Hoping to engage better in 2024? Got a few minutes to spare before the work schedule fills up? Maybe you’re getting ready to tackle a tricky engagement challenge or your team is prepping for a big project.
Well, have we got just the thing for you!
Yep, we have loads of free stuff to share (yay!) that will help you make this your best engagement year yet.
Actually, we have so much free stuff available on our website, that it can be tricky to know where to start!
So, to kickstart your learning journey, we're sharing our top free resources over the past twelve months. They cover tricky topics and challenges such as deliberation disasters (and ways to avoid them), how to work in a context of conflict, outrage and emotion, facilitation skills anyone can adopt and more.
One thing we can guarantee though … ALL of them are chokka block with free takeaways you can apply today to your problem / work / project (or even sometimes your family members - yep we know it might sound strange, but try some facilitation skills on them and see what happens!).
Ready to learn something new, cool and useful? Onward!
top free 7 resources for 2023
11 ADVISORY COMMITTEE CHALLENGES & HOW TO OVERCOME THEM
This is our top free resource OF ALL TIME! It’s an oldie but a goodie. And it has been super popular.
Firstly though, we recommend that you consider carefully whether an advisory committee is really the right approach for your project, because there are a range of other ways to deliver engagement. Advisory committees are traditionally one of the most popular methods of engagement, but they aren’t always the most effective.
If you have settled on an advisory committee (or reference group or whatever you want to call it), or you already have one in place, you need to invest in ensuring participants are recruited and engaged effectively, Because when used improperly, run poorly, or put in place as a substitute for a comprehensive engagement process, they can create more problems than reward.
In this resource, we give you ways to overcome some of the biggest challenges associated with advisory committees and ensure that both the organisation and the participants benefit from the experience.
FREE GUIDE & ROADMAP FOR VICTORIAN COUNCILS
Important to note that this one is NOT just for Victorian councils (but it was written with them in mind). This resource is positively brimming with info any organisation can use to help them successfully plan for and deliver deliberative engagement.
We published this short book because there’s a new round of engagement on the way for local government in Victoria. If that’s you, you need to start now if you want to achieve a process that meets the requirements of the Local Government Act 2020, works around key dates and council elections, incorporates a wider engagement process and delivers useful outputs for your council and community.
This isn’t easy. So, to help, we wrote this short guide (which is adapted from our previous version published to support councils through the previous round).
Dive in for a roadmap outlining timelines and phasing, biggest lessons learned from 11 local government deliberations in round one, advice from council leaders and decision makers, a guide to scaling your deliberation based on budget, and more.
WHEN DELIBERATION GOES WRONG: RECRUITMENT
Deliberation – what can go wrong? The short answer is lots!
This article was the first cab off the rank in a series we launched in 2023 to help your organisation avoid possible future pain and learn from the mistakes of those who have deliberated before you. In this article we’re exploring the complex and specialised world of ‘panel recruitment’ or recruitment by sortition.
Recruitment is a critical part of the deliberation puzzle and one of the biggest tripping hazards organisations face. It’s also a big investment, so you want to see a good return for your efforts.
Jump in to learn how to ensure you don’t make the mistakes others have made.
WHEN DELIBERATION GOES WRONG: INFORMATION INPUTS
In our second article in our new deliberation disaster series in 2023, we tackled the mysterious and challenging world of ‘information inputs’ for engagement.
To be clear, we’re talking about information you feed into a deliberative process to support the deliberating group’s discussion.
At the end of an extensive engagement process or deliberative process, our clients often tell us this is one of their biggest challenges and one fo the greatest time investments when they are preparing for a deliberative process.
It’s super important to get this right and the quality of what you put in will affect the quality of what you get out. So, we’re helping you avoid potential pitfalls and access the lessons from others who have trodden this path before.
Learn what to do and what not to do in this super handy resource.
HOW TO HAVE HARD CONVERSATIONS WITH ANGRY COMMUNITIES
Are you trying to engage with people that are highly emotional or resistant to participating and collaborating?
Many of us are experiencing fear and anxiety. We’re living in a world where communities are facing change, uncertainty, shock, fear and more.
Engaging around any issue can be challenging within this context. This post prepares you for hard conversations, giving you tips that will help you work with outrage, prepare communities for big events and help them to process and recover from previous trauma.
This resource is popular because this stuff isn’t easy, and the people delivering the engagement can feel anxious themselves - help is here.
4 FACILITATION SKILLS YOU CAN TRY TODAY
Facilitation is a practice, and that means facilitators never stop learning, no matter how experienced they are. To honour International Facilitation Week, four of our facilitators shared techniques anyone can try out.
We’re constantly working to refine our skills, and we’re committed to sharing our knowledge with others.
Give and of our tips a go next time you’re involved in a group conversation or interaction, even if you don’t normally think of yourself as a facilitator.
Tip: Definitely try these on your family and friends.
10 TIPS FOR ENGAGING THROUGH DIFFICULT TIMES & HIGH ANXIETY
Facing community crises at any time is difficult. When there are ‘concurrent crises’ it makes it even more challenging and complex to respond and engage.
Community members can feel disturbed, frightened or anxious. At the same time, organisations are also grappling with how to adjust, change and continue to move forward.
There’s a need for us to continue to talk, solve problems and build understanding whilst we are grappling with this current environment. Finding pathways to connect and build understanding is important and valuable, but only if done well.
This resource was written way back in 2020, just as COVID-19 hit Australia. The tips in here though are transferable to today, in a world where we are surrounded by distressing news and events, and many in our community (including ourselves maybe) are struggling.
want a deeper dive?
Free guide to deliberative democracy
Consistently one of the most visited pages on our site, the Free Guide to Deliberative Democracy provides a great starting point for understanding deliberative engagement as well as providing links to further resources and reading.
More online resources
Head to the resources section of the MosaicLab website and browse all of the fabulous freebies at your leisure. Additionally, you can subscribe to our free e-newsletter the Discussion and get instant access to our member only free download section - full of actionable, insightful engagement resources.
Deliberative Democracy Resource Hub
A dedicated section in the resources section of the MosaicLab website, the Deliberative Democracy Resource Hub contains free guides and downloads, access to our video library, project case studies and more.
LUNCH & LEARN IN 2024
MosaicLab will again be running free Lunch and Learn sessions in 2024.
These sessions are specially designed for anyone who wants to upskill in engagement practice; from leaders, project managers and planners to communications professionals, facilitators and engagement practitioners.
Keep an eye out on our socials and website for upcoming sessions and information on how to register.
stay in the know + get lots of free engagement stuff
We share the tips, ideas, news , free resources and more through our monthly e-newsletter the Discussion.
