conflict

CONFLICT AHEAD? 3 BIGGEST MISTAKES AND WHAT TO DO INSTEAD

CONFLICT AHEAD? 3 BIGGEST MISTAKES AND WHAT TO DO INSTEAD

Conflict - generally feared and constantly mismanaged, it’s one of the biggest challenges you will face in engagement. It’s also the most common challenge our subscribers submit to us. If you anticipate conflict, outrage or emotion ahead, this article is for you. Inside - how to avoid the three biggest errors we see made (and they are made a lot) and some simple, yet effective things you can do instead to navigate the situation instead of making it worse.

10 TIPS FOR ENGAGING THROUGH DIFFICULT TIMES & HIGH ANXIETY

10 TIPS FOR ENGAGING THROUGH DIFFICULT TIMES & HIGH ANXIETY

Facing community crises at any time is difficult. When there are ‘concurrent crises’ it makes it even more challenging and complex to respond and engage.

Community members can feel disturbed, frightened or anxious. At the same time, organisations are also grappling with how to adjust, change and continue to move forward. There is value in continuous connections.

For those who missed our first ‘continuous connections’ webinar, we’ve pulled our top 10 tips for engaging through difficult times & working with high anxiety into a free, downloadable resource.

DILEMMA DISCUSSED: ‘HOSTILE’ AUDIENCES & HIGH EMOTION

DILEMMA DISCUSSED:  ‘HOSTILE’ AUDIENCES & HIGH EMOTION

This post tackles a big, scary dilemma – conflict, outrage and emotion.  We’re often asked for advice around this topic, because it’s something that worries many people in the engagement space -  even experienced practitioners and facilitators.

Partly, this fear is underpinned by a lack of ‘tools’ or skills. So, we’re going to give you some tips to help you prepare for and/or work with conflict, outrage and emotion in a meaningful way. 

Because it’s a big, difficult topic, we’re going to address it in two parts:  Part one (this post) is about how to plan for it, and in part two (next month) we’ll talk about what to do if you walk into it unexpectedly.   

#MONTHLYMYTH: DISTRUST IS DUE TO A LACK OF UNDERSTANDING

#MONTHLYMYTH: DISTRUST IS DUE TO A LACK OF UNDERSTANDING

Our May #MonthlyMyth focuses on an assumption that is often made about the community by managers, project leads and technical 'experts'.  

Statements like "if only they understood X, Y or Z, they would see we were right!" are an indication of a potentially risky, yet common assumption that community opposition or distrust is based on ignorance or incapacity.