One of the best and most useful skills to develop in public engagement, facilitation, and conflict management is the ability to ask dialed in, compelling, clear, to-the-point, interesting questions. Great questions result in great answers, and questions that sound more like some kind of ham-fisted, bureaucratic interrogation usually get lousy or useless responses. For some… read more →
In the work that we do and in the classes that we teach, we increasingly run across people just starting out in this biz. Newer facilitators tend to be nervous about the idea of dealing with volatile situations and people with strong feelings on competing sides of issues. They’re usually looking for clear assurances, magic… read more →
A recent Pew research study finds that Americans tend to have a positive image of the work of research scientists (which is great news), but don’t think much of the ability of those scientists to communicate (which is entirely fixable). Once again, it corroborates what we’ve seen for years. Some of the best, smartest scientists, engineers and… read more →
If you’ve not yet read this, I’d encourage you to do so. Matt Leighninger and Quixada Moore-Vissing summed up the current state of affairs nicely in this paper from Public Agenda. As they said, “When citizens do not feel their voices matter, particularly when they have made the effort to consciously engage, it can breed… read more →
Are You Informed? If you’re at all familiar with the International Association of Public Participation (IAP2) Public Participation Spectrum, you know that the listed range of public influence level categories begins with ‘Inform’. And if you learned about the Spectrum from a licensed IAP2 instructor, you should also have learned that just ‘informing’ people, in… read more →
Facilitation Tips and Belonging to a Gang? I belong to a motorcycle gang. I’m also in a bicycle club. I never go to the meetings, I don’t actually know many of the other respective members, and I don’t usually see them unless we meet on the road, but we have a bond and a code… read more →
What is Normal? A constantly changing normal is the new normal. When you think about it, you realize that time changes all of us and makes the previously odd or out of place common and more acceptable. Consider fashion, music, or attitudes about right, wrong, fairness or honesty. Change happens, and people and their values… read more →
Does Good Governance Require Care? Melania Trump went to the border to look at the kids several days ago and wore a jacket with the above word graphic on the back. The rest of us are left to wonder; was it supposed to be a statement of solidarity, a protest, another distraction, a nothing-burger –… read more →
Risk Communication Training in Action The Participation Company recently had the honor to be involved in workshop facilitation and share their risk communication training with the Los Angeles District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and their local agencies responsible for levee operations and maintenance. As excerpted from the NHWC newsletter: As part of the transformation… read more →
A Strategic Communications Plan Would Have Avoided Conflict A lack of communication by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) appears to have been a key factor in U.S. District Judge Gloria Navarro’s decision to dismiss charges filed by the federal government against Cliven Bundy earlier this year. A clearly written and followed strategic communications… read more →