The proverb – “he who hesitates is lost” could be true when it comes to last minute stakeholder engagement. If we spend too much time thinking about engaging rather than planning and delivering it strategically, we can run out of time to gain meaningful and timely...
For some people the tricky part of engagement can be actually making the decision to engage and working out how to go about it. While it's vital to have a strategy that informs engagement, it's equally as important not to skip past the nuts and bolts of what outcomes...
“I’ve been yelled at. Threatened. Spat at. Cried at. I’ve felt in danger. I’ve felt frightened. I’ve felt exhausted.” That’s how one colleague has described her life as an engagement manager on a major road construction job. But it’s her perfect job. “I get to...
When it comes to reality TV, celebrities sell. But when it comes to facilitation, sticking a celebrity out front won’t fool ‘em. And you might pay dearly for the mistake.
Community awareness about how to deal with climate change is something that councils around Australia are facing. We worked with Moreton Bay Regional Council to plan how to address climate change challenges in their communities. Specifically we looked at how to best...
When engagement gets tricky: tips to get you across the line A question we hear time and time again from our clients is how to tackle difficult engagement. Whether it be highly emotional issues, opposing viewpoints, lack of strategic direction, or differing levels of...
This appears to be the most opportune time in modern history for citizen based democratic processes to become more prevalent. As perhaps illustrated by a rise in populist politics like Pauline Hanson’s One Nation, that pay little regards to complexities, citizens are seeking answers that they are yet see from mainstream politics. However, this potential comes with limitations.
There have been a few projects in the media of late where community groups have lamented a lack of consultation on projects prior to delivery. Many of these projects have centred on construction and development but a few have involved policy development in areas as diverse as energy, water supply and even the definition of marriage. However diverse the topics, one thing stood out as being in common.
I recently had the pleasure of travelling throughout the Surat Basin in south west Queensland with a client of Articulous for a week, facilitating community information sessions. There were a few key lessons that I took away from that week that I thought were worth sharing, purely from a practical perspective.
