Strategic Plan

Community Outreach and Communications Assessment (COCA)

Completed

Date Created:
March 2023

A group of people sit around a large conference table in a modern meeting room with large windows and natural light.

Community Engagement

Guided by the Community Outreach Framework, LTD is committed to transparent, meaningful, accessible community engagement around its projects, policies, and programs.

Guiding Principles
Essential Practices
Strategies & Tactics

Guiding Principles of Engagement

Style

The approaches LTD uses to engage with the public

LTD will foster engagements and commit to communications where both parties, such as LTD and stakeholders, actively participate in a conversation. It involves listening and responding to each other’s perspectives and ideas, fostering open and constructive communication. This type of dialogue is more likely to result in outcomes where all parties feel they have been heard and contributed, which is critical for success in the LTD service area.

LTD will make information and meetings easy to understand and attend, especially for people with disabilities or language proficiency. LTD will use plain language and host meetings that are physically and technologically accessible to ensure that everyone can participate. This will ensure that people feel on equal footing with LTD staff.

LTD and the community will be sure to treat one another with courtesy, dignity, and consideration, value and consider diverse perspectives, and maintain a respectful tone during interactions. LTD will also ensure they are making the most of public interactions and demonstrate that they value others’ time by scheduling discussions when and where attendance is likely to be higher and using that time efficiently. Finally, LTD will be culturally sensitive and consider the diverse needs of multiple groups with respect to interactions.

LTD and the community will both employ active listening, a communication skill where one focuses on understanding and empathizing with the speaker. Active listening means giving full attention, asking clarifying questions, and providing feedback to demonstrate that you genuinely care about what the other person is saying.

Content

The type of information provided to the public

LTD and the community will strive to be data-driven in engagement by using timely data and evidence to inform decisions and discussions, and analyzing and sharing that data collectively, enabling both LTD and the community to operate with the same level of information. This can include research on best practices and other helpful context.

LTD will maintain a clear and well-defined reason or objective for engaging with stakeholders. This will ensure that the goals of engagement are understood and communicated and align with desired mobility outcomes.

LTD and the community will be open and transparent with one another about the financial implications of decisions and choices. This will involve sharing information about budgets, expenses, and costs related to decisions, but also framing choices in terms of their financial tradeoffs.

LTD engagement will focus on achieving specific results or goals, rather than simply checking a box by completing the task. This orientation emphasizes the importance of measurable outcomes and impacts and enables greater clarity of thinking. It Is also intended to move us beyond the idea of completing “projects” and towards the idea of fostering better outcomes continuously.

Process

The methodology used in public engagement

LTD will provide a feedback loop as a method of effective engagement with consistent two-way engagement. This means instituting a mechanism for collecting, analyzing, and acting upon feedback from stakeholders, and then sharing how their input was considered and what changes or improvements were made in response.

LTD will embrace the concept of continuous improvement, which means an ongoing effort to enhance the quality and effectiveness of engagement practices over time. LTD and the community will learn from past experiences and adjust to improve outcomes over time. This includes using benchmarks and metrics to show progress.

LTD will work towards adaptable and timely engagement, meaning they will adjust strategies and approaches based on changing circumstances, feedback, or evolving community needs. LTD will endeavor to engage with stakeholders at the right moment, and as soon as feasible/prudent, ensuring that their input can influence decisions and actions when it matters most. LTD will also employ multi-pronged engagement by using a variety of methods, technology, and channels to reach and involve different segments of the community effectively.

Intent

The goals of public engagement

LTD will approach engagement with the aim of creating a genuine and significant benefit for the community and/or project involved. Meaningful engagement goes beyond token involvement and seeks to produce tangible results. Meaningful engagement requires honesty and transparency, being forthright, candid, and open in communication, providing accurate and timely information, and avoiding deception or confusion, all in the service of building trust.

A community-first mentality prioritizes the needs and interests of the community above other considerations. It places the well-being of the community at the center of engagement efforts. LTD will prioritize grassroots engagement, meaning they will focus on involving and empowering individuals, such as members of local community groups, to foster bottom-up participation and decision-making. LTD will ensure engagement is inclusive and diverse so that a wide range of perspectives, backgrounds, and experiences are represented and valued, including those that have been or continue to be challenging to reach, promoting equity and fairness in the process.

Essential Practices

At a minimum, the baseline standard of engagement requires:

Understanding the demographics of both Lane County and LTD riders
Using a stakeholder mapping exercise to think through how the interests, influence, and needs of various stakeholders may differ,
Developing a tailored approach to engagement that is supportive of these varying needs.

The purpose of stakeholder mapping is to think through how the interests, influence, and needs of various stakeholders may differ and require tailored engagement strategies and tools. Understanding demographics and conducting stakeholder mapping should be followed by considering the varying needs of those stakeholders. The practice entails considering what targeted outreach or strategy may be needed based on differing needs, addressing questions of purpose, assumptions, and inclusion.

Strategies & Tactics

Priority Strategies & Tactics

Engage Government Stakeholders

Engaging early and often with other government agencies, especially cities, could drive more positive outcomes for overall LTD engagement.

Get Out Ahead of the Story

LTD should diligently pursue earned media and push their message in the community long before a project begins.

Be Present with Riders

Riding the system, talking to people, and getting regular feedback will bring LTD top of mind in the community and demonstrate commitment to the public.

Engage Potential Opposition

Opposition can be effectively managed by building and maintaining relationships and trust among those who might be most likely to oppose any given project or initiative. Giving people advance notice, asking for their genuine feedback and what it would take to get them to support the project, and keeping them in the loop throughout the process can go a long way towards minimizing challenges.

Work to Build Trust

The greater the reservoir of trust between LTD and the community, the more effective everyone will be in achieving their goals.

Be there when there is no project or issue. This early engagement will be helpful to learn about community priorities and prepare neighborhoods for future engagement.
Assign an ambassador. This person can attend regular neighborhood meetings and create a presence within the community in case people have questions or need information.
Listen and co-create. The purpose of community engagement is not just to inform communities about projects, but to have a productive two-way dialogue. LTD should show up with the intention of working together to create an outcome and should consistently show how community feedback was incorporated.
Build on existing relationships. This can mean leaning on the LTD Board and
Leadership to show up to address specific concerns, but also partnering with local organizations to build trust and relationships, and pursuing opportunities to be more integrated with communities where possible.
Meet people where they are. LTD will need to go to where the people, riders, neighbors, and employees are for meeting locations. If possible, offer amenities and foster a service-oriented culture during community interactions to encourage sustained engagement. Use a cultural lens for communication and translate materials to ensure you are literally and figuratively speaking the language of those you wish to engage.

Engage in Collaborative, Honest, and Transparent Conversations

LTD will focus on creating meaningful engagements where they promote transparency and collaboration.

Don’t shy away from challenging conversations or sharing data or sensitive information, and address them directly. Being transparent maintains trust and helps lead to collaborative solutions.
Be clear about parameters for input. In any given engagement, LTD should set clear boundaries for the purpose of that effort to focus the conversation.
Be honest and transparent about what is realistic. Allowing a community to brainstorm solutions can be effective, but it is also important to set expectations about what can be accomplished. This helps focus on realistic solutions and builds trust.
Focus on community collaboration that builds a sense of pride in outcomes. Sustained collaboration can lead to a sense of ownership in whatever results from that effort.
Anticipate who may oppose or be critical and include them in early discussions. This can often include those who do not ride the system and may never envision themselves doing so, but their role is still critical.
Engage city and government partners to help come up with solutions. Other government partners can be powerful allies and should be part of the engagement process.

Communicate Clearly What People Need to Hear

LTD will communicate consistently and clearly but will also focus on telling people what they need to hear. This means more than just basic information about an initiative but also explaining why things are being done, dealing with misinformation, and educating people about everything LTD does.

Offer opportunities to educate constituents on the planning and budget processes. Offering quick tutorials on these processes can help create allies who understand the parameters in any given engagement.
Regularly communicate finances. LTD will make it part of their practice to communicate financial information and budget performance.
Talk about why. All initiatives have a larger purpose, and this should be reiterated and reinforced with every touch point. This helps to keep everyone focused on solutions rather than obstacles.
Address misinformation quickly. LTD will try to stay ahead of this issue by consistently presenting facts and keeping them simple and straightforward.

Focus on Riders

LTD must focus on its core mission when it conducts outreach. The core service LTD provides is primarily intended to benefit its riders. The rest of the community must also be included (see above) but present and future riders should be the focus.

Use the Umo app as an engagement tool. The Umo app that LTD currently uses has features for community engagement, including surveys, polling, and route-based messaging. LTD will use these tools as a strategic method of engaging existing riders.
Go to the riders (and future riders). It is critical for LTD to meet their riders and potential riders where they are. Some tactics for doing so include intercept surveys, where LTD can go to a pre-existing community meeting, and on-board surveys, where LTD can meet people on the system and record their perspectives.
Encourage employees to ride the system. LTD should incentivize and encourage all its employees to ride their own system as a method of getting the word out about future initiatives. Even informal interactions can be highly beneficial in engaging riders and fostering greater communication.
Train front line workers on engagement. Front-line LTD staff, including bus operators, are natural ambassadors to the community. The more they can be trained to engage sensitively and respectfully with riders, the more of an asset they will become for LTD and the community.

Related Projects

system review map Frequent service, added service, modified service, and removed service routes labeled.