Every month I am confronted with having so much to share, and never enough space to do so!
So this month I will try to cover multiple topics under a common prominent denominator- communications, community consultation and engagement.
The past 4 weeks as an example has seen proposed flights paths and a potential clinic closure that residents were unaware of, and consultation on Bills limited to 14 days for stakeholders to respond, which I highlighted in an Adjournment speech in Parliament. What did I say? We have a problem.
In an era of multiple forms of notification, why are many not receiving, prepared to receive, or sending via the right form of transmission? Let’s look at what successful communication requires. A sender, and a receiver – both requiring clarity, reception (a hot topic in itself!) and an agreed effective method of transmission. The way we ‘send’ has become vast in comparison to my early years which consisted of ‘snail’ mail, traditional media, telephone (the dial variety!), noticeboards, flyers, banners, hard copy newsletters…and no, not smoke signals!. We now have those plus much, much more. Facebook, FB messenger, email, Twitter, SMS, Instagram, digital newsletters, online discussion portals…the list goes on, and I use all in order to share information. And yet, we still have, in multiple realms, a communications failure, at all levels of community and government. There are many reasons given when I speak with residents, including the vast volume of information, misinformation, lack of clarity, vested interests and outright fallacies that are creating mayhem within our ability to sort through, trust, and figure out what is relevant. If something is not personally addressed – it is delegated to the bin, virtual or otherwise. With the volume in all inboxes this is not a surprise – ‘spam’ was much better in the tin? So have we through multi-communications become overwhelmed, and in turn averse to communicating? Has our own internal ‘cable’ become clogged, and as a by-product, we are not open to receiving, or seeking relevant information?
Reaching out is resource intensive, especially when there is multiple forms, and not effective if we have become non receptive through sheer overload. The question is, how do we create an effective communication form that all residents will engage with, or at least read, in order to ensure our community is informed? There is nothing worse than to hear those words – ‘we did not know’. It is a dilemma, and one at a recent public meeting that was highlighted. As attendees pointed out, for those not online, or prepared to provide email addresses or mobile numbers, even to credible sources – do we need to head ‘back to the future’ and communicate via addressed ‘snail’ mail? An expensive method, and not possible for the majority, including community groups. One form that we saw demonstrated this month that was very effective with a location specific issue was where committed individuals ‘formed and stormed’ – through commitment of time, research, and thousands of hand delivered flyers. As a by-product, 3 new community organisations were ‘born’ in record time and with record numbers, and regardless of the outcome, is testimony to what can be achieved through one of the most powerful forms of consultation – ‘community communication’.
The collective voice – fabulous!
Until next time
Sandy
