The answer is simple – focus on being a champion of the process not a champion of the outcome. With that one simple phrase, shared with me many years ago by an extremely wise engagement practitioner the world of engagement suddenly made a lot more sense to me. Our role as engagement professionals is to ensure that if anyone were to critically review our work, it would do what we said it would do “on the packet.” In other words it would be fair, ethical and open.
IAP2 Australasia has made it simpler for engagement professionals in Australia and New Zealand to deliver engagement strategies that meet a high standard.
“The standards document describes the important elements of any community engagement process and was developed in response to requests for a set of ‘standardised principles’ to ensure consistency in quality and support those carrying out the process. “
This is an important step in ensuring that engagement programs are of a professional standard and meet IAP2’s core values. If you are a member you can check it out at the IAP2 website. If you aren’t a member
a) you should check out being a member at iap2.org.au and
b) to ensure your programs are of a high standard you should always work with engagement consultants who are members and preferably highly experienced ones.
Experienced engagement practitioners who are members of IAP2 ensure that any engagement program is delivered to the highest possible standards of fairness, openness and transparency. To settle for less, is to do your program a disservice.
