The probation service rolls out its national strategy

In 2021, the Probation Service became responsible for delivering "unpaid work" programmes across England and Wales. They made the brilliant decision to vision map their vision, giving them a powerful new tool for communicating it to staff at all levels, and across all regions.

Challenge

When the Probation Service of England and Wales became responsible for the management of the Unpaid Work Requirement (formerly known as community service), it faced the significant challenge of effectively translating the vision created at central HQ into action all over the country.

Critical to their success was the effective management of regional Community Payback Teams, who run the unpaid work programmes to which offenders contribute as part of their rehabilitation.

Given the public visibility and critical importance of managing this complex process correctly, the training and preparation of probation officers across the country was a top priority for the team at HMPPS (His Majesty's Prison and Probation Service).

“Community sentences are highly complex. There are 12 requirements that can be given, of which unpaid work is just one. So, when we’re training new probation officers, it’s information overload.” — Lin Orman, Performance Improvement Manager, HMPPS

Solution

HMPPS have called on Scriberia on a number of occasions — including the creation of their original prison service vision map, which has been hard at work for them since 2017. So, it felt natural to take a visual approach to capturing and documenting the 12-month journey of an offender carrying out unpaid work. A vision map would allow them to create a clear and accessible guide for staff that outlined every step.

“With a vision map it's so much easier for them to grasp how it works and what they need to do than a whole page of bullet points. It’s a fantastic training tool.”

Lin Orman, Performance Improvement Manager, HMPPS

Our illustrators held a workshop with key stakeholders to capture the information to display — from risk assessments to safeguarding measures and performance reviews.

Once finalised, the map was distributed to each regional office for probation officers to either directly implement or adapt according to local needs. It was then integrated into the onboarding process for new staff members.

They’ve since shared it with judges and magistrates who sentence people to unpaid work, who have found it incredibly useful in understanding the post-court journey these offenders take.

Results

In some regional offices, the map has taken centre stage on the wall and has been used as a communication tool with the courts.

“We’ve shared it with some of the judges and magistrates who sentenced people to unpaid work because they really want to understand what goes on once people leave court. And the feedback is that they have found it incredibly useful in understanding the post-court journey these offenders take.”

Lin Orman, Performance Improvement Manager, HMPPS

Externally, the map has served as a blueprint for local authorities to follow for their Immediate Justice scheme — a new initiative to combat antisocial behaviour.

Lin says local authorities have approached HMPPS to ask how they operate unpaid work. The team now use the map to help explain the journey and the steps that need to be taken to ensure safety for everyone.

The project has helped the team shape how they present and distribute information — and understand the importance and power of visual communication.

At headquarters, the team are now conscious of how information is presented, knowing that if they get it right, the regional offices will have the right tools to succeed. As Lin puts it, “In an ideal world we’d have one for the other 11 types of requirements too!”

If you have a vision, make it visual. Discover what vision mapping can do for you.