Brendan Blakeley, Associate DirectorElton Consulting

Secrets of effective consultation

About Elton Consulting • Leaders in community engagement and stakeholder consultation• Design, facilitate and manage consultation processes• Private sector, government, community groups

Contacts

Darwin - Martin Klopper MartinK@elton.com.au 0406 955 766Sydney - Brendan Blakeley Brendan@elton.com.au 0412 686 026

What is engagement?• Brings diverse perspectives together• Inclusive, transparent and collaborative• Helps to build new solutions• Balances competing needs• Communicates the ‘why’ to stakeholders• Usually a formal process• Keeps stakeholders informed• Makes reform and change easier – when done successfully• Requires careful planning• One of many inputs to an eventual decision

Handing over decision-making or control to stakeholders About creating universal consensus –even around the best project or policy ever planned!A one off eventAbout asking people what they want?

The key to successful engagement: be clear from day one which decisions can and cannot be influenced – what’s negotiable and what’s not.

What stakeholder engagement isn’t…

The Good, the Bad, the Ugly

If well planned and well executed - you will get a result !!

Plan for the worst but don’t limit potential opportunities and positives by focussing solely on what could go wrong.

It is usually a poorly chosen technique or bad timing that generates confrontational situations.

Around 90% of our engagements - even on really tough issues are constructive.

What does conflict and anger usually mask? – Depth of values/attachment, Fear of change, Loss of control , Misperceptions, Need for recognition.

How would I feel - if it was

me ?

Activity: Understanding stakeholders

How would I feel if it was me ?Empathy is a good starting point to understanding how stakeholders may react and what their needs may be.

It doesn’t have to get in the way of the job you have to do.

You can be empathetic and be firm - if there is no room to move on a decision you can talk about process for implementation and how to best manage the impacts of decision

Assuming the standpoint of the other a great starting point and good bulls&@# detector. Questions to ask yourself are:

• How would I like someone to have that discussion with me

• What kind of environment / approach is most conducive

to having that discussion

1. Purpose, purpose, purpose!! Keep front of mind

2. Wrap the engagement around the project

3. Find a champion and high-level support

4. Figure out what you’ll need to do and when

5. Respect the community and stakeholders you’re speaking with

6. Make sure your stakeholders understand why you’re talking to them

7. Work with key influencers

8. Involve the ‘usual suspects’ but don’t let them dominate

9. Monitor and review how the process is going

10. Engagement is step by step – you’re in for the long haul

Top ten tips

Before you even begin

Get your house in order...

Give yourself time - consult early

Key steps in stakeholder

engagement for shopping centres

Be clear about what you are planning, the purpose of public engagement and extent of stakeholder influence

How would you feel?

Key steps

Step 1 – Understand what engagement isThe processes by which agencies, stakeholders and the general community are invited to contribute to the developing and implementing strategy, policies, programs and services.

Encompasses a wide variety of interactions, formal and informal.

From information sharing to more active consultation through to collaboration in decision making processes.

Allows us to tap into diverse perspectives and new solutions to improve the quality of its decisions.

Is open, transparent and participatory. and ideally occurs over time

Is proactive and defensive

Can create connections that enable communities and stakeholders to better understand the reasons for proposed strategy and reform.

Can build understanding and mandates for change that are more sustainable than when we drive these agendas alone.

Is not always the solution?

Step 2 – Establish contextUnderstanding the project’s scope, purpose, context, timing and deliverables is critical to determining the engagement requirements of the project and integrating them to add value to the project. Key questions to consider include:

What is the background to the project?

What are the drivers for the project and how urgent are they?

What is the purpose and objective of the project and role of engagement

What is the external environment in which the project will take place?

How will engagement add value to the project? In some cases it may not!

Step 3 – Purpose and Objectives Determining engagement objectives should be from your own requirements as well as from a community and stakeholder perspective. This will include considering:

Why is the engagement being undertaken? - to educate, to introduce notion of change and rational for change , to understand range of views, seek community input into how to manage change,, collaborate with community in delivering change

What will success look like for your organisation? How will we know if it has been achieved?

How will the results of the engagement be used by your organisation?

What are the existing engagement mechanisms being used by your organisation?

What commitments have been made to stakeholders about engaging them?

Remember to consider both content /issue at hand and the ongoing relationships with stakeholders . A short term gain or expediency can alienate stakeholders and cause longer term problems .

Step 4 – Who will need to be involved?The types of people and organisations to be engaged will vary depending on the scope and objectives of each project .An environmental scan is a common starting point. Questions to consider include:

Who will have an interest in the outcomes of the project?

Who will be directly impacted? Who could be indirectly impacted

Who holds knowledge that could be of value to the project?

Whose views could influence the outcomes of the project?

Identifying the types of stakeholders who may need to be engaged will help to determine the most appropriate engagement approach for the project.

• Government – elected representatives

• Departments and agencies• Regulatory authorities• Peak bodies, NGOs, advocacy

groups• Landowners and businesses • Clients/customers• Academics and educational

institutions• Media

Activity: Identifying stakeholders

Elected representatives in all three tiers of

government

Federal Government departments

Landowners and businesses Local Councils

Regulatory authorities

NT Government agencies and

utilitiesClients and customers

Peak bodies and advocacy groups

Community and local organisations

Regional and local communities

Academics and educational institutions

Media

.

Identifying communities and stakeholders

Questions to help identify communities and stakeholders and their interests include:

• What else is happening out there that could intersect with your project, potentially impacting stakeholder interest or causing confusion?

• What is the history of engagement in this area? Have they ‘heard it all before’? Is cynicism or consultation fatigue likely?

• Is there media or political heat around the policy area, if so where is it coming from?

• Are there community members or stakeholders who will be impacted by the change, but who until now have had limited opportunity for input?

• Will the impacts of a change of policy be different in urban, regional and remote areas?

• Are there gaps in the team’s knowledge of specific community or stakeholder interests that can only be filled by direct communication with them?

.

Finding them

Ways to find your stakeholders

• Brainstorming with team members to build a map of stakeholders and current knowledge about them

• Contacting Councils and peak bodies

• Reviewing previous community submissions

• Searching the media for relevant stories and reports

• Identifying relevant websites and stakeholder blogs

• Searching existing stakeholder databases to identify individuals and organisation contact details

• Advertising and notification

• Mapping an area of impact – BEWARE - geographical proximity may not be the only criteria.

Engaging project champions

The role of a project champion is to advocate for the project. They can:

• Help provide a consensus building framework for the process, providing a greater partnership with your organisation in the engagement process

• Can be internal to your organisation or external

• Have many roles – from promoting a proposition to taking no position other than encouraging other people to participate in the engagement process.

The media

Like it or not, the media is a key stakeholder which can impact the success of a project. If there will be a high level of interest, a media strategy integrated with an engagement plan may be useful. A media strategy can help to:

• Publicly communicate the project’s objectives and desired outcomes

• Ensure consistent messages are delivered to the media

• Build relationships with journalists.

• Promote key messages even in an atmosphere of crisis, correcting misleading information and rapidly managing potentially controversial issues before they escalate.

.

Preparing media responses

Questions that help guide thinking about media engagement include:

• Are the views of a wide range of community members being sought, or will the engagement be limited to a targeted group of stakeholders?

• What is the nature of the policy or project? Could promoting the project to a broad audience deliver positive outcomes? Or is a low key, risk managed approach more appropriate?

• How will the public respond to the news? Is there ‘heat’ around this issue?

• How have the community and key stakeholders reacted to similar projects or policies?

• What other relevant events or issues are currently attracting attention in the media?

Step 5 – Selecting the right techniqueThe most important steps are to:

Match engagement techniques with the project objectives, timing and resources

Discuss potential techniques with key stakeholders or experts within your organisation

Consider the varied time, resources and abilities of community and stakeholders to participate in the process – sometimes you may need to hasten slowly

Use a variety of techniques to maximise participation

Techniques can be formal and informal

Beyond the “town hall” public meeting• Public meetings are not the only engagement technique available

• Other techniques can be used as part of transparent, constructive and beneficial engagement processes

Consider the following when choosing your engagement techniques:

• Amounts of time community members and stakeholders are likely to be able or willing to commit to the process

• Availability of community members and stakeholders to attend events or participate in activities at different times of the day and week

• Abilities of community members and stakeholders to access and use technology

• Needs of particular groups including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, people with a disability and small business owners and operators.

• Ability and experience of the project team in utilising the various techniques.

Step 6 – Identifying timing and resourcing A timeline of the engagement techniques should also be prepared. It should incorporate:

Project deadlines

Key project ,engagement and communication milestones, to provide guidance to activities as well as sequencing the “landing” of a project or process

Detailed staffing and financial resources required to support the identified engagement techniques

Internal resources available to assist with delivering engagement activities

External resources i.e. technical experts, independent facilitators, event managers, direct mailing companies and graphic designers

Developing an online presence and social media

Managing invitations and notifications

Process for recording feedback and registrations of interest

Particular needs groups

• Brainstorming with team members to build a map of stakeholders and current knowledge about them

• There are particular challenges when engaging with a number of categories of stakeholders including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, people with a disability and small business owners and operators.

ScenariosEngagement techniques

Advisory Group

Advantages• Brings diverse stakeholders with a

high level of interest in a project ‘in the tent’

• Captures diverse expertise• Is an opportunity to build

understanding, relationships and consensus over time

• Members will often formally or informally champion the process and the project

Generally 12 members, comprising representatives from external stakeholder groups, non government organisations, individuals, and government representatives

Disadvantages• Can require strongly opposing views

to be carefully managed• Not statistically representative,

although if members are carefully selected can represent a variety of views

• Needs to be well chaired• Ongoing resourcing required• Manage actual and perceived conflicts

of interest

Briefing

Advantages• Focused engagement with

stakeholders who are likely to be highly interested in, and influential to, project outcomes

• Deliver project information to be directly to key influencers

• Flexible venue• May obtain sensitive information

that would not be provided more publicly

Used to inform key stakeholders about the engagement process, and opportunities to be involved. Can either be collective, involving a group of stakeholders with similar interests, or one-on-one

Disadvantages• Limited opportunity to gain input

from participants• Only engages a small proportion of

community and stakeholders• Can be perceived as privileging

some engagement participants• Informality can be a disadvantage

Information and feedback session

Advantages• Opportunity for a project team to

interact on a one to one basis• Can be held at the same time as a

community event, ‘drop-in’ • Diffuses the risk of groups

mobilising or vocal people dominating

• Individual feedback captured• Participants can provide contact

details to project team

Drop in session for several hours where the community and stakeholders are invited to view displayed material and provide verbal and/or written feedback to members of the project team.

Disadvantages• Setting a suitable time• Some stakeholders want a more

structured, group opportunity for their views to be heard

• Can be expensive to prepare information materials for a one off session

• Can generate a large amount of material (eg feedback sheets) requiring analysis

Workshops

Advantages• Participants need to grapple with

complexity• Creates informed views • Very active techniques • Diffuses the risk of groups

mobilising or vocal people dominating

• Individual and group feedback captured

• Builds working relationships

Deliberative workshops aim to develop a shared understanding of an issue and to build consensus around a solution. Often undertaken as a series of workshops with experts presenting information for debate and consideration. Can combine small and large group discussions and utilise representative sampling.

Disadvantages• Setting a suitable time• Resource and time intensive • Can be expensive to prepare

information materials for a one off session

• Can be seen as exclusive • Better done with groups < 100

Public meetings

Advantages• People are familiar with this

technique• Seen as very transparent and

public• Time effective • Can accommodate large numbers

of people • Formal record • Can take questions on notice

A formal structured proceeding usually involving presentations followed by questions and answers . May or may not include formal motions from the floor.

Disadvantages• Forum for grandstanding - usual

voices may dominate • Not very effective at shifting views • Difficult for dissenting views to be

aired and intimidating for some members of the public

• Not conducive to developing solutions

• Can be captured and hijacked• Requires strong facilitation and

presenters comfortable with conflict• Often only yields minimal new

information • Not inclusive

Informal Engagement

Advantages• Information can be delivered directly

to key influencers – and initial views to be sought

• Often highly valued by stakeholders• Good for getting to hard-to-reach

groups • Can improve the effectiveness of

other, more formal forms of engagement

• Can be a very effective risk management tool

• Inexpensive

Informal engagement can take many forms. It builds understanding and relationships among key stakeholders and allows parties to ask specific, and potentially sensitive, questions in a confidential forum. Crucially, it can also be used to help negotiate an outcome between key stakeholders with divergent views.

Disadvantages• Can depend on relationships

between individuals: if an individual leaves or moves , the relationship can be lost

• Informality can increase risk of later misunderstanding or misrepresentation of views or committments

• Transparency

Focus group

Advantages• Can reach groups with special

needs or interests eg young people, people with a disability, CALDcommunity members or homeless people

• Less threatening for people who don’t like to talk in large groups

• Maximise participation• Provides finely grained information

A small group of people are asked about their perceptions, opinions, beliefs and attitudes by a facilitator.

Disadvantages• Need skilled facilitation to engage all

group members• Groups are not large enough be a

fully representative sample of a population: insights are indicative only

• Often time consuming to recruit participants

Media

Advantages• Easily transmittable to a wide

audience across a range of platforms

• Integrates well with other engagement techniques

• Combining traditional media with social media can increase response rates

• Can be used effectively at all stages of engagement

Media covers print and online journalism, television and radio. Media can take many forms including advertisements, articles, interviews, media releases and public appearances.

Disadvantages• Timing and context for the

distribution of information is determined by media outlets

• Interests of media outlets and of the project may not always be in alignment

• Resource intensive process

Summit

Advantages• Provides focused engagement with

stakeholders who are likely to be highly interested in, and influential to, the project outcomes

• Formality of a summit valued by some participants

Also known as a round table, generally between 20 or more invited stakeholder representatives and decision makers. Participants will have a good understanding and strong perspectives.

Disadvantages• Can perpetuate existing dialogues• Needs to be well chaired• Can be perceived as privileging

some engagement participants

Online forum – ‘have your say’

Advantages• Transparent• Allows interested people and

organisations to express views directly and interact with each other

• Users may make posts in their own time

• Gives ability to intervene if misconceptions are gaining credibility

A topic or series of questions is posted online to a project website for comment and discussion by stakeholders and the community. Levels of moderation may differ.

Disadvantages• Not all community members are

comfortable participating in online forums

• Can be time consuming and expensive for to maintain

• Moderator may inappropriately censor comments

Facebook

Advantages• Easy to use• Diverse users• Create online communities to share

content, opinions and ideas• Can reach people who may

normally be apprehensive about committing to a group

• Can involve people who are time poor or who travel frequently

Facebook can be used by businesses, brands, organisations and public figures to create pages and interact with the Facebook community.

Disadvantages• Content is the property of Facebook • Complex privacy settings\• Must be kept up-to-date constantly• Potential for issues and discussion

to escalate and attract significant attention very quickly

• Can involve high staffing costs • Non-users may require lots of

support and encouragement to use this medium

Twitter

Advantages• Offers similar benefits to Facebook

in a simpler format• Provides an easy platform to

disseminate real time information and updates online

• Useful to support other online activity such as the project website

• Functionality is evolving

Offers a social networking and micro-blogging service. Users are able to follow people, organisations and issues.

Disadvantages• Must be kept up-to-date constantly• Tweets cannot be retracted and

interactivity cannot be moderated• Can involve high staffing costs• Number of characters able to be

used to convey a message is limited• May reach a younger demographic

only

For further tools and techniques, see:http://iap2.affiniscape.com/associations/4748/files/06Dec_Toolbox.pdfhttp://www.digitalengagement.info/http://participedia.netFor other examples of good practice engagement, see:http://www.businessofgovernment.org/report/using-

online-tools-engage-publichttp://www.iap2.org.au/awards/cid/31/parent/0/t/awa

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Resources