Despite the challenges our industry has faced due to the pandemic, over the last two years our national team of around 80 specialists has continued to engage with thousands of people across more than 250 projects around Australia. We’ve learned a lot during this time, so we asked our specialists to reflect on the last two years and bust some myths about community engagement.
1 Myth: People will always prefer face-to-face interaction over online engagement
“People loved the convenience of online workshops and information sessions, and we believe we engaged more people using online engagement than we would have expected at face-to-face sessions on some projects. We also saw higher traffic on email and phone lines – multiple touch points are still important.”
- Calli Brown, Technical Executive, Communications & Digital Engagement (NSW)
“I think this is mostly false. Many people prefer engaging online, the most obvious reason being that it is COVID safe. We’ve seen excellent results with our online engagement over the past couple of years. It’s more convenient, so we tend to get more people along. Online engagement platforms have lots of tools to keep it interesting like breakout rooms, polling and brainstorming boards. It can suit introverts and extroverts as people can engage in the way they are comfortable with; talking, writing a comment in the chat, or responding to someone else’s comment with an emoji.”
- Bronwyn Raso, Regional Executive Director, Communications & Engagement (VIC, SA & TAS)
2 Myth: Facilitating engagement online requires the same skill set as face-to-face facilitation
“There’s nowhere to hide in an online engagement world. Everyone is equal online, and it is a more democratic way for people to have a say. The role of communication specialists is paramount in pre-empting community issues, and prepping leaders/speakers with authentic responses. Qualified facilitators experienced in the ‘offline world’ need to upskill to learn to manage conflict and debate online.”
– Shalini Gonsalves, Principal, Communication & Engagement (NSW)
3 Myth: Online engagement in not as effective as face-to-face engagement
“Online meetings will always be different to face to face meetings, but they can be just as effective. When meeting online or over the phone, the trick is to listen more intently to what the person is saying and stay present in the call more than usual. Sometimes this is out of necessity due to a bad connection, but we are often also missing cues like body language to help us understand the message. Reflecting back what you heard also helps to clarify understanding.”
- Rebecca Ho, Principal, Communication & Engagement (QLD)
“On a recent project we had more than 6,000 people use our digital visualisation tool. That’s many more people than we could have reached face-to-face. Mixed methods of engagement, both face-to-face and online, are here to stay.”
- Fiona Bettesworth, Associate, Communications & Engagement (WA)
4 Myth: Online engagement is more costly than traditional consultation
“Online engagement can reach more people, more easily, making it more cost effective on a dollar-by-dollar comparison. Efficiencies from delivering the engagement from anywhere limits travel time and cost, as well as lost productivity – meaning it can be far less costly.”
- Martin Klopper, Regional Executive Director, Communications & Engagement (QLD, NT & WA)
5 Myth: People’s routines won’t change in the long term
“Engaging during lockdowns was a learning curve. Normally we would arrange letterbox drops to residents two weeks before an event to ensure they had enough time to RSVP. This is reasonable when people check their mailboxes every day. But as people had to work from home, many weren’t checking their mailboxes more than once a week. This made many people feel like they weren’t given enough time to respond and make plans. Identifying this new routine, which will likely continue with ongoing flexible working arrangements, is critical to building trust with communities and understanding their needs moving forward.”
– Camilla Hamilton, Senior Associate, Communication & Engagement (VIC)
6 Myth: With so much going on, people aren’t interested in engaging
“One of the positives lessons to take out of COVID was the sense of community and the important value of your local neighbourhood. People now seem to be more interested and engaged in what’s happening in their local area, less time is spent commuting and this higher level of interest means they are more likely to engage and participate in the process.”
- Anna Mitchell, Principal, Communications & Engagement (VIC)
7 Myth: Online engagement suits everyone and every project
“In my experience, people prefer engagement to be face-to-face if the impact of the project is high, personal, or there is a very complex or sensitive problem to solve.”
- Stephanie Luyks, Director, Communications & Engagement (SA)
“The digital divide is real - even if people are tech savvy, they may have little or no internet access for hours or days. Don’t jump exclusively to online substitutes. During the lockdown, some families were parking near libraries to hotspot their kids into the library wireless network for homeschooling. If we engage exclusively online, then we must also remove barriers that might otherwise disenfranchise important stakeholders. Don’t forget the value of phone calls and other ‘old school’ ways of making social if not physical connections, like radio.”
- Libby Mitchell, National Director, Communications & Engagement (VIC)
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