Stap isi

15 December 2009

Getafix

The argument in favour of communicating with your constituents beyond your website has been made and won over the last two years. But how to accelerate your organisation’s acceptance of web-based tools for community and collaboration?

We all know the hurdles:

• locked-down PCs and aggressive internet filters and firewalls;
• inadequate resourcing (time, in particular);
• policies that restrict who can speak on behalf of council (outdated now that everyone is a media outlet);
• recordkeeping and privacy requirements that (similarly) date from an era pre-internet; and
• fear – of failure, and success!

How to get over (or around)?

Write it into policy

Don’t frame the argument as ‘technology’ or ‘web 2.0’ . It’s about community engagement. Build it into your Community Engagement Strategy.

Councils have a legislative requirement under the Local Government Act 1993 to ensure that community input is a part of the decision making process. Section 8 of the Act refers to Councils’ charter. Ten of the eleven points in the charter require community engagement. […] Foreshadowed legislation by the NSW State Government will require councils to have formally adopted a Community Engagement Strategy.
— Mosman Council, Community Engagement Strategy

Interestingly, the Government 2.0 Taskforce report is entitled Engage – Getting on with Government 2.0. See the chapter What’s in a name?

Both documents linked above are published under a Creative Commons licence.

A policy framework to support Council staff working on the web is already in place. It’s called the Code of Conduct. All we need are some basic guidelines to help us apply the Code to an online environment. Fortunately we have good, simple documents to work from:

• Australian Public Service Commission Circular 2009/6: Protocols for online media participation, November 2009
• Principles for interaction with social media, State Services Commission, N.Z., April 2009

do.point.oh

This phrase I first heard from @nambor. I think it best expresses how we should tackle the practical implementation of ‘sharing’ technologies. Just do it. The longest journey begins with a single step. Etc.

D.I.Y. social media monitoring
If you’re not already listening to what your constituents are saying about you online, it doesn’t take much to start. Google News Alerts, a regular Facebook and Twitter search or a custom Yahoo! Pipe are all options that are quick and simple to implement. Package up the relevant comments and pass them on to the appropriate manager or officer. As an organisation, we’re often not aware of the parallel, digital lives of our communities.

Use trusted institutions to build trust
Libraries are the go-to institution. They have a good reputation in the community and are perfectly placed to pilot online initiatives. (A local festival may afford similar opportunities.) Not only will you build internal expertise and experience, you’ll hopefully demonstrate to senior managers that opening up a comments box will not cause the sky to fall on their heads. And just as important, these places allow you to add face-to-face in-person engagement to the mix.

Model the behaviour you want
Telling people about ‘sharing’ technologies is not a tenth as effective as leading by example. You will have to write a lot of blog posts, take a lot of photos, leave a lot of welcoming and encouraging comments – often with little success and less recognition. But your colleagues will learn from it and, as they themselves take to the web, you will learn from them.

Demonstrate value
How you measure the success of a project will depend on the goals and the tools you use. But go beyond simple counts (pageviews, visitors, comments). Seb Chan of the Powerhouse Museum has done some great work in this area. And here’s an interesting approach to quantifying cost savings.

Pull together an informal web team
Gather champions from across the organisation. Communications and marketing, customer service, librarians, whoever shows an interest… give them logins. Many will suggest web-based projects for their work area – result! The goal is to give subject specialists direct access to their communities.

Join networks
‘Government 2.0’ is discussed widely on the web (and in many languages). More and more case studies and blogs from public servants are available to you. These are invaluable when writing a proposal or planning a project. Join a group like the Local Government Web Network or follow someone like Craig Thomler on Twitter. These are great filters for the good oil. Select the best, most relevant bits for your organisation and share with your web team and other colleagues.

The real risks

Online but not relevant
Popular conceptions of ‘community consultation’ include: a rubber stamp, it’s something they have to do, they’re not going to listen anyway; or this is a minor issue, why are you troubling me about it? get on and do your job; or why didn’t I hear about this until after the fact? These may apply to your projects if they are timid or not directed at an issue that the community deems important.

Broadcast only
Broadcast is just part of the equation but it’s usually where we start. That’s understandable (have to start somewhere) but the danger is that we stop there. I like this statement from museum professional Nina Simon – engagement requires change from the old relationship where authority is the content provider to new relationships where authority is the platform provider.

Proscriptive
Each community is different and is itself made up of difference. There is no ‘one size fits all’ when it comes to engagement on the web. Look to your communities for inspiration on the form it might take. Your first thought (speaking from personal experience) should not be ‘I can set up a forum!’

Next level

Share your experiences.

— b3rn   guidelines, the persuader, web teams   Dec 15, 11:45 PM   #

Comments

no HTML, use Textile

Name

E-mail

Website

Remember

• « Previous
• Next »