please do get in contact if we can
help GM.workfor[email protected]
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