Ways of engaging#
It matters how you engage with the community. There are times and places for every type of engagement, but in general, the more you can empower your community, the better your long term outcomes will be. In your engagement event, you should aim to do more than give out information and ask questions - you want discussion that will bring up new ideas, identify anything that could block your progress, and help you get your plan right. People need time to talk to each other to work things out and to feel that their contribution is important and will be taken seriously.
There are five types of engagement, from least to most empowering:
informing by telling
consulting by asking specific questions for people to answer
discussing or debating, where people can raise points for the decision-makers to address
collaborating through freer dialogue, but where there are still status differences within the group that may affect the outcome
empowerment where agreement is consensual and status differences have been eliminated so that every has an equal say
The difference between debate and dialogue often causes confusion. Debate encourages people to take up sides and becomes combative, but dialogue is collaborative.
There are many techniques that can be used to encourage dialogue - ask us if you are struggling to think what to do.