Viewing archives for Dr. William Fleming

Why and How to Embed Coproduction in Your Organisation

Mark Fabian, William Fleming and Nancy Hawthorn

Abstract

Coproduction is gaining traction across the UK’s third and public sectors. However, while many organisations aspire to coproduce, fewer succeed in embedding it into everyday practice. This report draws on interviews with 34 coproduction practitioners, alongside academic literature and the authors’ own experience coproducing. The aim is a practical guide for those seeking to make coproduction a structure in their organisation: what coproduction is, why it matters, and how to do it. Our audience is principally practitioners within organisations, but we hope experts by experience can also use it to advocate for their own involvement. Coproduction is the most substantive form of involvement, underpinned by meaningful power-sharing. Coproduction refers to a wide range of participatory activities, across any stage of service, policy, or product development, where practitioners, technical specialists, and lived experience experts (LEX) work together to produce value. Crucially, it requires that those affected by decisions have real authority in shaping them.

An accessible version of this report (.docx) is available for download.

Depoliticised labour reform: Policy discourse analysis of workplace wellbeing

William J. Fleming

Abstract

Critical management scholars now frequently designate workplace wellbeing as a managerial technology of control. Among several points of criticism, organisational wellbeing solutions are viewed as ineffective, instrumental, discriminatory, individualistic, and coercive. Yet, increasingly, workers’ wellbeing is an explicit public policy concern enacted prior to and alongside organisational settings. Identifying workplace wellbeing as such can expand extant critique to recognise it as a hegemonic project, and, specifically, a discourse of depoliticised labour reform. This argument is abductively developed through analysis of a resource hub backed by the UK government, using the What’s the Problem Represented to Be approach as a guide, and combining both qualitative and computational methods. I show wellbeing is problematised in four ways: individual, economic, cultural, and voluntary. Each of these problematisations deploys depoliticising strategies which reproduce dominant employment relations. The workplace wellbeing policy discourse is a sincere, corporate-led attempt to improve workers’ experiences of employment, but through strategies that are limited by an avoidance of contestation and regulation, as well as a mystification of both the harms of work, critiques of social justice, and more proactive solutions which would engage with working conditions. Therefore, workplace wellbeing discourse is both a product and continuation of the liberalisation and depoliticisation of employment relations.

Ecological-collective-flourishing (e-co-flourishing): a framework to guide innovation and research

Shannon Maloney, Joseph Moore, Katrin Wilhelm, Jesus Montero-Marin, Verena Hinze, Anne Maj van der Velden, Tessa Lomax, Haiou Zhu, Madeline Reinecke, Edmond Awad, Joseph Scott Boyle, William Fleming, Laura Taylor, Matthew Broome, Christopher Thorogood, Yadvinder Malhi, Kearnan Myall, Ilina Singh and Willem Kuyken

Abstract

Converging ecological and social crises have exposed the limits of prevailing models of human progress, highlighting the need for more inclusive and interdisciplinary approaches to advancing wellbeing and flourishing across human and non-human life. In this Personal View, we propose an ecological-collective-flourishing (e-co-flourishing) approach, whereby one’s own human flourishing is pursued along with that of natural ecosystems and their collective and individual constituents. We offer a heuristic translational framework that includes a methodological approach; guiding principles; and proposed programme theory in terms of hypothesised outcomes, pathways of change (mechanisms), key contextual factors (moderators), and intervention characteristics. This framework aims to bridge theory to real-world applications of e-co-flourishing interventions that are effective, scalable, and promote change through targeted mechanisms of action. We present Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy-Balanced Living for Us and the Earth’s Ocean (MBCT-BLUE) as an illustrative application of this framework to outline how the framework can be used to identify, refine, develop, and evaluate interventions with e-co-flourishing potential. We also provide definitions of key conceptual terms and proxy measurements. Practitioners, researchers, and decision makers working at the interface of mental health, public health, sustainability, and planetary health can use this framework and its resources to guide emerging research and innovation.

Mechanisms underpinning flourishing at the interface of humans and other natural entities: an umbrella review

Shannon Maloney, Thomas Henning, Haiou Zhu, Benjamin Martin, Verena Hinze, Jesus Montero-Marin, Anne Maj van der Velden, Joseph Moore, Katrin Wilhelm, Tessa Lomax, Madeline G Reinecke, Edmond Awad, Joseph Boyle, William Fleming, Laura Taylor, Matthew Broome, Christopher Thorogood, Gaia Scerif, Yadvinder Malhi, Ilina Singh and Willem Kuyken

Abstract

Ecological-collective-flourishing (e-co-flourishing) describes the interconnected flourishing of human and non-human natural entities. Despite existing conceptual frameworks, translation into practice remains inadequate owing to insufficient synthesis of empirically tested mechanisms driving change across human and ecological systems. We conducted an umbrella review of systematic reviews examining mechanisms at the e-co-flourishing interface. Searches of seven databases and four grey literature sources identified nine eligible reviews. Evidence supported several cross-domain mechanisms, including psychological (eg, attention restoration and reduced stress), social (eg, cohesion and contact), physical (eg, activity), and environmental pathways (eg, reduced stressors and enhanced environmental quality). Psychological mechanisms showed the most consistent support, whereas evidence for other mechanism domains was mixed. Evidence for causality was weak and largely derived from cross-sectional and qualitative studies, and no reviews examined reciprocal mechanisms influencing both human and non-human flourishing. Future research should prioritise rigorous designs, theory-driven testing, and replication to strengthen evidence for equitable and sustainable e-co-flourishing pathways.

Loud and clear: Voice notes could improve workplace communication, research finds

A switch to voice notes can help reduce ambiguity in workplace communications, and in turn reduce negative experiences, according to a newly-published study of workplace wellbeing.

Researchers from the World Wellbeing Movement and the Wellbeing Research Centre at the University of Oxford presented participants with three common work scenarios between an employee and their line manager. Messages either took the form of a written email or required listening to an identically-worded voice note.

After reading the email or listening to the voice note, participants were then asked for their subjective interpretation of the message: positive, negative, or neutral.

Both communication methods are examples of ‘asynchronous communication’ – communication that does not take place in real time – and are relied upon more than ever in an era of remote and hybrid work as well as increasing cross-border (and cross-time zone) collaboration.

In two of the three scenarios, respondents rated the messages sent via voice notes as significantly less ambiguous than those sent via email, and negative interpretations of the messages were considerably reduced.

The researchers found gender differences when voice notes did not reduce ambiguity. In that case – such as in the final scenario – they actually increased negative interpretation among men.

And regardless of gender, participants who were already reporting higher levels of stress were more likely to interpret any ambiguous email message negatively.

Such findings highlight the complex nature of workplace communication, and the role which clear and effective communication can play in our wellbeing at work.

Sarah Cunningham, Managing Director of the World Wellbeing Movement and lead author of the new paper, said: “Many of us can relate to that moment of opening an email from a manager or colleague, and feeling our stomach drop. Email is efficient, but it also strips away non-verbal cues that help us interpret the sender’s intent. Our study shows that when a message is ambiguous, people are far more likely to jump to negative conclusions.

“A short voice note won’t solve every communication problem, nor should it replace email entirely, but when it reduces ambiguity in short, conversational-style messages like those we tested in this study, it can prevent needless misunderstandings, especially in hybrid and geographically-dispersed teams.

“Further research is needed to understand which other communication modes or interventions might reduce ambiguity even more effectively in asynchronous work, but our findings suggest that reducing ambiguity itself should be a central focus for any people leader seeking to strengthen communication.”

Dr William Fleming, a Research Fellow at the Wellbeing Research Centre at the University of Oxford and second author of the new paper, said: “Voice notes are increasingly common in our digital lives, so these findings demonstrate their value for workplaces too. Reducing ambiguity in workplace communications is something we should all strive for.

“The variation we find in the different voice notes highlights that we have to think about who is receiving messages, as well as the task at hand.

“For example, we find that men aren’t as receptive to voice notes when the messages do not bring clarity, which could tell us something about men’s comfort with different technologies, or about men-to-men relationships. There’s still more to learn.”

‘Could This Have Been a Voice Note? An Experiment Comparing Voice Notes and Emails’ is published in the journal Computers in Human Behavior Reports.

Could This Have Been a Voice Note? An Experiment Comparing Voice Notes and Emails

Sarah-Louise Cunningham and William Fleming

Abstract

Asynchronous computer-mediated communication (CMC) is vital for collaboration among distributed and virtual teams, with email the most common mode. Yet paradoxically email is a key source of work stress. Alternative modes of CMC ought to be evaluated as to whether they are more effective. This study contributes to this need by evaluating voice notes as a ‘richer’ CMC mode. In an online experiment (N=793) we test the causal effect of changing CMC mode from email to voice note for hypothetical manager communications. Measuring interpretation bias (IB), we find using voice notes conditionally reduces negative interpretations. Benefits are conditional on the capacity to reduce ambiguity in messages, providing heterogeneous results. When CMC mode is unable to reduce ambiguity, negative IB actually increases for certain groups (men and those with higher stress). However, for women and those with lower stress, voice notes have only positive or neutral effects.

The Role of Hybrid Green Spaces in Secure Psychiatric Care

K. Wilhelm, T. Lomax, L. McCarthy, J.S. Boyle, S. Menon, J. Hall, J. Freebody, A. Hart, W. Fleming, J. Danziger, M.A. Coombes and I. Singh

Abstract

Hybrid Green Spaces in psychiatric intensive care units offer a transformative approach to mental healthcare environments, addressing tensions between therapeutic intent and institutional control. Drawing on our CAMHS PICU case, we demonstrate how (co)produced biodiverse outdoor spaces can actively mediate challenges across risk management, spatial production, and power dynamics.

These spaces foster relationships between human and ecological wellbeing, promoting what we call Ecological Collective Flourishing. By supporting staff wellbeing, creating moments of shared stewardship, and expanding therapeutic possibilities such interventions show that even highly controlled clinical settings can accommodate nature-based programmes safely and meaningfully.

We argue that these hybrid spaces hold significant potential for broader application across psychiatric services, supporting patient-centred care goals, institutional resilience, and environmental sustainability. Our case challenges assumptions about what is possible in secure mental health settings, offering a replicable model for integrating nature-based approaches into psychiatric care without compromising safety protocols.

Forget meditation; Oxford study reveals a smarter way to beat stress and it could supercharge your productivity

The Economic Times

A study from the University of Oxford challenges traditional stress management advice centered on self-care. Published in the Industrial Relations Journal, it analyzed over 46,000 UK workers and found that mindfulness training, stress management, and resilience coaching offered little to no improvement in well-being. Instead, volunteering and charity work stood out as effective, boosting purpose and belonging. The research suggests stress is best relieved through helping others, not isolated self-care.

Mental Well-Being at Work: Why and How to Measure It

Rotman Magazine

The business case is clear: A one-point increase in employee well-being on a scale from one to 10 leads to an average 12 per cent increase in productivity.

How to keep humans at the centre of NHS digital transformation

Healthcare Leader

For several years, digital transformation has been promised as a solution to the rising pressures on the UK’s health service. Digital as the default delivery method is believed to be the solution to speeding up access to care, freeing up physical access for those most in need, and meeting financial pressures. And it’s not just the UK; globally, health leaders are advocating and driving the digitisation of care.

Yet for digital transformation to be successful, research persistently shows that service users must be central to the development and roll-out of digital solutions. To include service users, novel techniques are required. That’s where Human-Centred Design comes in.

In our recent paper, published in JMIR Human Factors, we discuss the complex challenge of including service users in the design and delivery of digital transformation. We focus specifically on mental health.

Mental health services are an especially promising area for digital innovation. Digital diagnostics can speed up signposting to necessary services. Chatbots are promised as a cheap, scalable, and rapid solution for psychiatric treatment. Health promotion, education and prevention can be supported remotely through digital resources. As can rehabilitation.

However, in 2022, it was estimated that there were over 15,000 mobile mental health apps already, with more predicted now. The problem is making tools stick. Research on uptake of digital tools shows that only where these tools are developed alongside users are they effective. For example, platforms for peer mental health support, or parent-led therapy for children, have been developed with their stakeholders and led to improvements in care.

How can this be achieved? In our paper we outline the method of Human-Centred Design (HCD). HCD is a method developed from design and commercial user-experience. It requires iterating between problems and solutions along with relevant stakeholder groups, or ‘actors’. In mental health, these actors include service users, clinicians, caregivers, public officials, and many more. The process requires:

empathising with the situation;
a discovery phase to understand needs;
defining the problem at hand;
designing the correct solution;
prototyping and testing the solution
planning and implementing the best option.

To be even more specific, we have defined HCD for mental health services as:

A practical iterative approach to the design, development, and reform of mental health systems, services, and products, that is achieved through communication, iteration, and empathy with users’ needs, desires, experiences.

The UK government, a long-time global leader in digital transformation, showed this is viable. We write about how NHS Digital, under the guise of NHSX, led HCD discovery projects to support the reform of the Mental Health Act. The primary recommendation emerging from this was that there should be electronic ‘advance choice documents’ to set out future care preferences, especially in cases of detention. Such a suggestion does not require artificial intelligence, but could make significant improvements to the dignity people receive in severe cases. However, it does require ongoing resource and commitment for success.

Readers might note that at no point in the HCD process I outline above did I specify the solutions were digital. One key message, both from our stakeholder engagement and from reviewing state-of-the-art literature, is that ‘the solution may or may not be digital’. We call this ‘digital solutionism’: assuming that digital transformation is going to solve all our healthcare problems.

True service user involvement requires openly identifying the problems in service delivery. At times, certainly, digital transformation can lead to more efficient and even higher quality delivery. Yet those designing and delivering policy and services must recognise what is vital: we must choose the solution for the problem, not pick up a hammer and look for a nail.

For digital transformation of all health services to be successful, we must include the most important people in that design and delivery. As well, we must recognise its limits. Human-centred design offers us an approach for both.

William Fleming is a Research Fellow at the University of Oxford’s Wellbeing Research Centre