Having undertaken your stakeholder mapping (Link to: How to map your stakeholders), you’ll have identified those you want to invite to attend.
To recruit participants, you will need to consider how you will advertise this opportunity. It should be clear;
- What the purpose of the event is,
- When the event is and what platform you will be using,
- How long the event will last,
- What topics participants might be asked about,
- If they need to fit any criteria to participate (i.e. having accessed certain services recently),
- How you will recognise their contribution (i.e. will they be paid for their time/ reimburse in other ways) and,
- How their participation will influence the project.
For larger scale events (expecting 30+ people or open events like webinars), you might like to think about using a tool to manage the registration process for your event such as Microsoft Forms. This will give you a clear idea of how many people plan to attend, and it enables you to ask participants to supply demographic information, questions they would like to ask, and consent to record the session/ take photographs when they sign-up as well as sending them any information they need. Be mindful that some people may not feel comfortable signing up and providing this level of detail through a booking system, so consider alternative ways of people registering their interest.
Once participants express an interest, find out from them what adjustments they might need to fully participate in the event. This might include things like;
- Taking regular breaks if topics are emotive or traumatic,
- Enabling a support worker or advocate to attend the session with your participant,
- Arranging a translator or BSL interpreter,
- Supplying information about how to use any online video platforms/ technology they may need to engage with and
- Being able to signpost to support services if they feel triggered or upset by what the conversation has bought up for them.
Prepare participants for the conversation by:
- Confirming the event details and any preparation they need to do and,
- Explaining how the feedback will be collected and used.
- Confirming whether the session is being recorded
Getting consent
It’s important to anonymise feedback received so that individual participants cannot be identified. It is essential to get your participants permission if you want to;
- Take photographs/ videos of them,
- Make an audio recording of the conversation,
- Use their feedback to create a case study/ persona,
- Quote them directly and,
- Use any content on social media or in press releases, webpages, blogs, or in internal or external reports etc.
If you are working with children and young people under 18 you will need parental consent to work with them to begin with.
Working online
Since the pandemic, people have become more comfortable with joining online events. However, don’t assume people know how to access or use certain functions on the platform you are using. Be sure to explain these in your welcome at the event and consider sending a short guide to participants before they join.
Ensure you have tested all functions and applications well before the event, especially things like breakout rooms, so you are confident in how to use these. Use your session plan to outline a plan B to anticipate how you will deal with issues that might come up i.e., a presentation freezing, video not loading etc.
Think about how you will bring people into the conversation (both during the event and in breakout rooms) – will people need to raise their hand to speak, would you prefer them to comment in the chat? And, how will you facilitate so that everyone has an equal chance to speak?
Gauging people’s reactions can be more challenging online. It’s important to regularly check in with how people are feeling, particularly if the topic is sensitive/ traumatic.