I think we all strive for working 100% in the way described the left. Don’t feel alone or like a failure if tasks get thrown at you last minute and you experience something like the chaos on the right. It … Continue reading the comms dream Vs the reality
Choosing channels to use in your comms takes a bit of experience, and knowledge, if you want to do it well. Back in the day when Pinterest was the new social media kid on the block, I got really excited. ‘I want to play within this lovely new visual platform’, I thought. I made a board of pins that described a local government budget consultation. I drew little icons and everything. Breaking it down, and making it easier to understand was actually quite rewarding. But it resulted in metaphorical tumbleweed. First, nobody using Pinterest is arsed about council business. Even … Continue reading choosing channels
I’ve seen many a consultation fail. An organisation says, ‘what do you think of this thing we want to do’, then someone says what they think, and the organisation says thanks for the comments. This is not ‘engagement’. At best, if the comment actually does influence your organisation’s work, it’s a transaction. At middling it’s a big fat waste of time. At worst, everyone who commented gets annoyed and will never trust that you actually care what they think. Meaningful engagement is where you listen to what’s said and ask follow up questions. It’s when you regularly talk to your … Continue reading consultation
How often when people are invited to ‘have their say*’, do the opinions and suggestions made make it into policy, or get acted upon in any way? There no way all the feedback is groundless or unhelpful. These engagement initiatives … Continue reading ‘have your say’
