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CHAPTER 12: SPECIFIC GOOD PRACTICE AND LESSONS LEARNED
Throughout the previous Chapters, examples of good practice and specific lessons have emerged in relation to both the consultation exercise and the evaluation. This final Chapter aims to harness the most important examples and key lessons and present them together for ease of reference.
12.1 GOOD CONSULTATION PRACTICE
12.1.1 Using Existing Expertise
Section 5.2 identified several bodies within the Scottish Executive from which the consultation team had sought advice in planning the consultation. The bodies they consulted: Outward Focus Team in the Changing to Deliver Division, Civic Participation and Consultation Research Team, Public Bodies Unit and the Policy Skills Team - were cross-cutting and provided not only valuable advice on this occasion, but also provide a mechanism for good consultation practice and useful experience to be shared between different parts of the Scottish Executive in the future.
12.1.2 Preparation for Conflict Management
Consultations, by their nature, bring out in the open conflicting, and sometimes fairly entrenched, opposing views. Face-to-face methods such as that used here risk difficult head-on tensions between different parties over specific topics of conflict. This consultation demonstrated that such scenarios can be prepared for, and the risk minimised, in a variety of ways. On this occasion, time invested in early bilateral discussions with key players enabled the team to identify potentially contentious issues (Section 6.6.1). The team was also firm on what was within and what was outwith the scope of the consultation. It permitted views to be aired without judging or intervening where conflicts began to emerge, and deliberately tabled difficult topics for discussion at points in the consultation process (Section 6.6.2), thus gaining some control over the timing of the most "difficult" debates. These strategies all contributed to averting a degree of conflict, making people less defensive and more likely to listen to other perspectives.
12.1.3 Facilitation of "Networks of Dialogue"
One dimension deliberately factored into the consultation process was to encourage consultees to establish a dialogue not just with the consultation team but also with each other. In this way consultees began to appreciate other perspectives and were able to identify others with similar organisational structures and challenges. The new opportunities for networking provided by the consultation were appreciated and valued by consultees (Section 6.7.1), with the new liaisons constituting one of the lasting outcomes of the exercise. This provides an example of good practice in planning a consultation in a way which created "networks of dialogue", thus creating conditions for a richer and more balanced contribution from individual consultees.
12.1.4 Early Inclusion of Participants in the Context of "Difficult" Topics
It was interesting to note the positive comments from consultees who had taken part in the consultation process from the start, in terms of the advantages they felt they had gained such as increased confidence and readiness to contribute at later stages (eg Section 6.7.2). In terms of good practice, the early inclusion of specific parties in the consultation process may be particularly beneficial in circumstances where the topic is challenging (eg difficult/complicated concepts; controversial; hard to effect in practice). In this case, the consultation team reported variable levels of understanding by different organisations, and the involvement of selected bodies on a one-to-one basis early on appeared to reap benefits.
12.1.5 Capitalise on Findings from Each Stage
Related to 12.1.4 above, it was noteworthy that care taken by the consultation team in building each stage of the consultation upon the foundations laid in the previous stage enabled added value to be gained and helped to keep consultees on board (eg Section 6.7.3).
12.1.6 Sharing the Load
Despite emerging as an effective element of the consultation exercise, the bi-lateral meetings were resource intensive for the consultation team. The team adopted a useful and simple approach to managing this challenge. The burden of meetings was shared between a group of consultation officials, all working to the same core discussion framework (Section 7.1.5). Following the meetings, findings were logged on a shared database in a systematic fashion.
12.1.7 Sector-Specific Seminars
The decision to host sector-specific seminars, rather than grouping them according to size of organisation or another categorisation, was successful. In particular this appeared to promote beneficial synergies and encouraged participants to exchange ideas and network. Sector-specific seminars helped discussion to flow amongst people with a shared understanding of issues (Section 8.3.2; Section 8.4.1).
12.2 LESSONS LEARNED FOR FUTURE CONSULTATIONS
12.2.1 Contribution of Internal Facilitators
On this occasion, the consultation team sought facilitation resources from within the Scottish Executive. Section 5.3 demonstrated the relative costs had these skills been sourced out-house. The evaluation showed that the internal facilitation of the seminars was rated relatively highly by participants. A lesson learned from this experience is that internal facilitators' input can be valuable, of a high standard and cost-effective. In addition, benefits of knowledge transfer between facilitators and their contribution to the Scottish Executive's consultation skills or "consultation capital bank" were extra advantages of this approach.
12.2.2 Promoting Representation
It transpired during the evaluation (Section 6.1) that different participants demonstrated different levels of representation of their respective organisations. Whereas some were supported by their Board or Chief Executive and provided a corporate input, others were more isolated within their organisation in terms of pursuing the agenda of the consultation alone. A lesson for future consultations is to respect and acknowledge this diversity, and consider ways to assist those participants who have been placed in the position of lone Champion within their organisation, to galvanise wider "buy-in" and support.
12.2.3 Promoting Higher Attendance Levels
The evaluation provided useful information on why potential participants fail to show up at consultation events on the day. Section 6.2 listed reasons given for non-attendance. These include both controllable and non-controllable influences. Focusing on the controllable elements suggests the benefit of stressing to potential participants the advantages to be gained from attending; and ensuring that the pre-event briefing is professional and informative enough to attract people to attend.
12.2.4 Frequency of Meetings
One aspect of the deliberative, discursive approach adopted for this consultation was the need for several meetings of the same group of participants (external reference group) in quick succession. This proved to be problematic for some participants especially those from small organisations (Section 6.4). It is recommended that this potential problem is given further consideration in future consultations using similar approaches. For example, it may be possible for a core of the whole group to meet each time, with others meeting spasmodically to discuss particular topics, or greater use could be made of virtual meetings depending on the nature of the topics for discussion.
12.2.5 Providing a Variety of Consultation Formats
It emerged through the evaluation that various consultees had concerns about presenting their perspective, getting their voice heard and having the confidence to express and argue their view within the context of large consultation events. One key lesson from this consultation was that different event formats suit different consultees, with some happier in one-to-ones and others appreciating the wider arena of group discussions. A consultation such as the Best Value exercise, which incorporates different response formats and contexts, is more likely to accommodate these different needs than one which focuses on one particular consultation approach.
12.2.6 Allowing Consultees a Say in the Agenda
The consultation team agreed to adopt what they viewed as a possible "risky" approach of allowing consultees to set the agenda for topics for discussion at the stakeholder seminars. The lesson learned in this consultation was that despite the earlier reservations of the team, consultees did in fact raise the issues which the consultation team had seen as priorities for discussion, with the topics discussed overlapping across different seminars (Section 8.1.1).
12.2.7 Duration of Events
A deliberate decision was taken to limit the stakeholder seminars to half-day events. With hindsight, the consultation team felt that the half-day format had compromised the time available for in-depth discussion (Section 8.1.2; Section 8.4.2), a view endorsed by participants (Section 8.2.1), with a full-day programme seen as more appropriate.
12.2.8 Importance of Small Group Discussions
The stakeholder seminars comprised several elements including a relatively sophisticated group voting procedure. However, from views provided by participants, the most successful aspects of the seminars were the conventional break-out groups which provided opportunities for clarification of concepts, in-depth discussion and valuable networking (Section 8.2.2). This finding indicates the key importance of smaller group discussions within the framework of consultations of this nature.
12.2.9 Attention to Detail
The responses from participants at the stakeholder seminars demonstrate the importance of ensuring key planning details are not overlooked (Section 8.2.3; Section 8.2.5). For example, participants were particularly aware of the hierarchical level of Scottish Executive officials in attendance at their seminar and indeed, the role played by such officials at their event. They noted the time spent on different elements of the seminars and were frustrated at any aspects which they considered wasted time. These examples show that attention to such practical details can reap rewards in promoting positive perceptions of the consultation amongst participants.
12.2.10 Proactivity in Generating Practical Solutions
Although the stakeholder seminars were intended to promote discussion of practical solutions, they failed, by and large, to draw this out. A lesson learned was that should finding practical solutions be one aim of such events, the facilitators and presenters need to be much more proactive in encouraging this focus, with exercises designed specifically to produce this outcome (Section 8.3.3; Section 8.4.1).
12.2.11 Parameters for Presentations at Events
When using internal and external officials to make introductory presentations, a lesson learned from this consultation was that the organisers need to provide very clear parameters in terms of focus of presentation, length of presentation, and aims of presentation, perhaps with drafts of the proposed presentations discussed prior to the events (Section 8.3.3).
12.2.12 Take Care Not to Trivialise the Process
On a practical note, care should be taken to ensure any consultation activities do not detract from the consultation process by appearing amateurish, ineffective or trivial. For example there were mixed views on whether the use of post-its on wall charts, group votes, or asking participants to set ground-rules were beneficial or perhaps off-putting to the more senior managers in attendance (Section 8.3.3; Section 8.4.2). Consultation teams should consider all angles of such approaches in terms of what might go wrong, whether the risk is one worth taking, and how the activity might appear to participants of different levels of seniority.
12.2.13 Agreeing Roles for Scottish Executive Officials at Consultations
The roles of Scottish Executive officials in attendance varied between seminars, serving sometimes to facilitate, and at other times, it could be argued, hamper free-flowing exchanges (Section 8.4.2). It is suggested that greater consideration should be given to the precise role to be adopted for any Scottish Executive official attending such events and that participants are informed of these respective roles at the start of the event.
12.3 REFLECTIONS ON THE EVALUATION
Finally, it is useful to sum up aspects of the evaluation which worked well and any lessons which could be taken away from the exercise.
12.3.1 Need for the Evaluation to be Flexible and Accommodating
The consultation process was to some extent fluid and responsive to emerging needs (although working within an overarching consultation framework). Some changes were made in timetable and in the nature of consultation events planned as the process moved on. The evaluation was as accommodating as possible to allow for such changes and ensure that all aspects of the consultation were assessed using appropriate research tools. It is suggested that evaluators of consultations should build in flexibility to their schedules to permit a degree of change in the consultation approach to develop. The level of flexibility required can be discussed with the client prior to commencing the evaluation. This will also help the client to appreciate the needs of the evaluator and evaluation in addition to the requirements of the consultation.
12.3.2 Benefits of Running the Evaluation Alongside the Consultation
Related to 12.3.1 above, the evaluation benefited from running alongside the consultation (rather than taking place some time afterwards). Figure 2 in Section 3.1 demonstrates the timing of thee evaluation in relation to the consultation. In this way, key respondents to the evaluation were still closely involved in the process and were able to provide informed feedback at each stage. In addition, the evaluation was able to generate relatively high response levels and in-depth views which may not have been achieved had the research taken place at a later date.
12.3.3 Evaluations to Aim for Holistic View
This evaluation demonstrated that in addition to informing the consultation, wider benefits of participant involvement can accrue in terms of personal gains and organisational gains (Section 10.5). Future evaluations should ensure that they gather evidence on such additional impacts in order to present a holistic view of both the narrow and wider longer term effects of consultations.
12.3.4 Establishing Benchmarks
The evaluation was useful in establishing appropriate and simple benchmarks, such as attendance rates for the seminars, which can serve as comparative data and can be used as guidance for those planning similar consultation activities in the future.
12.3.5 Maintaining Records of Research Tools for Future Use
All research tools such as questionnaires and interview schedules have been provided with the report of the evaluation in order that future evaluators can view the previous evaluation framework fully and adapt this to suit their particular circumstances.
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