1. Developing a User Involvement Strategy.
Vision 2020 UK Conference
June 24th 2004
Carola Bennion and Associates
CONSULTANCY IN SOCIAL POLICY, SERVICE EVALUATION AND RESEARCH
03/05/2019

2. Key elements of a User Involvement Strategy.
Element 1: Clarify and publicise your organisation’s commitment to user
involvement.
Element 2: Sustain a high profile commitment to user involvement.
Element 3: Develop an understanding of who your users are.
Element 4: Select a range of methods that will meet the commitment to user
Element 5: Ensure that user involvement makes a difference.
Carola Bennion and Associates: Developing a User Involvement Strategy.
03/05/2019

3. Key elements of a User Involvement Strategy - continued
Element 6: Develop a model for continually encouraging participation and
developing the involvement of users.
Element 7: Develop processes both for empowering users, and for supporting them to contribute effectively in decision making processes.
Element 8: Develop a programme of staff awareness raising, and addressing human resource issues relating to user involvement.
Element 9: Develop User Involvement Principles, Standards and a
Performance Management Framework.
Carola Bennion and Associates: Developing a User Involvement Strategy.
03/05/2019

4. Carola Bennion and Associates: Developing a User Involvement Strategy.
Why involve users?
To maximise the effectiveness of services and campaigns
To empower people
To develop accountability to users and visually impaired people.
Carola Bennion and Associates: Developing a User Involvement Strategy.
03/05/2019

5. Carola Bennion and Associates: Developing a User Involvement Strategy.
Levels of involvement.
Information – sharing ideas and plans about services, ensuring relevant information reaches users and carers, without having a dialogue with those receiving the information.
Consultation – entering into a “two way dialogue” with people, asking their views and advice on plans, policies and services, and while taking them into account, not necessarily acting on the comments received.
Participation – inviting people to have some impact on decision making processes, or giving delegated power to make decisions on specific issues.
Partnership – working as equals to set goals, make plans and decide funding priorities, including representation on public committees and planning groups, and involving people in an organisation’s way of working as a general feature rather than as a special arrangement.
Delegated control – giving authority and money to users and carers to plan and manage services (e.g. user and community run services).
Carola Bennion and Associates: Developing a User Involvement Strategy.
03/05/2019

6. Sustaining a high profile commitment to user involvement through:
A strong commitment to change and an openness to listening to users
The recruitment of a “change champion” with a role to facilitate development
A chief executive or other ‘active reformer’ who:
will act as a champion and be persistent
has a vision for user participation, with specific targets
is ready to experiment with structures and processes
tries different methods across the organisation
places issues on formal and informal agendas.
Carola Bennion and Associates: Developing a User Involvement Strategy.
03/05/2019

7. Making a public commitment to user involvement through:
Giving users greater prominence in the organisation
Making a public commitment to meet the costs of involving users
Using the views of users effectively when making decisions
Early successes and “quick wins”
Providing thorough and honest feedback on the results of consultation.
Carola Bennion and Associates: Developing a User Involvement Strategy.
03/05/2019

8. Relative impact of Action’s services on users’ quality of life.
(Potential users)
Users of Information & Advice Service
Users of Grants Service
Users of Hotels
Users of Employment Services
Workers in Factories
Users of Housing Services
Transient users
Stable users
Low impact
High Impact
Carola Bennion and Associates: Developing a User Involvement Strategy.
03/05/2019

9. Ways of getting involved: conducting a survey.
nil
Don’t bother to conduct the survey!
information
Once the main changes have been decided, ask users to complete a short questionnaire asking for their views on the decisions taken, using closed questions.
Decision already made.
No feedback provided.
consultation
Users asked to complete a detailed questionnaire seeking their views at the planning stage.
User views may have an impact on the decision if other constraints permit.
Feedback provided about the views of those consulted.
participation
Users involved in the planning, and content of the survey. Information shared about all constraints affecting the decision. Decision based on user preference if organisation’s constraints permit.
Detailed feedback on the results of consultation, and how those results have been used to change things.
partnership
Users equally involved in agreeing the purpose and execution of the survey. Constraints and priorities decided jointly through independent user group and staff. Users jointly agree on the impact of user preferences on the decision.
Detailed feedback provided on the results of consultation, and how those results have been used to change things.
delegated control
Users given authority and money and carers to plan and manage services. Decision to conduct survey made by users.
Decision based on user preference.
Carola Bennion and Associates: Developing a User Involvement Strategy.
03/05/2019

10. The Decision Principle:
All consultation should relate to a decision that you are intending to make, and that can be influenced by the result of that consultation.
Testing a proposed consultation against this principle makes sure that:
consultation can be designed so that it will inform the decision to be made
it is clear to consultees what they can change by responding to the consultation
clear feedback can be given to consultees on how their views were taken into account.
Carola Bennion and Associates: Developing a User Involvement Strategy.
03/05/2019

11. Empowerment and Support.
Personal development and empowerment
Information
Training and support for users to participate effectively in involvement initiatives.
Carola Bennion and Associates: Developing a User Involvement Strategy.
03/05/2019

12. Tips for putting the CON in Consultation.
Leave it too late.
Make sure that consulting people is an afterthought rather than the first step in taking decisions.
Have the important decisions already made.
If you know what you are going to do already you can give people the chance to make only small changes.
Ask your questions carefully.
A well worded question can make sure that you only get a positive response.
Don’t give any feedback after the consultation.
This is a good way of making sure people think what they say makes no difference.
Use the same people next time you consult.
This will save you time and money because they won’t bother responding, and you can say you tried.
Carola Bennion and Associates: Developing a User Involvement Strategy.
03/05/2019