Article by Grace Weltman posted on LinkedIn Posted September 19. 2014
People are your most treasured assets and resources. When you invest in others and work with them to develop solutions to problems they experience in their own communities, they become more engaged and vested. Effective public engagement leadership in the civic and public sector is not much different from what works in the business sector. Critical steps to solving complex problems that impact multiple people, organizations and systems include:
- Educating others about the issue or problem that needs to be solved. Provide and compile data and research currently available to help them better understand the scope and depth of the problem they are trying to address.
- Creating space and opportunities for people to brainstorm and provide feedback from their perspective. Let their stories and experiences define the challenges you are trying to address and the solutions needed to solve them.
- Communicating and listening in a manner in which people are seen as equal partners in developing solutions.
- Conducting an analysis of assets, opportunities, gaps, and needs to better define problems and target solutions with measurable outcomes.
- Providing problem solving tools, education on how to access and navigate resources, and team building processes are critical to helping them work collaboratively.
- Promoting regularly the progress of the team and illustrating the value of working together.
- Identifying the resources needed to effectively solve the problem being addressed.
- Developing an implementation strategy that will produce measurable results, promote accountability, inspire others to be part of the process, and leverage additional resources.
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