In my ongoing research I recently fell over Sherry Arnstein’s “A Ladder of Citizen Participation” that has managed to be referenced some 2538 times since it was initially published in 1969. If it’s new to you too, I recommend a read, it’s very “sixties” and sent me back to my more idealistic youth, but the “ladder” is still highly appropriate.
There’s a little bit of background to the late Sherry Arnstein by David Wilcox at Partnerships Online.
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citizen, engagement, transformational change | Tagged: David Wilcox, Ladder of Citizen Participation, Partnerships Online, Sherry Arnstein | 
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Posted by greatemancipator
In his brief review of the new EU report, Value for Citizens, Gartner’s Andrea DiMaio, tempts the taste buds. He’s right in his criticisms but in a glossy twenty pages the authors can only be all things to all men and women.
For example, one of the classic recent arguments is how we manage e-governance in the traditional representative democracy, but the report suggests:
“Governments will empower local communities and localities, beyond formal politics and the ballot box, by promoting subsidiarity at local and neighbourhood level and interaction between policy makers and citizens. This leverages local resources, know-how and skills to develop new forms of political advocacy, social support and social capital and can serve to strengthen diverse cultures and interests as well as act as a bridge between them. ” (Page 13)
Great idea, but how? However, I can’t fail to agree with their take upon metrics:
“Performance monitoring of government services will move from the present top down, processdriven approach of setting targets and defi ning measurements towards a more user-centric and output-driven approach. Th is will incorporate more accountability of local needs and organise feedback loops involving front line staff and users of government services themselves. ” (Page 14)
Which is exactly my proposal!
1 Comment | citizen, e-government, engagement, Metrics, transformational change | Tagged: Andrea Di Maio, eu, Value for Citizens | Permalink
Posted by greatemancipator
At the moment I’m never quite sure whose job (in government) it is to analyse who uses different channels and why, but at least Ofcom cover the digital one. The latest report (20 March 2009), of 58 pages and 37 pages of annexes, presents interesting results and, as the Head of Ofcom is reported to have said at a presentation, comes in direct conflict with the Carter report – Digital Britain - and some of the spin coming from the centre.
Significant variables to online participation are economic group, qualifications and age and it is appearing that the Internet is both supplanting and replacing traditional channels, which is a worrying trend towards disenfranchisement!
What struck me was the section where it was highlighted that the greatest popularity for online activity was for giving views, getting in touch with elected representatives, joining organizations and taking part in surveys and consultations. This was reinforced by the fact that being invited to partake in online consultations was an effective trigger.
It is also clear that there is a desire for traditional channels to remain open, particularly for those without access to, confidence, or trust in the new ones.
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Posted by greatemancipator
Whilst I am encouraging the use of citizen feedback to bring about engagement and change, I think it sad when complaints reach the stage of ‘complaints culture’ as in the Singapore Complaints Choir or the orginal Helsinki one.
I can only assume their complaints weren’t observed or they were just a bunch of whingers…
Old Australian joke: Question – How do you tell when a airplane has landed full of poms (UK immigrants)? Answer – because it carries on whining after the engines have been turned off!
Without being totally anti-complainant there is a web site worth considering:
http://www.complaintexpert.co.uk/how-organisations-benefit-from-complaints.html
Along with a fairly lengthy private-sector publication from June 2008 from the Aberdeen Group available for download via the Clicktools site entitled: Customer Feedback Management – mind if I ask you a few questions - lots of ideas and actions to play with!
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Posted by greatemancipator
I was thinking further about ‘The many angles of multichannel service’, and whilst the workflow modelling may assist, the main requirement for it to be successful is an organizational culture that encourages feedback and, importantly, is seen to employ it.
The model I have proposed is effectively just that, a model. Due to the diversity of organizational structures, customer relationship management systems (CRM), content management systems (CMS), telephony systems and applications in use I don’t believe a standard middleware broker applicable at the current time, but who knows what may happen in the future?
However, certain applications can facilitate recording of feedback, transaction volumes and vary in complexity and cost. However, the main requirement is a corporate will for cultural change – the need to accept the variants on co-production as useful tools, the understanding that all channels need to operate sympathetically to each other, the need for staff supporting the different channels to cooperate.
There is also a requirement to understand citizen need prior to the establishment of the citizen engagement exchange. In terms of need, this may be expressed as understanding the citizen neighbourhood, educating and empowering them to advise, and comprehending the demographics.
Some private sector support for the above ideas can be found in reports by clicktools, particularly the one on “Why the annual ‘do you love us survey’ doesn’t work”, which may apply to the Place survey local authorities are expected to do?
Leave a Comment » | citizen, customer satisfaction, e-government, engagement, Metrics, NI 14, NI14, Systems thinking, transformational change | Tagged: clicktools, Place survey | Permalink
Posted by greatemancipator
You are currently browsing the The Great E-mancipator blog archives for March, 2009.
The blogger is Mick Phythian, a Research Associate at De Montfort University in Leicester, U.K. and IT Manager at Ryedale District Council in North Yorkshire, England. He is also a member of the Local CIO Council.
Any opinions expressed on this weblog are purely those of the author.
He is not the Great Emancipator! The Great Emancipator was President Abraham Lincoln. The blog is so-called because some people perceive e-government, transformational government or, heaven forbid, government to be the emancipator of us all...
