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ENGAGEMENT STRATEGY DEVELOPMENT

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CLEAR PROCESSES THAT HELP YOU GET THE STRATEGY YOU NEED TO LEAD YOUR ENGAGEMENT & INVOLVEMENT.

Most strategies get written, ticked off, job done, then forgotten about. But a good strategy is so much more than that and gives engagement teams and organisations purpose and focus. This means that everything you do can read back to the core objectives and have maximum impact.

We help you to write the strategy you need so that you have a clear direction, with organisational approval and commitment, that frees you to deliver to the engagement and involvement work within a framework that is well-evidenced, has clear objectives, and, most importantly, is deliverable.

PROCESS

GOVERNANCE & FRAMEWORK

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ACTIVITATION

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Governance & framework

For some, this may be the boring bit, but it can't be skipped.

We want to understand your processes for approval map your governance process, along with identifying your key stakeholders - those who have something vital to share, and those who you need on board to get it approved or delivered.

Setting this out clearly means we all understand the process, the people, the pitfalls and the opportunities.

What we offer:

  • Strategic advice on the best way to successfully navigate the development from start to finish

What this means for you:

  • An easier governance and approval journey

  • Buy in from key people right from the start, whether that is directors, board members, councillors, patient groups, or the community

Discovery

The research phase: a review of where you are now, and where you need to be.

Let's look at your current strategy and any related documents. What are the other important documents or guidance that needs to be considered. What exists elsewhere and what do you like and/or dislike.

What we offer:

  • Rapid review of existing information

  • Research into what works well elsewhere

  • Time with the team to understand how it works with the current strategy

What this means for you:

  • No need to think of everything and join all the dots - an easier, and outside perspective

Visioning

Discovering where we want to be

Engagement is as engagement does, and without involving people, an engagement strategy will always struggle for credibility.

However, it takes time and commitment to spending time with people, asking probing questions, and most importantly, listening intently to what is said, to bring people on the journey of strategy development with you. We do this. Using research methodologies. Taking the pressure off you. And when we have collected and collated all the info, we check back that we have heard correctly. This isn't design by committee, it is involvement in action.

What we offer:

  • Interviews and workshops with key stakeholders

  • Engagement on dreams, objectives, important requirements, the impossibilities

  • A sense check of what we have heard

What this means for you:

  • A better evidenced and more supported strategy based on what really matters

Showcase

Drafting, sharing, re-drafting

Everything we have learnt comes together into the first draft of the strategy - on your template, with your branding, and already set up for accessibility software. We will present it to you first, your team, and then host a stakeholder workshop for feedback. This is inevitably followed by a redraft and then, the showcase.

We will be there with you with the assets you need to showcase your strategy through the governance process - overview presentations and cover sheets included.

What we offer:

  • Drafting and redrafting

  • Stakeholder workshop(s) to continue bringing people with you

  • The assets you need, when you need them

  • Support throughout approval and governance as required

What this means for you:

  • You have the documents you need in the format you need them

  • You know your strategy has the buy in from key people

  • You have a publication ready document

  • You have support every step of the way

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Activation

Time to implement

We don't just cut and run when the strategy is developed. We make sure you have the tools you need to activate the strategy, including that the team understand it, that you have a presentation you can take to other teams, and - if required, that you have a plan to sit alongside the strategy with a standard reporting template.

This means that your strategy can live and breath, not just sit in a file being ignored.

What we offer:

  • Support with turning your strategy into an actionable plan

  • Resources to help you report and evaluate implementation

  • Assets to help you inform others about the strategy

  • We give you everything we have produced, no questions asked, no difficulties raised

What this means for you:

  • Your strategy actually means something

  • Your team and your organisation know exactly what you are trying to achieve with your engagement and why

  • You can keep track of implementation and impact

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Why Open Voice Lab?

We have experienced good strategies, and the bad. We know the difference.

  • We specialise in making your engagement strategy implementable.

  • We practice what we preach and deliver engagement as part of the development.

  • We give you the time and support that the task needs, so it is another job off your list, but given the attention it deserves.

We’re here to make your life easier — and your strategy better.

Get in touch

If you don’t see exactly what you’re looking for here, we bring extensive experience across communications, marketing and engagement. Get in touch to discuss your requirements or book a 30-minute introductory conversation.

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