Optimizing Community Engagement

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• Optimizing Community Engagement
• Business Challenge Group
• August 24, 2011 300 p.m. 430 p.m. EST

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Objectives for this call

• Better understand cross-functional team
  (internal) implications of what is learned from
  community conversations
• Understand how to theme and use (both internal
  and external) information from community
  conversations
• Introduce more Harwood tools to support community
  engagement and use of public knowledge

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Agenda for the Call

• Welcome and Introductions
• Highlights of online activity since last call
• Review of Julys call summary and homework
• Group discussion cross-functional implications
  of community conversation information
• Themes from community conversations how to
  organize and use the information
• Peer sharing Toledos use of community
  conversation information
• Three new Harwood tools
• Homework assignment

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Review July Call Agenda and Summarize Key Points
from the July Call

• Welcome and Introductions
• Overall objectives for the business challenge
  groups
• Specific objectives for the Optimizing Community
  Engagement
• Framework (pathways) for community engagement
• Group conversation what has been learned from
  community conversations and how has the
  information been used
• Harwood tools for the future
• Homework assignment

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Review Online Activity

• Why using the online Groupsite is important
• What information is included on the site
• How to easily navigate the site
• How has the site been used since our last call
  what important learning and sharing is occurring
• What to expect between now and the next call

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Review homework for this call

• Have a cross-functional meeting of your
  leadership team (including CEO) to discuss what
  you have learned from community conversations
  including implications for communications,
  resource development, and work in the community
• Engage at least one board member to participate
  in a community conversation

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Questions for group discussion

1. What are you hearing from community conversations
   that potentially could affect the way work is
   done in your United Way?
2. How is your cross-functional team learning from
   community conversationswhat process is in place
   for sharing the information?
3. What did you learn from your cross-functional
   team discussion regarding the implications of
   community conversations for the way work is done
   within your organization?

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• What is public knowledge?
• Why gain public knowledge?

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The 3As of Public Life

• Accountability
• Authority
• Authenticity

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Using community conversations to gain public
knowledge

• Note Taking Tool (pgs. 15 16)
• Ask yourself during conversations or immediately
  after
• 1. What kind of community do people want? What
  are their aspirations?
• 2. In talking about their concerns, what do
  people really care about? What words do they use?
  What issues do they connect together?
• 3. Whats going well and not so well in the
  community?
• 4. What do people want education to be like? What
  are their aspirations for education?
• 5. How does education help to get the kind of
  community people want?
• 6. Whats going well, or not so well in regards
  to education?
• 7. How do people talk about education? What words
  do they use?
• 8. How did education touch these people
  personally? What gave people a sense of
  possibility that things can be better, or
  different?
• 9. What did people believe could be done to
  improve education? Who do people believe needs to
  act to improve education? Whom do they trust?
• 10. What questions do people still have? What
  follow up do people want?

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Identifying themes

• Pull together a small group of those who led or
  listened to the conversations
• Look for patterns, and listen for themes across
  the conversations
• Identify someone to lead this discussion
• Use examples from conversations to provide
  concrete examples as you talk
• Have the Note Taking sheets handy for this
  conversation.
• As you talk, record your thoughts. Label your
  findings under
• Themes
• Tensions
• Ambivalence
• Language

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Identifying Themes Questions (pg. 17)

• What, if any, common themes do you see across the
  conversations?
• How are peoples comments connected or related?
• Around which areas does agreement seem strongest?
  Why?
• What, if any, tensions are emerging?
• Why are these tensions important?
• How do people in the conversations resolve them,
  if at all?
• Where do people seem ambivalent, or torn?
• Why are they torn? What are they torn between?
• How do people talk?
• What language do people use?
• What emotions do they convey?
• What quotes or anecdotes capture the flavor of
  what people are saying?

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Public Knowledge Keys

• ISSUES OF CONCERN
• ASPIRATIONS
• SENSE OF PLACE
• SOURCES
• PEOPLE
• CIVIC PLACES
• STEREOTYPES TO WATCH

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Share What Youve Learned!

• With others in United Way
• With participants
• With important stakeholders
• With the public

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Building relationships with conversation
participants

• What is needed?

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United Way of Greater ToledoCommunity
conversations and public knowledge

• Bill Kitson, President and CEO 
• Sarah Gill, Vice President for Engagement
• Community conversations
• Role and importance
• Theming
• Blending of public knowledge with expert and
  quantitative data for decision-making 
• Internal and external changes
• How the information has been shared back with
  participants
• Has it led to more advocates, volunteers, or
  givers?

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Other Harwood tools for future use

• Community Rhythms The Stages of Community Life
• The Public Capital Framework

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Public Capital Framework A way to see and think
deeply about the realities of communities

• An Abundance of Social Gatherings
• Organized Spaces for Interaction
• Boundary Spanning Organizations
• Safe Havens for Decision Makers
• Strong, Diverse Leadership
• Informal Networks and Links
• Conscious Community Discussion
• Community Norms for Public Life
• A Shared Purpose for the Community

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Homework for next meeting

• Use the tools introduced in todays call
• Note taking tool
• Themeing questions
• Public Knowledge Keys audit
• Public Capital audit

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Brief assessment of this meeting

• What worked?
• What would we change for next time?