In recent months, MosaicLab has delivered a series of engagement programs for Monash City Council, Greater Shepparton City Council and Melton City Council to help build the momentum for engagement internally. Councils have been working on Community Engagement Policies, Council Plans, Frameworks and capacity building programs and have seen the value of engaging a diverse range of staff in this work.
The programs involved a range of online sequential workshops with between 20-40 staff including CEO and senior executives attending. Separate workshops have been held with councillors to draw on their perspectives and keep them in the loop.
We asked some of our council colleagues to provide their learnings from internal engagement processes.
“Was very punchy and gained large amounts of input fast”
INSIGHTS FROM COUNCIL PROJECT OFFICERS
Kathryn Foster, Team Leader – Community Strengthening, Greater Shepparton City Council
The Project
A suite of codesign and sensemaking workshops across Council teams to help build capacity and understanding in the delivery of the recently adopted Community Engagement Policy.
Some of the challenges faced in delivering an internal engagement program
It was a challenge to establish a sense of ownership of community engagement across all levels. In the past, we lacked a shared understanding of what community engagement means. Some departments underestimate their interactions with the community and don’t identify it as community engagement.
Insights from the internal engagement activity
During the online forums, everyone’s openness to learning was really evident. We all had a shared experience, identifying ways we want to work more effectively in the community engagement space.
The motivation for improved community engagement is there, but there is a lack of confidence and tools to enable it. It really all comes down to confidence.
The hierarchical structure of council can sometimes be a barrier to engagement. In the top tier, senior leaders have more resources available, can make decisions more freely, and have more confidence. Lower tier staff often don’t have the resources they need, affecting their confidence and ability to engage thoroughly.
Some advice to any officers planning internal engagement processes
My advice is to ensure you’re engaging insights from employees across all levels and departments, which sometimes is not the most obvious choice. It can help to identify and develop champions within each area who are passionate about the process amongst their team.
It’s important to establish what motivates your council to ensure community engagement is framed as an asset for everyone, from councillors to customer service. Society is built on relationships, so it is important to understand how valuable interactions with the community are.
Robyn Mitchell, Senior Community Engagement Officer,
City of Melton
The Project
A series of Councillor interviews and officer workshops
to inform the preparation of a new Council Plan and updates to the Community Vision.
Some of the challenges faced in delivering an internal engagement program
One of the biggest challenges was trying to encourage some risk taking. This process was untested, and we didn’t know exactly what to expect, especially online. Being used to face-to-face interactions, a fully online engagement was a bit daunting for some people. It was challenging to get people to genuinely open up in an online space.
Insights from the internal engagement activity
The main insight I gained was that you simply need to give things a go. Success lies in the willingness to fail occasionally, and you’re not going to get something 100% right on the first go. Every time you try something, it illuminates how it can be done better next time.
Some advice to any officers planning internal engagement processes
My advice is to be more willing to take a risk and try something new, rather than waiting to have everything planned out perfectly. Sometimes you just have to get your boots on the ground, rather than planning for every possible scenario.
Don’t give up too easily. Work through the steps of the process, as each try gives you the opportunity to make it better.
It is easy to throw away an idea if it doesn’t work the first time, but if often takes a tweak or two to get something that lands really well.
“Very interactive. Even though it was online the session was easy to navigate.”
insights from the facilitators
Set a clear context: Work with leadership to support them understanding the purpose of the conversations and setting realistic promises that can be delivered on.
Establish the parameters and scope of the engagement: Create an internal simple engagement plan. Clarify the level of influence, what stage this is at and how it will move forward.
Create meaningful experiences: Modelling good collaboration. Use it as an opportunity to demonstrate simple process to get effective results. Get the group to work through their own ideas, make sense of them, theme them.
Good data inputs and outputs: Good inputs to inform the engagement (add value to the conversation) such as community survey outputs, and providing outputs (workshop report) capturing all that was said in a timely manor to inform subsequent sessions.
The engagement is not an isolated event: Develop a sequence of activities, involve the leadership, ensure different perspectives are working together and activities build on each other.
Good engagement breeds good engagement: Use the process as an opportunity to build awareness, morale and a sense of contributing to something that is important and worth their time.
Enable people to contribute: Providing an enjoyable and meaningful engagement experience where they see progress and change, learn from each other, build connections and actively contribute in different ways.
Online environment: We can replicate our face to face processes into online environments, don’t be afraid to experiment with the processes.
Calm and accessible: Working online can be fast paced for facilitators. There is a lot of tech to manage. Ensure your participant experience is easy to use and navigate, don’t use complex tools just for the sake of it.
“The session was fast moving and focused”
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