Project Consultation
Quality communication and engagement
Essential to project success
Consultation with the community enables skilled project leaders to understand community desires and priorities, enabling the delivery of successful and beneficial projects that are tailored to their community and context. The process builds strong, positive, and trusting relationships with key stakeholders early, making the project run more smoothly, generating higher quality and more user-friendly project outcomes.
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Without consultation, project teams are unable to clarify potentially incorrect project assumptions or innovate in alignment with community need and desires. If assumptions are incorrect it can lead to missed opportunities, project delays and additional project costs. In extreme circumstances, it can also lead to negative project sentiment which prevents a project from being able to progress.
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Fundamentally, consultation is a risk mitigation tool, ensuring the investment made in a project isn’t wasted. Leveraging community feedback to shape project decision making ensures that projects and developments are planned in line with the insight and advice of those in the know. It allows skilled project leaders to clarify assumptions and make informed and strategic decisions throughout project delivery, and results in more user-friendly outcomes, increased likelihood of development approvals, and supports community acceptance of projects.
Research shows that early engagement in project planning:
Reduces the risk of community-led project delays or moth-balling
Increases community
buy-in and anticipation for project benefits
Elevates focus on the end user driving benefit creation
Helps manage community expectations early
Reduces community impacts through informed planning
Our approach
Elevate Engagement creates and implements consultation strategies which earn social licence, creating connection between decision makers, and those impacted by the decisions, and allowing genuine project intent to be seen and felt by the communities they are supporting.​
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We employ a place-based approach, seeking to understand the connection of people in the surrounding area to the proposed project. Our approaches provide community members opportunities to have their say, and where appropriate, to be part of the ongoing conversation. We consult in good faith and strive to create a sense of optimism with appropriate control and contribution for community members.​
When consultation concludes we present consultation findings in an open, clear, and transparent and way, demonstrating to the community that their concerns are understood, and enabling project leaders to use findings to set a clear strategic direction for the project.
Our services
Stakeholder analysis
Comprehensive stakeholder mapping and analysis to identify key stakeholders and their needs.
Strategy development
Development of tailored engagement strategies to effectively communicate project objectives, gain support, and address concerns.
Action planning
Creation of customised communication and engagement plans to ensure consistent and targeted messaging.
Content development
Development of targeted, impactful, and well-designed communication materials.
Implementaion
Implementation of communication strategies across various channels, including traditional and digital platforms
Workshopping and facilitation
Skilled facilitation of meetings, workshops, information sessions, and community forums to encourage open dialogue and collaboration.
Relationship management
Development and implementation of long-term relationship management strategies to foster positive stakeholder engagement.
Reporting
Development of clear reporting which summarises the information provided by the community during the consultation process.
Evaluating effectiveness
Undertake regular evaluation to understand the effectiveness of strategies.