People-centred processes & decision making
Online
Tracey Gobey: 5 Nuggets O’ Wisdom To Engage Your Community Online
1. Heat Seeking Missile like Focus
Think about what action you want people to take on your page and make this the focus. I have spoken before about focus and using marketing tactics to achieve this and I’ll say it again here. If you want your community to register an account so you can build your community database, focus on that. If you want them to contribute to a discussion, focus on that. It’s simple… tell your story, provide a compelling reason why they should take an action and then make it easy (refer point 2) for them to do so.
2. Relevance, meet Attention Span.
The Internet has made us lazy! We don’t like to read lots and lots of “stuff”. Shame on us all, but it is a reality that all online community engagement practitioners have to deal with.
So, let’s start here. CUT OUT THE CRAP… or at least make it less prominent on your pages (refer point 1).
I have two points to make here.
- I’ll define “crap”. It’s anything that isn’t interesting or relevant to the people you are trying to engage with. In other words, if it’s not going to directly impact on their lives (point 4), they’re probably not going to give a _ _ _ _ about it. So think about your content from your community’s perspective, not your CEO’s, or your Mayor’s. Your Community!
- My next point relates to attention span and the time people have/make to read web pages. A study conducted by the Nielson Norman Group in 2008 found that “on the average Web page, users have time to read at most 28% of the words during an average visit; 20% is more likely”. The more words you use, the less they read. This image from the article is a great case in point.
3. Location. Location. Location!
This is an important one and I’m not talking about where you should be investing in property.
I’m talking about the placement of content on a page. We know that keeping visitor attention is a challenge, and scientific studies show that people generally “scan” web pages in a pattern referred to as the F-Layout. This basically means that they read the screen in an “F” pattern, focusing on the top, upper left corner and left sides and occasionally glancing to the right side of the screen.
So when it comes to your engagement site, think about how you can use the F-Layout concept to maximise the site. In particular, think about:
- How your banner, its messaging and design fits into the equation.
- Where your calls to action sit on your page.
- Providing links to the relevant information (links score high on the clickability scale
- Integrating your “less viewed” content (via links) on the lower right side of your page to the areas within the F.
There is a great article that delves into the F-Layout in more detail here.
4. Incite emotion.
Take a minute to think about the last time you took action on something? I’m guessing that there was an emotion attached to that decision. Am I right?
Point being. Our emotions drive our actions. The advertising and publishing worlds know this and have made it part of their DNA for decades.
Even the scientists dig this one. I’m particularly fond of this quote from world renowned Canadian Neurologist Donald Calne – “The essential difference between emotion and reason is that emotion leads to action while reason leads to conclusions”.
So how do we make this work for us in the world of online community engagement? Here are a few thoughts.
- Get a bit controversial. Engage on the topics that scare you most – they may end up being the most rewarding and genuine outcomes you have.
- Get down and dirty. Engage on the things that MATTER to your community. Asking them to read an 80-page plan on the “Future of their World as They Know It” is going to get you snooze-worthy results at best. Tease out the hot topics and refer to points 1, 2, and 3 above.
- Think about how you can use rich media, imagery and thoughtful questioning to incite a bit of emotion.
5. Plan for Sh*t Happening.
You’ve got to have one. A plan in place for sh*t going wrong. It’s not so much a plan, but a bit of common sense when it comes to working with technology.
And sh*t can be any number of things. It could be the way you’ve set something up not working as you had imagined/planned, a bug in the technology (heaven forbid), a site going down. There are any number of things that can crop up unplanned, but what you can do is give yourself some room.
My advice. Test, test and test some more, and give yourself, as well as your humble technology supplier (wink nudge) some wriggle room. Launching a major project at 5pm on a Friday is not the greatest idea and doesn’t get anyone into a Zen state for the weekend if something does go wrong.
So there you have it. My top 5 Nuggets O’ Wisdom when it comes to engaging your community online. I’d love to hear your thoughts about these, or others that should be on the list!
Tracey has a background in marketing and communications and social media management. Based in Brisbane, Tracey heads up Bang the Table’s Client Experience team. They’re the folks that train and support our clients so they feel like Pro’s when using EngagementHQ to engage their communities online! – Read more about Tracey on the Bang the Table website.
Tamir Berkman: 10 ways to get better engagement on your Facebook page
Tamir Berkman (@TamirBerkman) is the co-founder of Wholesome Media and TownHall Social. He has years of experience as a social business strategist, consultant and speaker. He has worked with government organisations such as Parliament of Victoria, ACT Government and Yarra Valley Water. As our latest guest blogger, Tamir shares is top 10 ways to engage with communities via Facebook.
With more than 11 million Australian users, Facebook is the biggest and most cost effective platform to seed, nurture and grow a community. But when it comes to your Facebook community engagement efforts, there’s some good news and bad news.
Let’s start with the bad news: Facebook acknowledged recently that your messages now reach, on average, just 15% of your fans. In order to reduce unwanted marketing material, your messages will only be seen by your “engaged” fans. These people liked, shared and linked to your content in the last seven days.
This means that the most important number to focus on is the “People talking about this” as a percentage of your overall fans. A great example is Edgar’s Mission Facebook page, who regularly get large number of “People talking about this”.
The good news is, there are simple ways to increase your fan engagement. These actions will make sure more people opt-in to hear from you regularly as opposed to just “like you and leave you”.
Here are my top 10 tips on how to improve your Facebook engagement:
1. Believe in something. It doesn’t matter who you are or what your organisation does, your community needs a shared goal. We call it your “higher calling” and it’s the answer to: “What is your organisation’s most important task?” For example, a local council’s higher calling might be to “Support Inclusive Communities”. Finding out your higher calling will make it much easier for you to decide on which content to post, what competitions to run and how to measure success.
2. Focus. I’ve seen plenty of organisations posting cute photos of kittens, getting plenty of likes and calling it engagement. It might be engaging but it will do very little to help you reach your goal. Focus on content and activities that will support your higher calling and use kittens with discretion and only in context!
3. Make it personal. Heck, make it emotional! No one likes talking to a machine or a faceless organisation. Facebook is a personal medium so get personal! Put some photos of you and your team, sign posts with your own name etc. Remember that an emotional connection is what makes your own relationships so special so start making an emotional connection with your fans.
4. Build relationships. Relationships start when you make someone feel they matter. How about congratulating your fans and staff members on their birthday? Acknowledge regular fans for their contribution, or even better, introduce “guest speakers” – a group of devoted fans to become contributors to your Facebook page (Like what I’m doing now on Becky’s blog).
5. Ask: “What’s in it for them?” ROI (return on investment) is probably the most over used acronym these days. But what about your fan’s ROI? What do you give someone for giving you their attention? Is it information? Education? What about sense of community? Find out what is the return on attention you can give to your fans. If they’re not getting anything out of the relationship with you, why should they engage more?
6. Ask questions and improve on feedback. Don’t be scared to ask your fans for help, feedback or ideas. Some of them would love the chance to be more involved. After receiving input from fans, try to act on it as soon as you can. Acting on feedback will show your fans you’re truly listening and this will increase their trust.
7. Answer questions quickly. Don’t leave questions un-answered or let your fans wait a long time for an answer. If you do, you’re not only making them frustrated but also allowing this neglect to be visible to others who visit your page. Answer within a couple of hours so your fans see you respect the relationship.
8. Ask to “Like if you agree!” Sometimes a simple call to action is what’s needed. Post a video or a photo, add a question and ask people to act on it.
9. Introduce other Facebook pages. Everyone likes a good host. Someone who is introducing guests and making new connections happen. You can be that perfect host by introducing other organisations, fans and causes to your network. This will help you make new friends and help to establish yourself as a thought leader.
10. Take advantage of the social media eco-system. What happens on Facebook doesn’t have to stay on Facebook. Content and posts can be re-posted on Twitter, Linkedin, Pinterest, Tumblr, your blog, youtube channel and more. Drop the silos and use a few channels to get the word out and engage. Facebook has just started using #hashtags, which can lead to a good sync with your twitter account.
Do you have any other tips to share? We’d love to hear about it in the comments!
And remember, you don’t have to try all ten tips at once.
How about starting with one as a trial?
Andrew Coulson: 10 FREE online tools for community engagement
When Becky asked me to write a guest blog on my top 10 favourite free online tools for community engagement I was pretty chuffed (British slang for pleased). Not only did it mean I was getting some recognition for my work in Community Engagement in Australia but I was now also being recognised for my use of the online, something I had only really started using to its full extent for work since arriving on these fair shores a year and half ago.
I gladly replied to Becky stating no problem, piece of cake, easy, will have it to you by the end of the month and that’s where the chuffediness ended. I sat down and started to think about what online tools I used and was quickly to list 9 and then I got stuck… there must be a tenth I use, or at least I’m signed up too that I’m thinking of using but maybe one I don’t understand yet but can add to the list to make me look clever… think… think… and then, well see the list below and see what you think.
Now the list below is a list of 10 online tools that I either use or I’m attempting to use in my role as a Community Engagement Officer in Local Government. A list that shows how they could be used, maybe even a little example and to the most extent are FREE. However I have stepped back from the idea of listing them as favourites or in any particular order as in most cases with all community engagement tools some work better than others depending on the project, the objectives and the audience you are engaging. So without further ado here’s my list of 10 FREE (in basic form) online tools for community engagement (in no particular order of favourites or helpfulness, except maybe the last one, the 10th, urgh)
1. Twitter
Ahh Twitter, my friend, my foe, my constant distraction. Twitter at 7 years old is still young as a form of communication but has millions of people hooked.
The popularity and power of the social media platform was shown only yesterday (24/04/2013) when a bogus Associated Press (AP) Tweet claimed that the Whitehouse had been bombed and led to $200 billion US dollars being wiped of the stock market. Imagine managing to harness that power for community engagement.
I mean, yes, in local government we don’t have the kind of followers say AP have but even with say an audience of 1000, using Twitter to ‘inform’ about a consultation, signpost to an important survey or feedback to the community about a council meeting, information is literally leaving the council and a split second later arriving in the homes of many. If only a third of those 1000 choose to act through RTs, direct action or response then you have reached more people in a split second than you potential will with a whole day street talk. Think about it, 140 characters in a few seconds to put out a call to action or stood on a street corner in the rain trying to invite people to the community centre to talk about a new development.
2. Facebook
Ahh Facebook, my friend, my foe, my… well no. Personally I’m growing weary of Facebook but for work it is still a King amongst social media platforms.
Where else can you easily post a call to action, a linked story, a photo depicting the story and all the contact or engagement details to get involved whilst being able to test the mood of people on the post with ‘likes’ and shares whilst gathering responses through easy to track comments and all for free.
Facebook is interesting as it still seems to be a platform that both scares and intimidates local government yet has the potential to do so much for them. I have read about councils that don’t have Facebook pages for fear of the complaints and requests for service they will get via the platform and then not being able to deal with them. I’ve heard of a council that puts disclaimers on their Facebook posts stating they won’t except comments made about a consultation that they have just promoted on the platform via that platform. And I have heard of a council that won’t use Facebook as a Council for fear being drawn in to a conversation about council business they can’t control.
Heads up councils even without you being on Facebook all those things are happening. By being on Facebook not only can you get amongst what is being said and be an important part of any conversation you can actually start important ones. Personally I have used works Facebook page to ‘inform’, to ‘consult’ and to some extents ‘involve’ our community. We have certainly used it to feedback and by being there we have been able to understand issues in our community sometimes before they even start to become a problem.
Be there, be personal i.e. sign off a comment from a staff member not just a logo, and join in with what your community are talking about.
3. Pinterest
Relatively still new, Pinterest is basically like an online scrap book where you can pin pictures and comments.
For community engagement visual is important and I have used Pinterest to help our community collect memories about an old playground and get people reminiscing. For us as a council it helps us see that a, the playground is still loved b, which parts are the most popular and c, who is using it. Ideal when at some point we will be renewing the playground and need to understand the community’s feeling about it before consulting.
Pinterest can also be used to ‘inform’ through visuals and if you’re brave has the ability to let others add pictures to your boards so could be used to ‘involve’ the community around a subject such as planning. One bonus which most haven’t realised is the ability to embed a URL in the picture allowing you to direct traffic straight to your ‘Have your say’ or other significant council webpage.
4. YouTube
Seriously easy one. Make a video informing the community, upload to your YouTube channel and share with the community. Once you get the hang of it there is potential to involve the community too so instead of formal written submissions on a consultation maybe you’d think about video comments?
5. Survey Monkey
Does what it says on the tin. Survey tool that allows you to ask 10 questions free in the basic mode and has some analysis available too. If you want to ask more and analyse more you pay more. What I like about survey monkey is that even with 10 questions you get to be creative and the unique URL allows you to embed in a message on Twitter or send via email.
6. Instagram
A photo app for smart phones that allows you to take and edit photos instantly, share with friends and if using a hashtag (#) allows others to follow. For council it’s a way to again ‘inform’ and for community engagement this can mean instant pictorial feedback from the community.
Imagine if you will a 21 day consultation asking people to identify where in the council area pram/kerb ramps are needed, we don’t accept just comments but pictures to. They can do so via Instagram, use #Councilramps or your Instagram handle to share pictures. Get your phone, take a photo, edit, type message, add location, send using #Councilramps. ‘Involve’ is possible here.
7. Vine
As above really except with a quick 6 second video. The beauty with vine is that even with 6 seconds you can actually pause and shoot as much as you want allowing small detail to be captured. Definitely good for ‘inform’.
8. LinkedIn
I had to think about whether to include this one as a tool for community engagement but when you think about it, it is. I use LinkedIn a lot to discuss community engagement with my peers and I network so develop my skills in the field but I have also read about a project where an organisation engaged its community through LinkedIn by having a group on there. A majority of their stakeholders used LinkedIn and already had profiles so why not use the space to engage with them. We use as a discussion place as a peer group, they used as a discussion place as a community.
9. Padlet
Now this a newbie and one I’m currently exploring but think has real potential. Originally called Wallwisher (a name that suited it better) it’s less than 4 months old. Basically an online corkboard it has lots of functionality from open public boards to ones you can customise, lock, invite certain people and moderate if necessary. The fact you can post documents, video, pictures and comments allows a lot of different uses and why I think we will see a lot more from this great little tool.
Finally we get to the Tenth…
10. Google+
Urm yes, well, apparently, one day…
Andrew Coulson
Community Engagement Officer at the City of Salisbury
Andrew Coulson is currently the Community Engagement Officer at the City of Salisbury and has previously worked in Housing, Adult Care and local government in the UK.
Is it time for a community engagement detox?
Now it’s February, I can guess that most of our new years resolutions have gone out of the window? Mine was to drink less wine. I have clearly failed!
So let’s now turn our resolutions to our workplaces. I have a suggestion for you. Let’s have a Community Engagement Detox.
I was inspired several years ago by a blog that called for an end to public consultation. If I was more of a hoarder, or perhaps just more organised I’d be able to share the link with you and even tell you who wrote it. But I’m not, so you’ll have to just believe that it was a great article that challenged the traditional public consultation processes used by Australian Government of all levels as being stagnant, outdated and of no real use to anyone. From what I remember, the blog called for more creative and proactive approaches to working more collaboratively with communities.
I don’t think we should ban community engagement or public consultation – I’ve got too much riding on it! But I do think a break from it might be a good thing. Just as we detox from the vices we over indulge with in our everyday lives (mine: wine, chocolate, Facebook, watching tv when I should be exercising), let’s clear out those toxins and take a break from engagement.
Why?
To ‘detoxify’ is defined as the removal of an intoxicating or addictive substance. And I think we are addicted to ‘community engagement’. It has taken over our mental, physical and spiritual psyche. As decision-makers within the public sector, we are well and truly hooked on the process of ‘doing some engagement’ as part of our day to day work. Even if it isn’t a personal choice, it’s being pushed on to us from colleagues, managers, and even the community themselves.
But keep a clear head just for a moment, sober up and take a look at what we’re doing. It doesn’t take long to realise that the processes we are following (because we are addicted) aren’t necessarily healthy ones. They are often quick fixes – some might say ‘hits’ of community engagement. We’ll do a quick survey; we’ll run a one-off event where we invite ‘the community’; and gosh, we might even create a Facebook page. Whilst we think we are doing the right thing (and yes, it can feel soooo good), the high is short lived and we quickly thud back to earth with a bang. Until next time we need another hit and then the process is repeated.
Perhaps I’m insulting the engagement processes used by referring to them as toxins. I’ve seen some great use of surveys, one-off meetings and Facebook pages (and many many more techniques) – and yes, they have their place. But please understand they only give you a temporary ‘high’ and don’t promote an ongoing, deeper relationship with the community you serve.
I’m not going to talk about how things could or should be in this blog post. Instead, I’m going to suggest you work it out for yourself. Give yourself a detox. When you are addicted to something, in my opinion you need to go cold turkey. Don’t allow any ‘community engagement’ to happen for the rest of the month. If you’re serious about the detox maybe even the rest of the year. Get your entire organisation to detox. Ban the words. Ban the surveys.
Then let’s see what happens.
I expect that chaos will ensue. If you are addicted to community engagement, likelihood everyone around you is too. Colleagues will tell you that it isn’t possible to deliver a project without community engagement. The community themselves will be banging your door down demanding to know why they haven’t been consulted.
What I hope happens is that we all wake up one morning with a clear head. I hope too those around us will find themselves with clear heads. Along with our colleagues we may begin to see where genuine ongoing engagement with communities could really benefit the work we are doing – and where before hand we were simply doing it for the sake of it. Infact, we might even replace ‘engagement’ with the word ‘relationships’. I’d hope too that the community would feel liberated to take action within their own communities – find leadership, passion and determination from within – to take on the world and create a true sense of ownership in the place they live.
And of course, I’m here to hold your hand through the detox. Think of me as your ‘patch’. I can help you to assess any toxins that have been in your system and provide you with an action plan for initial detox followed by the implemention of a healthy lifestyle for you, your colleagues, your organisational and most importantly, your community. And I’ll keep you high throughout the process!
‘Twitter friendly’ events
I recently attended Bang the Table’s ‘Pop Up’ Adelaide event and gave a presentation on some thoughts of how we might see face-to-face and online civic engagement becoming more integrated in the future.
My presentation highlighted that even if we don’t see our future civic engagement activity attracting a demographic beyond the usual suspects (we all know who they are), we may see numbers naturally increase due to the ‘baby boomers’ reaching the age we most often see at our face-to-face meetings. Of course, I would LOVE to see a broader demographic take an interest in community life and civic responsibility but as a worst case scenario I think we can be optimistic that numbers at our face-to-face events will grow due to this boom of our usual suspect demographic.
Along with this boom in older people, will come a boom of older people who are technologically savvy. No longer will I be faced with a room full of people who look blankly at me when I ask if they’ve checked in on Facebook, or taken note of the event hashtag. No doubt we’ll be on to something else by then anyway.
But amongst all of this, the Adelaide event triggered some online discussion amongst my fellow South Australian engagement practitioners about how even in today’s technologically savvy world, it can still feel awkward for those of us who like to have a conversation online whilst attending face-to-face events to do so without feeling impolite! Word hasn’t quite spread to everyone yet that the people at an event rapidly typing on their tablets or smartphone aren’t being ignorant or impolite. Far from it. Those people ‘on their phones’ are often sharing the insights from the face-to-face event with a broader online community. There is a parallel discussion taking place – often accompanied by dialogue and deliberation that includes people unable to attend (recently named #gatehashing by Max Hardy and quickly adopted by Andrew Coulson) as well as bringing together people at the event who might not be able to connect in person due to seating arrangements, time constraints and so on. It’s awesome!
And on pondering all of this in the Twitter world whilst at the event, the fabulous Valli Morphett asked (on Twitter of course) how we might overcome the barrier of seeming impolite whilst tweeting at events. A discussion ensued that quickly highlighted the potential for holding ‘Twitter friendly’ events. What would would these events involve? Well, some initial thoughts were –
– Clearly displayed signs sharing the #hashtag for the event, along with an explanation of what a hashtag is and why people will be using Twitter
– Large screens showing live tweets for everyone at the event to see
– Having ‘social media etiquette norms’ shared as part of the introduction to the event
– Having table centrepieces with the #hashtag and ‘permission to use phone for tweeting’ sign
– Opportunity to join the conversation for newbies – perhaps real life Tweet buddies to help get you started at the event
– Twitter handles/names incorporated on name badges or attendee lists
As Andrew correctly wrote, he’s sure someone will blog about Twitter friendly events soon. So there, I’ve blogged. But what other things could you do to make an event Twitter friendly?
Is Social Media based on Community Engagement principles?
A lot of businesses and organisations place social media and community engagement in their Marketing or PR department (or if they are on top of their game they have a specialist social media team or community engagement department) Now if you look at the basic principles of Marketing and PR, you soon realise that the concepts of social media and community engagement are a pain in the ass for both professions.
As Marketers we ultimately want to sell you a product, experience, event etc. As a PR professional we want to manage the message and ensure you hear what you want to hear.
It is hard for us to come round to the fact that people want to start their own conversation, thoughts and views about our product, experience, event, company etc; it’s our role as marketers and PR professionals to control that message. Although ultimately this is great, when we get bad reviews or feedback we can no longer just push them under the carpet.
As a Government or local Council it must be the same experience. Traditionally you were voted in by the people, you have the knowledge, the big picture; therefore you can make decisions without talking to those same people who put you there. The only ‘problem’ is that they now want a say in the day to day decisions.
Now I believe social media is a positive concept for Marketers and PR professionals, it now actually means we have to have a good product, experience, event etc and be transparent in our message, if not then by lunchtime there will be 20,000 ‘likes’ on a page all about how bad your products are, 8,000 negative blog posts, 2,000 I hate you YouTube clips, 16,000 Tweets all informing us of where we went wrong.
Community engagement is a positive concept for Government and local Councils, it allows for an open and transparent process in decision making. If you don’t engage the community, then you will have people tying themselves to trees, picket lines outside your offices, 20,000 likes on a page set up to complain about your new development, 8,000 blogs informing you where you went wrong.
Both social media and community engagement tell us that by engaging with our communities and involving them in the decision/communication process then we can create meaningful relationships and the right outcomes.
When the two come together, they are a very powerful tool.
Written by BHC Associate and guest blogger, Daniel Procter
Will Facebook technology replace sticky dot voting?
I came across this fab video yesterday of Renault at the Amsterdam Motor Show using Facebook to enable ‘real people’ to ‘like’ things on their Facebook profiles in person.
Clever, ey?
I think we’re a long way off implementing this type of ‘card swiping’ at community engagement events but can’t help but dream of the day when community members turn up to a consultation event and are issued with little swipe cards so that they can share their offline experience (and opinions) with their online friends. The potential is huge and I hope to give this a go sometime before my retirement! (That gives us approximately 33 years)
Is ‘Upload Fatigue’ the new Consultation Fatigue?
We’re in a really exciting era of citizen engagement. Whether we call it citizen engagement, public participation or community engagement, it’s a hot topic and the concept of involving people in decision making and problem solving is becoming greatly accepted as good practice.
And not only is the concept becoming greatly accepted, the range of tools we have at our finger tips is astounding. Not only do we have expert facilitators who provide creative and engaging tools and techniques that are a far cry from traditional public meetings (that are famously known for conjuring up all kinds of angry and emotional confrontations) but we have a wealth of online tools at our fingertips which reach a much broader audience than the typical meeting attendees of yesteryear.
Some might say that the era of ‘bad’ consultation is behind us.
Or is it?
We’ve just started to move forward following an era of, dare I say it, tokenistic consultation activity where decisions had quite possibly already been made and the process was conducted to purely to tick a box. In my opinion, years of bad consultation activity has lead to a demise of trust and interest on the part of the general public in relation to genuine Government decision making. The public have become fed up of either constantly providing ideas and input, only to discover the final decision doesn’t reflect the feedback provided by the public; or being asked again and again the same thing – of course giving the response ‘we keep telling you what we want, just do it!’. This frustration is often referred to in our sector as ‘consultation fatigue’.
So great, we’re moving in to an era where we’re starting to see more and more creative tools and techniques are being used to ‘engage’ with the community. Brilliant. It’s a joy to see organisations embrace the idea of public participation.
However, I must admit I’m really worried. The shiny, shimmery tools that are at our fingertips in the 21st century are all singing and all dancing in the ‘we really want you to have your say’ department, but often lack both depth of engagement and methodology in the ‘your say will genuinely influence the final decision’ department.
I’ve seen a flurry of Government websites and pages recently asking people to ‘tell us your ideas’, ‘upload a photo of something you’d like to change’, or ‘put a pin in our virtual map’. All shiny and shimmery on the outside, but when you delve in to the methodology behind it, it often reveals the actual say the public has over the decision is very limited, yet they’ve been given permission to write a wish list about anything they desire!
This runs a huge risk of public disempowerment, frustration and, drum roll please… consultation fatigue.
So what’s my conclusion?
Let’s keep things shiny and shimmery. They look good and they work incredibly well in attracting people to participate.
But let’s add some sound public participation methodology to our online engagement activity, just as we would for any good face-to-face activity. This might include –
– When there’s a decision to be made, or problem to be solved, let’s ensure we are clear about what is negotiable and what isn’t negotiable. Make sure the public input isn’t ‘pie in the sky’ thinking that is irrelevant to the decision.
– Let’s treat participants with respect, providing them with a safe space in which to participate. This might include considering options for anonymity and/or moderation.
– Let’s consider the depth of engagement and how we can best utilize public knowledge and input. Brainstorming ideas is all well and good, but sometimes a conversation can open up a wealth of potential and provides the community with a space in which to participate in dialogue and deliberation which can provide a richer input in to decision making.
– If we don’t start implementing some methodology behind our online citizen engagement, we’re simply continuing the era of ‘bad’ consultation but behind the disguise of shiny, shimmery tools.
You have been warned!
Is ‘Upload Fatigue’ the new Consultation Fatigue was originally written by Becky Hirst in her role as Managing Director, TableTalk Engagement
Time-lapsed Open Space
I facilitated the South Australia IAP2 event yesterday which looked at the future of online community engagement. I used Open Space Technology as the method of facilitation and it was great fun. The technique seemed to be well received by most. Only one participant wanted a more traditional approach of ‘listening’ to an expert present and used the ‘Law of Two Feet’ to leave the event! We live and learn!
This video is a time-lapse of the event, with an image captured every 45 seconds. Enjoy!
Who wants to chat?
It’s no secret that I’m currently juggling the highs and lows of being a new Mum with my continued interest and passion for delivery of sound community engagement. I feel incredibly lucky to be able to spend precious time with my daughter balanced with running my business.
Since she arrived in my life 5-months ago, the one thing I have had by my side day and night has been my iPhone! A compact little gadget (even the iPad started gathering dust for a while) loaded with sanity-saving devices – both baby and Becky related. My trusty iPhone has provided me with instant ‘sounds of the womb’ in the depth of the night; lyrics to lullabies at the touch of a button; monitoring and recording growth, feeds, sleep times and even nappy changes.
But for my non-goo-goo-gaa-gaa stuff, the trusty iPhone has provided me with social connectivity as it always did. I’ve been able to keep up to date with the rest of the world through my usual social media favourites and I can’t highlight enough how sanity-saving this has been.
So where is this babble going? Well to set the scene, on Wednesday evening I was walking around my house with baby in her stroller sleeping and dinner on the hob. I had a few moments to myself so thought I’d check out my Twitter feed (as you do) using my iPhone. I quickly noticed an invitation to participate in a conversation with senior health professionals and Ministers about local health services as part of an initiative called ‘HealthChat’.
“Brilliant!” I thought! I’d been meaning for a while to provide some feedback on how great I had found the public health system when having my baby back in December and this seemed like the perfect opportunity. I suddenly had access to the highest level – and this is where I wanted to send my praise! So I tweeted straight to the Minister of Health & Aging and it felt great to know he was ready to listen. I was on a roll… I sent a couple more bits of praise whilst I was at it!
I waited a few minutes anticipating the next part of the ‘chat’. As a facilitator myself I was preempting what they were going to ask me. I thought to myself that they’d probably delve further. I’d mentioned that the staff on the labour and post-natal wards at the hospital had been outstanding so imagined they’d come back to me asking to elaborate – “what was it about my experience with the staff that made it outstanding?” or “what can we do to continue those services being outstanding?” were the types of question that instantly sprung to mind.
You can imagine my excitement to receive a reply from the Minister. Here was me – rocking the baby and cooking the dinner whilst engaging directly with decision makers at the highest level in our state. I was buzzing – THIS is what social media is so good for and why I continuously rave about the benefits of online community engagement. You are reaching people who can’t or don’t want to attend traditional meetings or make formal written submissions.
BUT. Imagine my disappointment at the simple response of “Thank you”. Ok, fair enough he was polite and I appreciate that but I felt deflated. At least my tweet was acknowledged and seemingly appreciated. But where was the chat? That was it. End of conversation. I was there – hooked in – willing to give so much more information as a consumer but I was thrown back out to sea!
So the moral of my story? I think there’s a few key lessons to be highlighted –
– Social media IS a brilliant tool for engaging with people who might not want to participate in more traditional methods. You are literally reaching out to the more silent majority and providing ways for them to feel included.
– Let’s be careful what we call a ‘chat’. A chat to me is a conversation – it’s two way. It needs to be give and take, not just take take. Yes, Twitter only provides an opportunity to exchange snippets of information in 140 characters or less, but it does provide the opportunity for a good back and forth conversation.
– Using the tool alone isn’t always enough. If you are wanting any ‘meat’ in your engagement, good facilitation is required for online engagement as well as offline.
– Don’t ignore the positives. We are often so quick to react to the negative feedback we receive that we forget to utilize and harness the positive comments we hear. I’m a big fan of an Appreciative Inquiry approach of using positive experiences to help shape future planning. We should try to practice it more often – both in our online and face-to-face engagement. If you don’t massage and pamper the people giving you positive feedback the likelihood is they will swim off in to the deep ocean and never emerge again…