Preparing stakeholders for Stage 2
James Gore
So, your TIP has been submitted after weeks of hard work and intensive engagement with stakeholders and the public in your town. You have hosted workshops, published online surveys and even managed to run some socially distanced drop-in sessions for local businesses when circumstances allowed. While you could be forgiven for taking your foot off the pedal and having a well-deserved breather, this blog makes the case for a renewed focus on stakeholder engagement.
If the opening sentences above struck a chord, then you are probably not alone. It is only natural to pause and take stock once a significant milestone has been reached. In fact, taking a moment to reflect after the time pressure of your TIP submission deadline has passed makes a lot of sense. It enables you and your team to consider what worked well and what could be improved, ensuring learnings are captured for future engagement.
However, the message I want you to take from this blog is that momentum is precious and can easily be lost. Having worked hard to create new networks it is important you continue to communicate with local communities. Where the Towns Fund has ignited interest, it would be a shame to let the fire go out. Here are three simple ways you can set out your stall to keep the conversation flowing during stage 2:
Set up an engagement sub-group
Several towns have set up sub-groups to oversee delivery of a forward-looking stakeholder engagement plan. In some cases, sub-groups consist of Town Deal Board members, while others have delegated delivery to communications specialists from partner organisations. Either way, establishing clear lines of responsibility for ongoing engagement will help prevent it falling down the priority list as resources are focused on developing business cases.
Sign up to an engagement pledge
Another way of guarding against this is to encourage your Town Deal Board to make a public commitment to continued engagement. Some towns have included an ‘Engagement Pledge’ in their TIPs, but if you haven’t done so it’s not too late – a letter to stakeholders along with a commitment displayed prominently on your Town Deal website will achieve the same objective, which is to signal that you want to keep channels of communication open.
Make the Town Deal a standing agenda item
More routine but nonetheless effective is adding an item on the Town Deal to all upcoming meetings with community partners, even if the focus is on other subjects. This will provide regular opportunities to update stakeholders on the progress of the Town Deal and a mechanism to capture feedback and identify any concerns before they escalate.
Taking one or more of these steps now will help to keep the Town Deal front-of-mind for your stakeholders in future, ensuring they remain informed and engaged when you need their input to business case development.