What a great consultation! People were engaged, interested and gave great feedback. So what happens next? Well like a good dinner party you thank your guests and close the loop!
To build on the momentum created by your project, the Conversation Caravan team recommends taking the following actions to close the loop:
• Thank participants and those interested in the project: issue a statement thanking participants for participating in the project. Remind them of their commitment to working collaboratively. Release some of the fantastic ideas to keep the conversation going.
• Keep participants informed: in engagement this is called ‘closing the loop’ the information loop is currently open. Participants have shared their ideas and their feedback with you and are waiting for what happens next. Tell them, share timeframes for decision making and keep them informed with new projects and programs that are emerging as a result of their feedback.
• Using the data: not all data can be used. That is okay, sometimes data collected relates to other parts of your organisation. If it doesn’t relate to your project, find a place for it within your organisation. Use what information you can, share data across your organisations as much of the data will relate to another part of your service. Consider ways to bring the data to life consider hosting an information session at lunchtime and invite project managers from other departments to come along.
• Thank the champions: if you had participants that went above and beyond, they helped to promote the project, recorded their ideas through a vox pop or recorded their ideas, opinions and personal actions. Thank these champions and share their message with others onsite.
Consider releasing an engagement report here is one we released for the City of Melbourne.
