Recovery 2gether - sharing leadership and authority, through mutual trust
Where did we start?
Inspired by models in Australia and around the world, One Door has explored and implemented a new way of working, called Recovery 2gether. Recovery 2gether reflects our mission to create a world where people living with mental illness are valued and treated as equals, and aligns with our values, ASPIRE.
Our journey began in 2019, with a framework for self-organising teams in our NDIS stream. In 2021, we extended this way of working across most of our organisation and retained some manager-led teams.
What’s our new direction?
As part of our 2022-2024 Strategic Plan we’re delighted to announce our One Door Mental Health Recovery 2gether Institute, which will:
- Consolidate, deepen, and grow our internal Recovery 2gether approach.
- Share our Recovery 2gether Institute expertise with other organisations.
- Evaluate, research, and review known and emerging evidence.
What’s the Recovery 2gether way of working?
Recovery 2gether is about sharing leadership and authority, through mutual trust.
One Door trusts in our staff to do their jobs, take up operational tasks, and share skills, knowledge, and accountability as a team.
“Recovery 2gether has afforded us a lot of autonomy, to really improve as a team in our communication, our professionalism. My professional skills have increased profoundly; my CV is so much better now.” (NSW centre-based self-organising team)
One Door trusts in the people we support as the experts in their own lives – we help local teams to be there, on the spot, listening, responding, making shared decisions.
“We’re being trusted to find the best way to meet the needs of our clients and ourselves as a team; and can adapt to local needs more efficiently. We have the space and responsibility to make local choices and work out problems within our local areas, but can receive support from colleagues in other areas.” (NSW-wide self-organising team)
One Door resources teams with:
- Coaches, who work alongside self-organising teams to increase their capacity to focus on the people we support, self-organise, arrange schedules, and review progress together.
- Managers, who lead their teams using Recovery 2gether approaches.
- One Door Support Hub (corporate and whole-of-organisation functions), to guide teams with technical expertise.
How can we help?
Across the whole of One Door, Recovery 2gether puts people at the centre – not structures, processes, or methods.
“Our purpose-driven “Recovery 2gether” approach has placed much of the responsibility for the best running of our teams in the hands of our employees, trained and encouraged by senior staff…. It has encouraged the ingenuity of our workers when challenged by the full range of extraordinary circumstances of the last 2 years and it has placed responsibility for everyday functioning clearly with the team members, who have risen to the trust placed in them. It has also created a flatter, less managerial structure which has decreased costs. The Board has been pleased with the result of this adaptive reorganisation.” (One Door Chairperson, 2021-2022 Annual Report)
We’re incredibly proud of what we’ve achieved so far with Recovery 2gether, and excited to share our operational application of working this way.
We welcome conversations about supporting:
- Our partners and collaborators who want to explore purpose-driven practices and structures.
- Connection with each other, towards new ways of working.
Together, we can strengthen our collective workforces, and enhance positive change. Let’s start talking – email Vivien Tait, Principal, Recovery 2gether Institute: recovery2gether@onedoor.org.au