A journey through south east London, Scotland, wellbeing and kindness

What’s a ‘flexi-placement’ and why Kaleidoscope? 

Hi, I’m Sri and I’m on the general management stream of the NHS graduate management trainee scheme (GMTS). The scheme involves working in placements, one of which is eight weeks long and called a flexi-placement.

Trainees can choose where they want to go for the flexi-placement and what they want to do, it doesn’t have to be related to general management or even the NHS. I decided to come to Kaleidoscope after hearing about their Teal way of working.

Being Teal is very different from the way the NHS typically functions. For example, Kaleidoscope has quite a flat hierarchy, there aren’t any managers or formal job titles. I was interested to learn how it works, and to see how a Teal organisation is able to work with the NHS.

In hindsight, it’s the way Kaleidoscope is structured and its people that has made me truly enjoy my time here and given me so many opportunities for learning and development.

Welcome to Kaleidoscope!

My first day at Kaleidoscope was on 1 September but I was given a placement mentor a few months before I started. My mentor answered any questions I had before and during my time here and helped set up my induction.

On my first day, all my tech, admin, project intros, guide to the organisation and a training session were all flawlessly organised. I got the opportunity to attend a training session on the very first day and see how Kaleidoscope runs their face to face events and the techniques that are used to encourage effective collaboration from their clients and other organisations.

Apart from how well planned the induction was, the people at Kaleidoscope were very welcoming, friendly and helped me get settled in.

For anyone on a leadership development focused scheme, like the NHS GMTS, a bit of time working at Kaleidoscope can accelerate your development and challenge your way of thinking.

During my time at Kaleidoscope I have had the opportunity to work on a few different projects, including:

• a project with South East London ICS about system leadership
• Kindness in Healthcare, a project about creating and spreading a kind environment in healthcare
• an internal project comparing Kaleidoscope’s wellbeing approach with other social enterprises
• a project with the Scottish Government about leadership development in health.

These projects have shown me the range of Kaleidoscope’s work and the impact Kaleidoscope is having on the healthcare system not just in England but in Scotland as well. The internal project helped me understand how Kaleidoscope supports its people and provided a lot of useful techniques to use as I go into my next placement in the NHS.

More than just projects

My flexi-placement here has been more than just projects. I’ve also had the opportunity to attend meetings, training sessions and Kaleidoscope’s Autumn fest. These activities have helped me understand the organisation and made me feel like I was part of it rather than just someone who was here for eight weeks.

Another thing that really stood out and impressed me, is that all Kscopers hold multiple roles in the organisation, and some of these roles are completely unrelated to each other. That means Kscopers have to juggle autonomy, client projects and multiple roles at the same time.

I managed to get a taste of this and I did struggle a bit at the start. I was not used to having both autonomy and a large amount of opportunities to take on. For anyone on a leadership development focused scheme, like the NHS GMTS, a bit of time working at Kaleidoscope can accelerate your development and challenge your way of thinking.

Eight weeks is not enough

My two months at Kaleidoscope are now sadly coming to an end and it’s gone by too quickly, I was just starting to feel like I was getting to grips with how Teal organisations operate, juggling the different projects, and consulting.

To anyone looking for an organisation that is different, has a wide range of opportunities, but is also kind and welcoming, I would definitely recommend Kaleidoscope.

Though I should warn anyone who decides to do a short term placement here, that it will be packed and you will never have the time to get bored.