Engagement Checklist Manifesto + A Question
by Jessica Delaney, Principal, Engagement + Strategic Communications
I recently finished Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande. Written by a surgeon looking to decrease medical errors and systemize a complex process, Gawande provides loads of evidence, research and stories to make anyone a believer in the power of a simple checklist.
There are some key take-aways from the book:
- With increasingly complexity comes the need to document steps to ensure consistency.
- The greater the complexity and number of people involved in a project – from a surgery to building a skyscraper – the more the need to de-centralize power and empower all team members to be vested in quality control, process and documentation.
- Every complex project or undertaking is made up of a number of small steps. If anyone of these small steps is compromised, the whole project suffers.
What does this have to do with engagement? Delaney delivers the IAP2 Foundations program which includes a five step, 21 activity approach to planning meaningful engagement. We always say that steps are linear and that a team-based approach is critical (because critical thinking in a group of one is challenging 😉). Engagement is not complicated. It is a series of planning steps that when done as a team in a step-wise approach, make sense and result in meaningful engagement.
So, my question? Does anyone have any interests in engagement checklists? Checklists could include:
- Checklists for specific techniques
- Planning checklists
- Evaluation checklists
- Others?
We are not surgeons, but we’d like to see fewer avoidable errors when it comes to engagement.
