Starting out in the NHS as a Medical Secretary/Office Manager, Jayshree spent 10 years in this role while raising her children. Bubbling away in the background, however, was a love for data and presenting meaningful information to the team. Highlighting areas of concern with the data and producing regular data quality reports, Jayshree was given the opportunity of a secondment in the Information Team where she was able to develop her analytical skills.
After a successful 18-month secondment, Jayshree moved to the Information and Performance team as Business Performance Manager for 10 years.
After a successful 10 years as Business Performance Manager, Jayshree was often asked to cover her manager on a regular basis. She had built a great relationship with her manager who had provided her with regular mentoring and coaching unlocking opportunities in her career pathway.
Jayshree was given a 6-month secondment opportunity as an Assistant Director of Information & Performance, this gave her the confidence to put into practice the knowledge-based learning and pushing her to apply for the role as the AD.
“I thought this was quite a big jump. Even though I had done some work as a cover, I didn’t think I was ready to manage a team of information professionals.”
Despite her reservations and four years into this role, Jayshree hasn’t looked back.
“I was given that push from my colleagues and it’s good to know that my work over the years has been recognised, as it has given me the confidence to push myself and to develop myself.”
Building a Data Warehouse at Barnet Enfield & Haringey
The Trust did not have a data warehouse and data residing in standalone silo systems. The Trust ambition to transform its use of data to create intelligence and become a data driven organisation. The initial task was to engage with a supplier for Informatics consultancy to scope Trust requirement for a data warehouse and build business intelligence tool triangulation of data across systems into meaningful and visual reports.
“That’s been a huge piece of work for the IM&T department. Securing the right supplier in order to work with us to build that data warehouse and develop our business intelligence tool.”
Do you need to be technical to lead technical teams?
One of the amazing parts of doing my job is the sheer range of people I get to talk to on a daily basis. With that in mind, I’m always keen to hear the views of my team, ensuring staff have the right skills and technical knowledge.
For Jayshree, who does not class herself as a ‘techie’, it’s about having a good general understanding and building the right partnerships.
“You need to be able to ask the right questions and be comfortable working with all levels of staff from senior stakeholders and managers to admin and technical professionals. It’s also important you’re approachable. When you’re open and easily accessible you tend to get to the bottom of things a lot quicker.”
Find a Mentor
For those starting out in the NHS, Jayshree recommends building your support network from the outset.
“Everyone I’ve spoken to throughout my career have had a positive experience with coaches or mentors – they’ve helped unlock their potential. It doesn’t need to be your manager, it could be somebody another trust, it could be someone else that you don’t necessarily work closely with, you know, I think just getting somebody to actually mentor and coach who is really important to develop your leadership skills.”
