To cry or not to cry?
Imagine this. A community member has bravely taken the microphone. They’re shaking but determined to tell their story. They’re detailing their years of abuse. They talk about specific incidences, how they felt, the frustration, the sense of helplessness. It’s not the first …
Building resilience
StickyResilience comes in many forms, whether it be discovering new skills, building new relationships, being more informed, taking decisive action or working with people who share common goals. Having worked in several regional areas across Queensland in 2020, one thing that always …
What is community engagement?
Community engagement is the practice of gaining community input or feedback, or collaborating with communities, to make better decisions or to implement changes. The International Association for Public Participation (IAP2) Australasia defines community engagement as “an intentional process with the specific purpose …
The toughest of projects
Last week, someone asked me what “tough projects” meant. It varies. It might be engaging on a policy change to address climate change, working on COVID, or working with communities experiencing really difficult community challenges like racism or domestic violence. There are …
Tackling tough problems – improving staff morale
The executive manager shook his head. “I don’t know what to do. The annual staff survey results aren’t good. Staff morale is falling.” It wasn’t the first year. Morale had fallen in previous surveys. What should they do? At that point nobody …
Behaviour change
In 2020, the critical importance of behaviour change became apparent. Especially in the sectors of health, mental health, disaster resilience – all which featured so heavily during 2020 – engagement can and does change the way people think and act. By engaging …
Welcome to 2021
After a highly unusual 2020, our blog is back. During 2020, we focused on a few things that kept our attention away from blogging, notably working in COVID, home schooling, and making sure we had some time and space to take care …
Swing those digital doors wide open
We know times are tough right now. Many of our fellow citizens are feeling, well frankly, pretty low. But we also know during difficult times people can still feel connected and have a voice when you invite them in and show you are …
Codesign… the secret to building agreement and action
Picture it. You’re designing a new transport solution. Everyone knows we need to it, but no one agrees how to achieve it. Everyone agrees we need to cut the gridlock and improve public transport use, but one agrees how. Everyone is frustrated. …
“She’ll be right” because we’ll make it right
In a strange time, a strange thing is happening to our cultural fabric. Australians are redefining what it means to say “she’ll be right”. No longer does it mean we shrug things off or just hope for the best. It means “she’ll …
Customer Value Proposition
Who are you and what are you offering? You’ve got a great product but for some reason, it just isn’t getting the traction it deserves. Sound familiar? We all know organisations and people who spend a lot of time and valuable resources …
When you need an independent third party
Working across a range of projects for different sectors and organisations, Articulous is often called in to assist as an independent third party on often controversial and contentious issues as it doesn’t have a vested interest in the outcome. As an independent …
Talk is not cheap
For many years’ opinion polls have been used as the go-to tool to understand community attitudes and trends. But as we are increasingly seeing across the globe, the polls don’t always get it right. With a proliferation of opinion polls in the …
Behaviour change – more than a communications strategy
The fastest way to fail on a behaviour change project is to focus on bombarding people with information in the hope they’ll see the error of their ways and change their behaviour to make the world a better place. Although your message …
Clarity trumps assumptions in stakeholder engagement
“Clarity comes from engagement, not thought” – Marie Forleo This is one of my favourite quotes about engagement and it’s equally relevant to all types of stakeholder engagement whether it be customer, employee or community. It often seems easier to make assumptions …
Gain deeper insights with stakeholder interviews
Stakeholder interviews are an effective way to gather rich data from your stakeholders using open ended questions. On the IAP2 engagement spectrum they are at the consult level: to obtain public feedback on analysis, alternatives and/or decisions. …
5 BIG considerations for BIG infrastructure projects
One look at a major Australian city right now and you’ll be sure to find big infrastructure projects in play. Infrastructure moves us, houses us, supports us, and entertains us. So, when it comes to major infrastructure it’s little wonder we need …
If you think customer engagement is about driving sales, think again.
When it comes to your business, your customers are the most important when it comes to your bottom line. But they are also important for contributing to a business that they want to keep coming back to. Customer engagement is a whole …
Surveys – the good, the bad and the ugly
Surveys are the bed rock of any consultation activity. They’re a cost-effective way to get information that can be easily analysed providing valuable data to decision makers. The good High representation Surveys can gather a lot of feedback from a lot of …
Engagement tools: paper vs digital. Which is better?
In recent years digital engagement has really taken off with people experimenting with new technologies that make engagement activities more accessible and sustainable. As leaders in the digital engagement sector, Articulous is often called upon to help clients who want to be …
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