If you have recently implemented EngagmentHQ in your organisation it's essential you continue to drive uptake of the platform to ensure good outcomes.
Driving uptake means getting the most out of your software, continued learning about online engagement as well as evaluation and benchmarking of your successes and failures.
In this article we look at five ways to continue to drive uptake of online engagement in your organisation
Prepare internal case studies and share experiences
One of the best ways to take your organisation on a journey following implementation of a new program is to share experiences and case studies.
If you have just started using EngagementHQ or even if you're an old-hat looking for further buy-in, sharing experiences is a valuable tool.
When sharing your experiences it's best practice to present them to your colleagues as case studies.
Case studies allow for easy digestion of complex programs and are designed to highlight success stories.
When framing an internal case study we suggest including the following;
A short explanation of the project and it's goals
Tell colleagues what you did (What was your process? Which tools did you use? What was special?)
Highlight the outcomes - you should seek to focus on the impact as well as the hard numbers.
Summarise the benefits of your approach and indicate where things could be improved
Invite others to get involved
Once you have developed your internal case study you should seek to spread it throughout your organisation as far as possible.
This might include posting on your company intranet, an announcement at regular team or department meetings, internal newsletters, printed posters around the office or you could even setup an internal showcase webinar.
Incentivise involvement - create champions
Motivating and driving uptake of online engagement can also be aided with the utilisation of Engagement Champions.
Utilising a team of self-nominated champions can help you embed online community engagement and also helps you achieve better overall results.
When setting up a team of Engagement Champions you should do the following;
Train them in engagement practice and methodology as well as EngagementHQ
Make sure they understand internal policies and processes around engagement
Ask them to help develop resources
Empower them with tools to influence and support their departments
Incentivise their involvement to keep them motivated. This might be as simple a regular free lunch catch-ups, awards for involvement or even recognition for volunteering at events.
Allow champions to lead projects
Provide them with freedom to experiment and trial different approaches to engagement
Using champions to help you drive uptake of online engagement also has the benefit of making engagement more visible throughout your organisation.
Embed engagement training in the organisation
One of the best ways to drive uptake of community engagement is to make it a part of your organisational culture.
In order to do this, we recommend utilising an ongoing training program to help reinforce your key messages.
If possible, developing a new staff on-boarding module on engagement is a great way to put your practice at the forefront of your staff culture.
For existing staff, developing a continued learning or professional development course about community engagement is another great way to make the practice more accessible.
Utilising internal communications and your champions is a great way to drive interest in these training programs.
Provide transparent and genuine opportunities for your community
A great motivator for staff to get behind an initiative is when they hear about the positive impact it's having on the community.
By providing your community with genuine and transparent opportunities to get involved and helping them see how their input is effecting decisions you can positively impact your staff by inspiring them with the successes of your engagements.
When you allow your community to take part in genuine consultations they are more likely to report their satisfaction with your processes.
This can have a positive effect on staff and motivate them to get involved in your program.
To put it simply, if your community trusts you and sees the value in what you are doing, then your staff will follow.
Integrate community engagement into your project management process/framework
One way to help drive uptake in engagement is to build it into your organisations project management framework.
By doing this, you insert community engagement as an essential component of all projects and by virtue, motivate your staff to learn more and take part in your engagement activities.
If your organisation takes this approach, it's essential that you have all of the training and procedural resources available to help colleagues execute their community engagement activities.
Online engagement should be utilised as a central component of any project management framework as it provides a centralised point of reference for all project information.
When integrating community engagement into your project management process/framework you should ensure the following;
There are clear guidlines on when engagement should occur
A framework for evaluating community input is outlined
Making online community engagement a part of business is the best way to help drive up take in your organisation.
If you would like more assistance or to discuss these ideas further, please contact support@engagementhq.com and we'll get you in touch with your local Engagement Manager.