Following up from a participation activity

Following up from any participation activity is among the most important steps of the process – especially if not everything has gone according to plan.

At a minimum, you need to thank people for their involvement, and let them know what happened as a result: what decisions were taken and why? What will happen next?

There are three vital things that you can achieve through good follow up:

• Relationship-building: This is a key opportunity to build relationships that will continue to be at the heart of your team’s work. Even negative initial interactions can serve as an opportunity to build trust and signal the way you will work in the future.

Key questions: What can you do now to sustain these relationships? How can you move beyond a transactional relationship focused on one consultation at a time? How can you show to community partners that their time has been well spent?

• Learning about participation: Whatever your initial participation activities have been, now is the chance to learn from them and consider the implications for your next round of activities.

Key questions: What went well? What did participants think of the activities? What can you change for next time? How can you embed earlier and more ambitious community participation in your next round of activities?

• Adjusting your plans: Incorporating the insights from the community’s involvement are what will eventually lead to work which is more aligned to the community’s strengths and needs. There might be elements that can’t be changed, in which it is always best to be open about this.

Key questions: What element of the communities’ ideas will be taken on board? How will this change things? What suggestions are unable to be accommodated, and what is the rationale for this?

You can see a great example of creating an ongoing culture of participation.

Below is a prompt question to help you consider whether the community know what will happen following a consultation event.