Support Systems

 

I attended a seminar this week which was provided as a space for practitioners to discuss Social Work in a pandemic. It was an interesting session to attend and allowed me to link up with people who work all over the country and hear their perspectives.

I always forget how different my experience of Social Work education and starting my career has been because of the pandemic. I think because it is all I have known it doesn't feel strange to me. It was not until I mentioned that I have been in my team in various capacities for approximately 14 months but have never been in my office and saw the reactions that I was reminded.

People in the session who have been practising for many years were so shocked and this led to an interesting discussion about the amount of information you can learn from being in the office and overhearing it. They talked about working somewhere for a while and only knowing about certain paperwork because a colleague mentioned it in passing. I explained that I feel fortunate because although I am not in an office, I have been able to build some fantastic relationships with people in my team. I feel that this comes from my personality type more so than anything specific. I am the kind of person who calls and introduces myself and offers help where I can. Within my team we have a shared drive where documents and information can be shared, this is something that me and one of my colleagues work on together and have turned into something useable.

This has meant that people will call to ask me questions or ask where to find information because they know that I will be able to find or provide it most of the time. I created an A-Z for this drive to make it accessible to people who have potentially not used it before, and I get a lot of feedback that it works well. Small things like this have definitely built up my relationships with colleagues but also because I am always willing to help people approach me to ask me questions or clarify information with me which means I speak to them quite often.  

I do feel fortunate that although I have not been in my office, I have built those strong relationships and I speak with quite a few of my colleagues outside of work now because they are also my friends. It is helpful to have people you can speak to because the job we do isn’t easy and having someone you can vent to when you’ve been on a tough visit or your dealing with a difficult case is priceless. Unlike other jobs I can’t come home and chat about it freely with my husband or family because of confidentiality so having that safe space either in our weekly peer review meetings or an informal chat with a colleague are invaluable to get you through the day sometimes.

I have 100% cried down the phone to colleagues because I don’t know how to deal with a particular situation, I’ve had a difficult visit or a horrible message from someone who is frustrated with a process or system, but I bear the brunt because to them I am the person that represents that. I think finding those people is so important and I have been that person for colleagues who need a vent or to decompress. The thing that gets forgotten sometimes is that although we are Social Workers and that for most of us that is a big part of who we are we are also human, and we have weaknesses. We will have days where we struggle more than others or a comment that would not usually impact us basically knocks us down.

It's important to acknowledge that and take whatever steps needed to improve that situation. The phone call to a colleague where you vent what has upset you or had a good cry might be enough. In situations where is it not then it’s important to recognise that and discuss it with a manager, take some time if you need it or have an admin day where you don’t interact with people because you know you won’t do your best.

Find whatever support system works best for you and utilise it whenever you need to. Just remember that the relationships you build I believe are what get you through the day.