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Section 5 of 6
Pathway 3: Expanding capacity

Why expanding capacity is important as a head of service

Expanding capacity is crucial for heads of service to ensure effective service delivery, prevent burnout, and build a resilient, adaptable workforce.  

It allows teams to handle increasing demands, encourages leadership development, and promotes innovation and data-driven decision-making. 

By growing capacity, you can align your team's efforts with strategic goals, ensuring long-term success and improved outcomes for children and families. 

Benefits of expanding capacity as a head of service 

Increase team resilience 

With a more manageable workload, staff experience less burnout, leading to higher morale, lower turnover, and sustained high performance.

Enhance leadership and development

Delegating responsibilities and mentoring staff cultivates future leaders, ensuring continuity in leadership and stronger team dynamics. 

Enable adaptability

Expanding capacity equips teams to adapt quickly to changing policies, societal needs, and complex challenges, improving overall service flexibility. 

Improve decision-making and innovation

With more resources and reflective practices in place, teams can engage in strategic, data-driven decisions and embrace innovation, leading to continuous improvement and growth. 

Failing to expand capacity leads to decreased service quality, staff burnout, higher turnover, and an inability to adapt, weakening the service’s effectiveness and long-term success.

Over to you

Spend 10 minutes answering one of these questions to evaluate your approach to capacity-building and how it affects both your team and service outcomes. 

  • How am I currently supporting my team to manage increasing demands?
  • What strategies can I use to ensure we maintain high-quality service delivery while avoiding burnout?
  • In what ways can I assign more responsibilities or invest in staff development to encourage leadership and ensure that our team remains adaptable to changing needs and challenges?
  • How do I recognise when our team’s capacity is reaching its limits, and what proactive measures can I take to manage these pressures before they negatively affect service delivery?

You can use the ‘Why expanding capacity is important as a head of service’ section in your 4C leadership capability framework action plan for this activity.

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The resources have been developed by Frontline in collaboration with DfE.
Published: 30 January 2025
Last updated: 30 January 2025