P15: DESIGNING THE ENGAGEMENT PROCESS

BACKGROUND
Within any engagement process, there are a number of design issues which you
need to consider and prepare for. If you are working with an external facilitator
they may address some of these issues with you.
When designing the engagement process, Volume 1 of the Stakeholder Engagement Manual,
the Guide to Practitioners’ Perspectives on Stakeholder Engagement, provides useful
guidance, case studies and recommendations regarding the requirements and expectations
of specifi c stakeholder groups and types of initiatives.
Practical Issues – A Checklist
Scope – determined by the margins of movement
In Stage 3, you have already considered your margins of movement.
The margins of movement defi ne the scope of the engagement process: what
issues are up for discussion and which aren’t.
Be clear in your communications with stakeholders such as invitations, written
material and presentations about the scope and aims of the engagement.
Make sure that the external facilitators, internal staff , meeting chairs and
workshop leaders are clear about the scope and objectives.
Allow for a re-evaluation of materiality
Be aware that in many engagement your stakeholders may raise issues that are
outside of the scope of engagement. While it is important to be clear about your
scope and to ensure that you are not derailed by less material issues, it is also
crucial that you do not brush away new issues light-heartedly. Consider any other
issues that stakeholders may have – in advance if possible – and if unexpected
during the engagement. Some unanticipated issues may even be more important
than the subject of the planned engagement. As meaningful engagement will be
diffi cult if your stakeholders consider the topic as relatively irrelevant compared
to other concerns they may have regarding your company’s activities, you need
to stay fl exible and willing to reconsider your approach and priorities during the
engagement process. However, at the same time, it may still be necessary to ‘park’
the new issue in order to not get distracted from nevertheless material issues of
the current engagement. Your stakeholders are most likely to agree to this if you
are prepared to make a clear and timed commitment to when and how you will
address the other material issues with them.
Orange’s Stakeholder Engagement Around Transmitter Sites
Mobile phone network operating company Orange engages with local communities in order
to identify and ideally agree on the best possible location for new mobile phone transmitter
masts within the area. However, Orange makes clear from the start that its intention is to fi nd
a location for its mast, not discuss the question of whether masts should be put up at all.
P15: DESIGNING THE ENGAGEMENT PROCESS
STAGE 4
Outcomes and process planning:
What are the desired outcomes of the process, and how do they relate to your
strategic objectives? Is it a decision between several alternatives, a consensus, a
jointly agreed plan of action with individual commitments? Plan the agenda
to move participants towards this output. Involve stakeholders in planning the
process where appropriate, and certainly check your plans for your stakeholders’
approval.
Plan to use appropriate in-person or virtual tools for information sharing,
discussion, consensus building, decision making.
Ensure timing of engagement and decision-making fi t together; don’t discuss
questions that have already been decided, and don’t start a process whose
conclusion would take more time than there is to make the decision. Always
make sure that there is enough time for discussion and questions. Keep any
presentations short and to the point. Make space for informal discussions and
get-togethers.
Preparation:
Develop a communications strategy to target necessary stakeholders using
networks, relevant media, mailing lists or personal visits. Be aware of cultural
diff erences and customs when inviting people.
Who needs to be there – are there particular attendees with authority that need
to be there in order to be able to take decisions? You may need to organise the
engagement around their availability.
Ensure that pre-information gets to stakeholders in good time and takes into
account any relevant language, disability and literacy issues and covers relevant
substantive issues and practical information. Pay attention to presentations, but
beware – making it look too ‘slick’ can make people suspicious of ‘PR spin’.
Be careful not to underestimate the time that people require to read and digest
pre-information.
You may also need to prepare participants with pre-meetings, more informal
conversations or even training (see Stage 3).
THE PRACTITIONER’S HANDBOOK ON STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT | 111
Engage with your stakeholders in ways that work
Guidance on when to use a facilitator
If the engagement interaction that you are planning is likely to show one, or even more, of
the following attributes, a facilitating individual or organisation can prove to be very useful.
Distrust? In situations where distrust or bias is apparent or suspected, the engaging
parties should make use of an un-biased individual to facilitate (and perhaps convene) the
engagement.
Intimidation? The presence of an outside facilitator can encourage the articulation of
opinions which might otherwise not be expressed, due to some parties feeling intimidated.
Rivalry? Rivalries between individuals and organisations can be mitigated by the presence
of a facilitating individual or organisation.
Lacking defi nition of the problem? If the problem is poorly defi ned, or defi ned differently
by multiple parties, an unbiased listener and analyst can help to construct an integrated,
shared understanding of the problem.
Possibly emotionally upsetting situation? Bringing in a facilitator to lead the process lets
the engaging parties focus on the problem at hand, which can lead to better results.
Complexity or novelty? In a complex or novel situation, a process expert can help the group
do a better job of working together intellectually to solve the problem.
Timeliness? If a timely decision is required, as in a crisis situation, the use of a facilitator
can help the parties to reach necessary agreements faster.
What does a competent facilitator do?
Helps the engaging parties to defi ne the intended outputs and how they will be used.
Design a tailor-made interaction that suits the requirements of all participants.
Checks that the participants are supportive and involved in the process.
Ensures independence and accountability in facilitation.
Creates a suitable atmosphere.
Holds clarity throughout the meeting.
Encourages meaningful interaction.
Manages the engagement interaction as a learning opportunity.
Engaging a Facilitator
A good facilitator can make decision making and problem solving go more
smoothly. Consider if you need a facilitator for any of the engagement activities.
While a member of the engaging parties can eff ectively perform the role of
facilitator in many situations, it is often preferable to use a facilitator who does
not really have a stake in the outcomes of the engagement. Th is might best be an
in-house facilitator who is not associated with the issue, but in some cases it is
valuable to hire an independent facilitator. Th e box below includes guidance on
when a facilitator may be appropriate, and outlines what a competent facilitator
can do to enhance the process.
P15: DESIGNING THE ENGAGEMENT PROCESS
STAGE 4
British American Tobacco Uses Independent Facilitators in
Local Dialogues
British American Tobacco uses independent facilitators in local dialogues
BAT companies develop local dialogue structures in the numerous markets BAT operates in.
These local structures enable them to identify and respond to local stakeholders’ interests
in ways best suited to local cultures and operating environments. Independent local
facilitators are selected to run these dialogues and produce dialogue reports. Examples
of local facilitators include ethics and facilitation consultancies, well-known public fi gures
in the media, politics or academia, former diplomats, human resources specialists and
negotiation experts.
The Group’s local Social Reports include details and extensive statements from these local
facilitators and describe the structures and dialogues undertaken. Furthermore, the reports
set out in detail the stakeholders’ expectations expressed in these dialogues, and give the
local BAT companies’ responses. An independent assurance provider also verifi es these
dialogue reports and processes.
Ground-rules
What are the procedural and behavioural ground rules and terms of reference
for the participants in the engagement? What are your commitments to them?
Many groups make a provisional confi dentiality agreement at the beginning of
the meeting when they do not yet know what will happen, they then revisit it at
the end of the meeting and may change it if all agree to do so.
Agree with and then provide a clear overview to participants about the ground
rules and what is expected of them. Some general ground rules for engagement
could be:
• Avoid assigning intentions, beliefs, or motives to others. (Ask others questions
instead of stating untested assumptions about them.)
• Honour each party’s right to “pass” if he or she is not ready or willing to speak.
• Allow others to express their opinions completely.
• Make sure that the opportunities for input are evenly distributed.
• Respect all confi dentiality or anonymity requests that the group has agreed
to honour.
• Adopt a solutions-oriented approach.
• Stay focused on the issue that is the subject of the agreement.
THE PRACTITIONER’S HANDBOOK ON STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT | 113
Engage with your stakeholders in ways that work
Logistics
Where and when will the engagement take place? Will it be a ‘one-off ’,
or a series of events? Take into account the needs of participants: Is the venue
comfortable, accessible, neutral? Is the location convenient and accessible
by public and private transportation? Does the timing fi t in with stakeholders’
other commitments and concerns e.g. work, childcare, harvest time, safety,
religious festival. Provide food, lodging and transportation as necessary. If it is an
international event, will some stakeholders be jet lagged or overwhelmed by the
foreign environment?
If you are planning an online engagement process make sure it is accessible from
diff erent platforms and to people without broadband or the latest browsers and
plug-ins.
Make sure you have enough room for planned activities (e.g. break-outs), ensure
that acoustics and lighting are good. Plan the seating arrangements to support
your objectives (e.g. semi-circular or round formats for discussions rather than
podium and audience, tables or fl ipcharts for writing on).
Record keeping and assurance
Make plans for keeping a record of who attended, proceedings, outcomes and
any commitments made during the engagement, which will need to be followed
up. How will this record be assured (for example by circulating to all present for
comment/sign-off or through the involvement of an external facilitator/assurance
provider – see Stage 5 for further details on assurance).
How will the proceedings and outcomes of the engagement be communicated
and to whom? What records need to be kept for your audit trail? Do you need
to assure participants of complete confi dentiality or complete openness – or
something in between (e.g. Chatham house rule)?
Do you need to directly record the proceedings using video or audio recording
or photography? Make sure participants know and don’t mind being recorded.
What are you going to do with the recording?
Signals of success
Consider how you will judge whether the process has been successful. Set
targets for input, output and outcome indicators of success such as, engagement
going to plan, participant numbers, participant feedback, media coverage,
consensus reached.
Plan methods for participants to provide feedback about their satisfaction with
the process itself. Th e case box below provides a good example of how this can
be done.
P15: DESIGNING THE ENGAGEMENT PROCESS
Article 13’s Method of Assesing Engagement with Stakeholders
The consultancy Article 13, when carrying out stakeholder engagements, ask the following
questions to identify the stakeholder perspectives and their measurements of success:
• How was it for you? (Was it safe, accessible, transparent, clear, trust-building,
informed, involved, relevant, participative?)
• Did we achieve the purpose of the engagement?
• How could we improve the engagement?
• How could we move forward to ensure delivery to the objective/purpose?
• How will you judge that we have listened, learned, and taken action?
• What would make these evident for you?
• Would you like to continue the engagement process?
• How would you like to move on?
Risk anticipation
What could go wrong? (for example participants getting locked into defending
combative positions, key stakeholders declining to engage, individuals breaking
confi dentiality agreements). Make contingency plans to deal with the most likely
or damaging risks. Consider what might happen if stakeholder expectations are
not met.
SUGGESTED METHODOLOGY M15:
DESIGNING THE ENGAGEMENT PROCESS
The purpose of this activity is to ensure that the engagement process is well designed
to meet its objectives and well managed to run smoothly.
• Identify people who will be involved in running the engagement process
– both from inside and outside your organisation. Also identify any
stakeholder representatives that can help with designing the process.
• Either as a group or according to the individual responsibilities (e.g. logistics
co-ordindator), run through the checklist of issues and options.
• Write an engagement plan covering key design issues, associated tasks,
responsibilities, resources and timelines.