What do you do when you’re asked to omit key findings from an engagement report? It doesn’t happen often, but it does happen.
As engagement practitioners, we navigate a delicate balance between supporting clients and honouring the commitment I’ve made to participants.
Integrity matters. Omitting feedback risks eroding trust between decision-makers and their communities.
What can you do if this happens?
Before you start the engagement have a conversation about the Engagement Institute Public Participation Spectrum. The Spectrum is a great tool to confirm the engagement goal and the commitment of the decision-maker to the community and what they’ll do with the engagement findings.
Another idea is a close the loop session after the engagement. At this session you can bring participants back together to hear directly from decision-maker about what was heard, what was decided, and how their input shaped the outcome.
Respect is at the heart of genuine community engagement and without it there can be no genuine engagement.
Image: Tom Civil – check out his work at https://tomcivil.com (photo of a mural from my local shops in Kingsbury)
