Consultation can be really frustrating for all involved.

The vast majority of public servants want to do a good job and understand that effective consultation can help. And, the vast majority of public stakeholders want to be consulted. So, why do we so often end up feeling frustrated and what could be another way forward ?

I think the key question is often who gets to set the agenda ? Is consultation something that gets done to people or is it a genuine attempt to understand better the real world of what’s going on for people, what matters for them and to work out between us how best we can make progress together ?

I have been helping with consultation lately on a lot of big things, including National Building Renovation Strategy, a National Architectural Policy and Wellbeing in Education and I feel something is shifting (at least with the people I am working with!). I am meeting more public servants who are more open (less defensive) and more people in civil society who want to work in partnership with government (less attacking) – the consequence is more trust, more possibilities and more and better solutions.

The current ‘jewel in the crown’ of my work on consultation is BEACONS (Bringing Education Alive for our Communities On a National Scale) – watch the video !!

“A trusting safe space to have a conversation about what’s important to them”

Working with the Teaching Council and the Burren College of Arts and others, we have pretty much dropped agendas altogether and opened up to listen and pay attention to where the potential for positive change lies.

The approach seems to be catching on. Stakeholders love being heard and understood. Policy people love hearing first hand experiences and being able to test ideas safely.

Critical ingredients include:

• listening to whatever people want to say
• positively welcoming diversity, as helping us get better at what we need to do
• valuing that lots of people are doing lots of good things already
• making sure that conversations visibly link to action wherever possible

We have a lot further to go. If you are finding consultation frustrating / otherwise challenging, maybe get in touch and join us on the path ?