Photo source: Parker and Associates What is due diligence?
Due Diligence is the measure of prudence and responsibility expected from, and ordinarily exercised by, a reasonable person under the circumstances. In practical terms, it means doing your research and homework before you pursue an opportunity so that you avoid doing any harm to you or someone else and limit the risk associated with whatever transaction or relationship you are considering. When I worked for an engineering firm out of high school we used this term heavily when sourcing places to advertise our Request for Proposals (RFPs). It was critical that when we advertised work, we didn't just send it to the same 10 construction companies, but that we performed "due diligence" in our advertising so it would bring us a diverse response. When it comes to sourcing proposals for local government expenditures, we need to do the same thing. Whether it's community development block grants, other federal funds, job openings, or requests for proposals for outside companies to bid on, we need to be perform due diligence to make as many people aware of the opportunity as possible. We can't progress if we keep circling back to the same set of actors. Due diligence brings us fresh perspective and gives new entities an opportunity to compete. How does your local government advertise possible expenditures? Keep an eye out and let me know. Stakeholder engagement is bigger than citizen engagement. It's the act of weaving various internal and external actors into the decision-making process of an organization. A stakeholder is anyone who can be influenced by or influence the outcomes of an organization's operations.
At a local level, we hear a great deal about "citizen engagement," and yet we see these efforts often yielding disappointing results. This is in part because we've attempted to engage others before being totally clear ourselves about what we are seeking to accomplish and how success will be measured. A stakeholder engagement strategy on the other hands takes you step by step through a process to get clear on your mission and vision to uncover who needs to be part of the conversation to get you what you need and what messaging will appeal to your different audiences. Today I'll focus on Step 1: Identifying your stakeholders. What are you trying to accomplish and what skill sets do you need? This is the question you need to answer before you make any attempt to engage with outside audiences. How can you do this? By speaking with staff, management, and program coordinators and others inside the organization, a.k.a. your internal stakeholders. I'm starting a new series - "2 minutes to better governance"
Every day for the next 30 days I will write about how to make government better. I'll also go live on Facebook with the message for the day. How we can make government better in 2 minutes a day? Have some ideas? Drop them in the comments and you may catch me talking about it. Speaking of Facebook, connect with me here. This journey starts August 10th. Stay tuned! When it comes to involving the public in policy decision-making, there are a number of factors local governments consider, including:
Time. Employees must dedicate working time to prepare for and attend public meetings and work with residents and stakeholders to incorporate their ideas into the final plan. This is time that could be spent administering or monitoring federally-funded programs or fighting bureaucratic red tape to get legislation passed. Money. It costs money to print flyers, create a website, boost a Facebook campaign, and print oversized maps, etc to share with the public for meaningful participation. Engagement ain't cheap! especially if you want your constituents to fully understand the project or measure you're seeking input on. Patience. Oftentimes residents take any opportunity to interface with local government as their chance to vent and/or get help with a personal issue they are facing. It might take several interactions before a local government project becomes something that's of interest for the public and that can be frustrating. Efficiency. These days so many jurisdictions are concerned about budgets and the efficient use of government funds (as they should be). However, that means each action is weighed for its benefits and drawbacks. Contrary to popular belief, public participation is a necessary burden for many local government officials because it doesn't always yield the results we hope despite the investment of time, money and resources. Very few local governments have found a way to make public engagement an efficient, high-yield process. Sustainability. We hope public engagement is never a one-time thing and the investment governments make in collaborative community development yields dividends: a more concerned public, a more transparent exchange of information and a more thoughtful approach to solving the challenges of our day. However, the jury is still out on whether government-led public participation yields sustained public engagement. So, is public participation worth the effort? Well, honestly, it depends. If you do it with intention, creativity and patience -- it most definitely can be! I'll touch on this in Part 2. If you know anyone working in government (community development, planning, housing, etc), please share this blog with them. - Adria
Stakeholder Engagement is the x-factor in project planning. To hear my thoughts on how best to approach this, listen below.
Simply put, design thinking is a means of generating innovative solutions to problems. It forces a client-focused approach that results in both more ideas and greater potential for client satisfaction. David Kelley, Dennis Boyle and the d.school at Stanford are good places to start if you're interested to learn more about this 5-step process. In this article I briefly touch on each as it applies to stakeholder engagement.
Design thinking is a complex strategy that can also be quite fun! There are tons of worksheets and materials available for conducting a design thinking workshop for different audiences to solve various problems. If you're interested in hosting a workshop for your municipality or client send me a message and I'll point you in the right direction! Do you use design thinking for community development? If so, how? 1. Organizations can no longer afford to be autonomous.
They literally cannot afford it. It has often been said that in order to be truly free you need to have that "f-you money," you know - the kind of money that ensures you don't have to ask anybody for anything, not their blessing, not their help, and certainly not their opinion. While that might still be the goal for many, most of us, including local government, are not there yet. With that said, local governments often need all the partners and financial leverage they can muster and that means reaching out to stakeholders across industries. 2. Context is the knowledge of the future. Oh, you've got data? You know what the housing cost burden is for families at 80% Area Median Income? Ok great. Now tell me why................................. (i'll wait)....... Exactly. Now, for many of us who work in the community development space amid federal regulations writing grants and the like, we know that local knowledge is an incredibly important piece of the puzzle. In order to understand the cause of what's producing the data we see, we need to know what is happening in people's everyday lives. What is wrong with the transitional housing system if someone can't get a bed because they are pregnant? What can we do to ensure homeless veterans have access to quality healthcare? Many policy changes are enacted because of the stories we hear. We need those stories. Not only do they give meaning to numbers but they help uncover broken or non-existent links in the systems we develop. Local context is the glue which makes programs work effectively and seamlessly. 3. Diversity is on-trend. If your organization doesn't value diversity or recognize that "diversity of thought" is not enough, you are behind the eight-ball my friend. Your approach is "played out," and I bet your programs are too. For marginalized groups diversity has been a catch phrase, a forced invitation to the main stage, and for too long it's been lip-service. While we can't make up lost time, we can use innovative practices and technologies to leapfrog toward a more socially inclusive and just world. Committing to actively and purposefully engage all sectors of the population is an undeniable part of that. If you're serious about solving complex problems - engage stakeholders. Not sure where to start? Connect with me and ask your questions. I'll help you. No strings attached. (This article was originally published on www.localparticipation.com which has been rolled over to this site). |
AuthorAdria is a community development consultant. She loves all things local and when she's not writing online you can find her enjoying the outdoors. Archives
January 2018
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