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Musings on ‘Influence’ – a blog for Global Community Engagement Day, 2018

24/01/2018 By Max Hardy 1 Comment

community engagementWhen it comes to community engagement, influence matters. There must be some evidence that something has changed as a result of the process. There would appear to be no value for money, or effort, if nothing appears to change; if nothing is influenced. I get that; support that; advocate for that. Always.

Yet, influencing decisions is not the only aspect of community engagement that is important. Is it possible for a process to be quite influential regarding certain decisions with the process being poorly designed? Absolutely. The process could be dominated by well organised, powerful groups with narrow interests, at the expense of groups who are less organised, or everyday citizens. They could have more influence than the majority of others who have been excluded, or not supported to participate in the process.

It is also conceivable that decisions could be influenced by the process, whilst leaving the community lest cohesive, more polarised, and more sceptical about the efficacy of the process. Would we regard such a process as being robust?

I’m not saying that influence is overrated. It’s important, but in isolation is does not necessarily equate to good process. So here are some indicators of success for community engagement I believe should be considered as a package (and their relative importance will vary depending on the scope of the project or issue being addressed).

  1. Do we have diverse participation? Does everyone believe they have had a ‘fair go’?
  2. Do people believe their concerns and aspirations have been well understood?
  3. Does everybody learn something new as a result of the process? (Are we smarter than we were at the beginning?)
  4. Is there more appreciation of the complexity of the issues being explored, and an understanding of different points of view and different interests?
  5. Is our ‘community of interest’ more cohesive, resilient and respectful as a result of the process?
  6. Is there a shared sense we have been exploring the right questions in order to lead to wise, or even a creative, solution?
  7. Do we have advice, recommendations or decisions that are implementable?
  8. Will the process encourage decisionmakers to be more open to engaging on other complex issues with their communities as a result of this process?
  9. Have we built some participatory capital? Is there greater capacity in the community of interest to participate on other matters as a result of being involved in this process?

For me this is about the legacy of community engagement. It’s about impacts that go beyond any decision made from the process. Ultimately, is it more likely to contribute to the world we would prefer to be part of.

I will continue to advocate for a commitment from decisionmakers to be genuinely open to the advice, recommendations and wisdom from engagement processes. However, I will have some other factors in mind. What will be on your radar?

This blog has been invited by Engage2Act around the theme of ‘Influence’ as part of our recognition of Global Community Engagement Day, 28th January.

Max Hardy

Principal, Max Hardy Consulting

Filed Under: Community Engagement Tagged With: Community Engagement, Influence, Legacy

Comments

  1. Jacinta says

    31/01/2018 at 10:12 AM

    Very timely Max. There seems to be a rush on to ‘get stuff done’ and this is a good reminder about insisting on the time to ask questions like these. Thanks for another thoughtful piece

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I have worked with Max Hardy on two complex projects which took deliberative democracy and applied it to new problems. In 2007 at a ceremony in Arizona, USA Max along with the ACT Disability Advisory Council was awarded the IAP2 (International) Award for "Project of the Year" for our Citizens Jury project which provided scorecard

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'Max worked with us to design and execute a series of workshops based on the citizen jury principles, to enable a conversation between community members about the growth and change expected to occur in a challenging inner city municipality. Max understood the key issues at hand, gave expert advice and worked with us to tailor

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I first encountered Max in Auckland when he delivered IAP2 training I was attending. Many years later, I’ve had the opportunity to work with him on two significant local government projects in Melbourne using co-design and deliberative engagement approaches. Max’s great strength was helping council decision makers understand their role in the engagement process and

Carol M Anderson

'If one were to ask me who was the best facilitator and facilitation trainer in the world, I would unequivocally answer “Max Hardy.” As the public involvement manager at one of the largest U.S.-based environmental engineering firms, I often took along my notes from Max’s facilitation class to meet with clients and, on their behalf, with the public.

Jessie Keating

Working with Max is a delight. Max’s facilitation, collaboration and problem solving style is respectful and calm, along with being both accessible and professional. The most significant project we have worked on with Max was the planning and undertaking of a community symposium, focused on the drafting of our city’s 20 year strategy, MV2040. We

Beatrice Briggs

'Max Hardy brings to his work a delightful combination of common sense, integrity, experience, laced with a sly sense of humour.'   Beatrice Briggs Director International Institute for Facilitation and Change (IIFAC) Tepoztlán, Morelos, Mexico

Lara Damiani

'I had the wonderful opportunity to watch Max in action facilitating the Citizen's Jury for People With Disability Australia in Sydney last month which I was filming. Max's tagline "results through collaboration" is spot on. It was pure magic watching Max create collaboration and results from a randomly selected jury - 12 very unique personalities

Lindy Fentiman

'I have had the pleasure of working with Max when he ventures up to sunny Queensland!  He is a generous, insightful and highly skilled professional who absolutely practices what he believes in.  Nobody understands the importance of collaboration, engagement and the challenges this brings for organisations better than Max!  He is an excellent coach, facilitator

Anna Kelderman

'Max's extensive experience with deliberative engagement, as well as his uniquely calming facilitation style, has helped bring about a step-change in the type of public engagement expected in Western Australia. It has been an absolute pleasure to partner with and learn from the best in the business, and I continue to look for opportunities to

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Vivien Twyford

'I worked with Max for 17 years and appreciate his honesty, integrity and ability to connect with people at all levels. I learned much from him, particularly around Appreciative Inquiry, the appreciative approach and the value of deliberation. While I miss him, I have confidence that he will continue to be a wise advisor and

The Honourable Andrew Powell MP

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Barbara Dart

Max recently facilitated a two day course for us at Council about tackling the internal and external challenges of community engagement. Max is an exceptional facilitator and his ability to draw on experiences across such a broad and diverse background in CE is invaluable to those before him. I would highly recommend Max to anyone

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Crispin Butteriss, Bang the Table

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Courtney Brown, Director, BDR Projects

'I have known and worked with Max for about two years, however I have been very aware of his career and engagement experience applied to major projects across industry sectors for a much longer period. Max has been at the forefront of pioneering new mechanisms and methodologies for genuine engagement and this resonates for his

Eugene McGarrell, FACS

'Max Hardy has worked with my senior executive team and local stakeholders to facilitate the co-creation of social wellbeing strategies. Max’s style is both collaborative and supportive and he gets the best from people involved. I highly recommend Max to anyone who is embarking on a process of co-creation.' Eugene McGarrell District Director, Northern Sydney

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