Processes

Processes

1. What processes are involved in e-consultation?
2. How does technology make a difference?
3. In practical terms, how does the use of e-technology change how I engage in public consultation?
4. Strategy development

1. E-consultation processes

Oliver (2006) outlines that for a successful consultation, the following phases need to be carried out:

1. Pre-consultation planning

• define the objectives of the consultation exercise;
• identify your target audience(s);
• identify how best to reach them;
• prepare the materials – feedback forms, event planning, scripting adverts, designing posters etc.

2. The consultation process

• consultation events – meetings, online forums, workshops, submission forms etc;
• publicity campaign to ensure the public knows how they can take part;
• on-going monitoring of the various aspects of the consultation – ensure that the website is working, the advert appears in the paper etc.

3. Consultation feedback

• provide feedback to the people who participated in the consultation;
• carry out an evaluation of your consultation to identify the areas which worked best, what didn’t work so well and why.

4. Strategy Development

The need for a corporate framework to which all services can refer, which would give help to managers and ensure that appropriate standards of consultation are met. It is not intended that the framework will be prescriptive, but it is expected that it will nevertheless establish a bespoke way of doing things.

• Explaining the role and various uses of good, well-managed consultation to staff.

This will involve both one to one guidance when specific work is being contemplated, but also general training sessions for key staff.

• Illustrate the use and application of different methods of consultation and when to use them.

Many different types of consultation exist - the Audit Commission publication ‘Listen Up - Effective Community Consultation’, for example, lists in excess of one hundred different techniques. To avoid ‘overkill’ however, initially this guidance document, at Appendix 1, has focused on 10 methods, which it is felt are capable of providing a sufficient mix of both qualitative and quantitative feedback. Many of our services are currently using some of these techniques, so knowledge of the advantages/disadvantages and cost etc should not be too difficult to establish

• Identify appropriate methods of feeding back the outcome to consultees.

• Evaluation of the outcome of each consultation exercise against set objectives.

You need to be honest in the assessment of the true value which was obtained from the activity, and share this information outside the immediate service area concerned. This feedback process will ensure that we can learn from mistakes and also share good practice.

• Co-ordination of consultation activity to avoid duplication both between services and with our wider partner organisations.

Getting this right will produce real savings in both staff time and the cost of consultation work. More importantly, it will reduce the danger of ‘consultation overload’ from those who are being asked to participate.

• Ensuring that sufficient consideration is given to the needs of the so called ‘hard to reach groups’ in the planning and undertaking of such work.

• Developing knowledge, skills and resources for consultation i.e. a ‘capacity’ to do it well (which considers the financial, training and development ‘angles’!).