This week we’ll take a look at the planning required to go from idea to successful outreach — the best practices that ensure your public engagement is effective and gets directly to the heart of the issue.

Clear Objectives, Clear Outcomes

Know why you are engaging with your stakeholders:

  • Is it an information-only meeting?
  • Is it a consultation or decision-making process where stakeholder input is required?
  • Are you looking for public feedback that may or may not influence a larger issue?

You need to understand why you are engaging your audience so that you can clearly tell them the purpose of the meeting and their role in it.

Build Trust and Strong Relationships

Clearly outlining your goals will help to build trust:

  • Candidly convey both the opportunities and the challenges involved.
  • Outline what’s up for discussion and what’s non-negotiable.
  • Be real and above all else, be honest.

Once you’ve built trust, that helps pave the way for building strong relationships with key stakeholders — from neighbourhood groups to business associations to shareholders. Establish and nurture trust with these groups and they’ll become advocates for your integrity, even if they don’t agree with you 100%.

Understanding Leads to Support and Participation

Ensure that your stakeholders understand your initiative, project or issue:

  • How will it impact them?
  • Answer all questions asked and if you don’t have the answer, commit to finding it out and following up.
  • If someone feels confident in their understanding of an issue, then they are in a better position to support it.

And with support comes participation:

  • Turn your supporters into ambassadors by asking them to invite their networks to engage with you or attend your meetings.
  • Ask for their ideas.
  • Invite them to make your project better.

Be Passionate

If you don’t have passion, interest, belief and excitement about your project or program, how can you expect anyone else to? In order to build believers, ensure that your lead spokesperson conveys vision with passion and energy.

Assumptions – Enemy of Trust and Communication

If your issue tends to create “sides”, directly confront any assumptions that may exist:

  • The “us” and “them” factor can often be minimized if the proponent addresses assumptions, misinformation and challenges right way, especially if it’s done in a refreshingly honest manner.
  • If you’re reluctant to tell the whole story or afraid of your own information, then you’ve got a problem. If it’s important info, you need to share it before someone else does.
  • Often it’s the information that wasn’t shared that derails a project.

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

Aretha said it best, but respect for your stakeholders and commitment to respectful dialogue should be your primary guiding principle:

  • Outline your commitment to respectful dialogue at the top of your public meetings.
  • You have every right to expect it in return from your audience, as long as you’ve faithfully demonstrated it.
  • It gives you permission to hold accountable those who aren’t respecting the rules.

Celebrate Success

When your public engagement leads to a successful outcome, enhance your stakeholder relationships by inviting them to celebrate your success:

  • Take a thank you ad in the local paper
  • Host a thank-you open house to create further awareness and buy-in for your project
  • Acknowledge the supporters and relationships you built along the way
  • Keep stakeholders informed of next steps or updates. Keep them engaged.

Useful Tips

  • Think from the perspective of the stakeholder. Be your own Devil’s Advocate. It will help prepare you for anything.
  • Trust people and they’ll trust you.
  • Be real, be honest, be engaging.
  • Be willing to laugh at/with yourself or your organization. Don’t take yourself too seriously.
  • Stay connected to your stakeholders and the community. Show your commitment to them.
  • Express gratitude.

Making public and community engagement an engaging exercise will help improve your stakeholder relations and brand reputation, paving the way for you to achieve your desired outcome.

To read Better Public Engagement Part I and Part II, click the blogs on your right.

~ Mo Douglas

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