Conference Agenda

Public services management face a growing challenge to operate in a complex and dynamic environment. Traditional management methods often struggle to adapt. This presentation explores how Design thinking and Agile methods (Scrum and Kanban) empower public professionals and enhance their skills. They're known to boost efficiency, collaboration, and adaptability – all crucial for effective service management. However, implementing these methods in public services domain raises important questions. This presentation will address those concerns. While exploring the potential of Design thinking and Agile methods to improve service delivery and citizen satisfaction, on the one hand, it will investigate how public professionals are empowered while ensuring professionalism and accountability, on the second hand. By applying Design thinking and Agile methods:

(i) public service organizations strive to provide efficient, effective and responsive services that truly benefit citizens. This can be achieved by fostering a culture of professionalism that prioritizes innovation and continuous improvement.

(ii) Design thinking plays a crucial role by promoting a customer-centric approach. This empowers public professionals to deeply understand citizen needs and develop services that are relevant, impactful, and meet citizen expectations. Agile methods (Scrum and Kanban) come in by fostering collaboration, transparency, and adaptability. These methods enable public professionals to work more effectively across departments and respond quickly to changing needs. This translates to:

1. Enhanced customer-centricity: this leads to services designed for real customer experiences, increasing citizen satisfaction as Design thinking prioritizes understanding citizen needs through customer research and feedback.

2. Data-driven decision-making: public professionals strengthen their analytical skills to solve problems and make informed decisions, as design thinking and agile methods rely on continuous data collection and analysis throughout the service management cycle.

3. Streamlined workflows: Agile methods allow public professionals to work more efficiently by breaking down processes into manageable tasks, reducing bottlenecks, and setting priorities. This results in a significant increase in efficiency and productivity.

4. Strengthening ownership and accountability: by actively participating in the process of service development and delivery, public professionals feel more accountable for their work. It increases motivation and job satisfaction.

The public service management model was developed in the previous stage of the research. At this stage, its application in real conditions was carried out. Thus, drawing on empirical research from a case study of municipal administration implementing Design thinking and Agile methods, involving real-world data and observations, this presentation delves into how Design thinking and Agile methods equip public professionals with valuable skills fostering collaboration and improving work processes.

Valuable insights into the complex relationship between Design thinking, Agile methods, and professionalism in public services management are provided in the presentation and practical guidance for policymakers, practitioners, and researchers are presented. Public service leaders seeking to modernize service delivery, public professionals willing to improve their skills and professional impact, and researchers interested in possibilities of Design thinking and Agile methods application will find this presentation valuable.

Societal changes driven by globalization and the internationalization of markets, along with neoliberal ideologies and the rise of flexible accumulation, lead to a myriad of social and personal consequences. These shifts have eroded the efficacy of the Welfare State, transitioning from a Welfare State model to a Workfare model, thereby subjecting Social Work to the bureaucratic currents of new management. Social Work has become inherently reliant on the framework of the Welfare State, which has historically provided its primary rationale and legitimacy (Parton, 1996). Consequently, it has adopted a model characterized by democratic principles, economic liberalism, and social protection. We argue that Social Work is progressively veering away from its relational and political roots, leaning more towards administrative and bureaucratic functions, thereby diluting its ethical and axiological core. The adoption of new management practices facilitates depersonalization, insensitivity, loss of autonomy, and professional freedom. These shifts contribute to feelings of frustration, professional dissatisfaction, depersonalization, and ultimately, professional burnout (Ribeiro & Amaro, 2017; Teles et al., 2019).

In this quantitative, longitudinal study, our sample consists of 2110 Portuguese social workers in 2019 and 1576 in 2022, selected through convenience sampling. We found that as workplace engagement increases, perceived stress levels decrease. However, there was an observed increase in stress levels and a decline in engagement between 2019 and 2022. Our methodology involved the use of a sociodemographic questionnaire, the Perceived Stress Scale 10 (Cohen, Kamarch, & Mermelstein, 1983), and the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale 17 (Schaufeli & Bakker, 2003). Statistical analysis was conducted using SPSS 25.

Urgent measures are required to mitigate these sentiments, with primary responsibility falling on the employers of social workers, particularly within public services. Organizational strategies should emphasize the adoption of management styles conducive to collaboration and participation, the maintenance of an organizational culture that openly addresses professional burnout, assessments of psychosocial risks, and the development of initiatives promoting psychological well-being in the workplace. Examples include internal communication channels facilitating feedback and transparency, leadership development programs, and strategies to alleviate stress and interpersonal conflicts within teams.

A socially exhausted and stressed social worker jeopardizes not only their own well-being but also the quality of the assistance they provide, as well as the trust and empathy crucial to their role.