Publications from ODSW Social Insights: Letters by DSW (Vol 2) | Page 77

Practice Issues
Implementation that results in outcome needs equal attention. As the policy
developer and designer is often not involved in the implementation, the
spirit or intention of the project is often not passed on. Injecting the crucial
missing conversation is therefore worth paying attention to in order to
formalise the leadership. Reinstating a missing conversation can enable a
better handing over and secure a good hand off. It can also ensure better
follow through of details in the longer term.

Understanding the Evaluation Approach
Another example where a missing conversation is required is when
evaluators need to gather information about a proposal or project to make
an assessment or recommendation. Most assessors will ask a series of
questions and the process can get caught up in the exchange of questions
and answers.
It is often more helpful to provide the person answering the questions with
an understanding of the overall evaluation approach and how their answers
will contribute to the assessment or recommendation. Without a good
understanding of the evaluation approach, the answering of questions can be
unproductive and even generate misunderstanding and missed opportunity
for mutual understanding of the proposal. A person who is handed a list of
questions can also take the initiative to seek understanding of the approach
in order to offer answers that are more purposeful and thoughtful. The aim
of having the missing conversation is to minimise the situation where a
proposal or request is turned down due to a lack of facilitation. It is also
to avoid the situation where a proposal is supported only after an appeal,
which begs the question then of how help and clarification could have been
more purposeful in the first place.

Missing Conversations at the Casework Level
What about sharing of what seemed to be immaterial information at the
casework level? Take the example of a beginner social service practitioner
who was told by an 8-year-old child in school that her mother was crying
while talking on the phone the day before and had said “I don’t want to
live”. The person thought that the child could have misheard and did not
probe deeper into the conversation and did not bring this up for discussion
with her supervisor. This constitutes a “missing conversation”. It became
known later that the child’s mother was suffering from depression and was
subsequently admitted to the hospital by a relative. The missing conversation
could have allowed help to be extended to the mother earlier.

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