12 Jan 2022 Engagement Resolutions
Happy New Year! As we hit a collective reset, I’ve been thinking about how I will approach 2022 and have formed my “engagement resolutions” for the year ahead:
Do everything online offline and everything offline online.
The pandemic has forever changed how we approach engagement, shifting online engagement to the forefront. This has opened the door to fantastic new tools and opportunities to connect, but I also remain mindful of the digital divide and who is missing when we shift online. My resolution is to find ways to seamlessly connect our online and offline engagement strategies and find ways to introduce the positive benefits of online engagement – schedule flexibility, moving at your individual pace, visual communication – in our offline experiences. I am also looking for how we can translate the tangible moments created in our offline engagement into our online engagement tools. We might not be able to have face-to-face interactions, but can we come closer to it?
Engage outside the project cycle.
This year, I want to try to intentionally build consistency of connection to communities. Most of our projects are centered in the public realm, and we tend to follow a pattern: Launch a process, reach out, engage, and report back. We aren’t given the opportunity to develop consistency and deepen relationships because we’re in a beginning-middle-end. I truly believe that engagement shouldn’t have an end date. This year I’m going to look for ways to build consistency and build trust outside the usual routine.
Try something new in each project.
This is an extension of one of my personal goals for 2022: Try something new each month of the year. This one should be pretty easy, honestly, because I am always trying out creative ideas in each project. This year I want to make a more concerted effort to channel creativity into innovation and challenge myself in 2022. I expect more power tools popping up in my projects, and some online tools I have not tried before, as well.
Now, your turn!
Do you make professional resolutions? How will you approach engagement in the year ahead? Let Connect the Dots be your accountability partner! Send us your engagement resolutions and we’ll check in with you throughout the year to see how you’re progressing. You can also have the chance to be part of an article we’ll be putting together sharing everyone’s resolutions to help inspire change.
