Background
Focuses on building relationships and the conditions for joined-up working
1. Engagement phase
Purpose
- Surfacing and identifying opportunities
- Building partnerships and coalitions
- Focusing on specific opportunities aligned to the Lab’s work programme
- Gauging appetite for cross-agency approach
- Sense checking the likely authorising environment
Features
- Strongly relational and high trust
- Engagement and relationship a dedicated role in team
- Maximising and intrapreneurial mindsets
- Assessing likely lab requirements
- Low commitment / no cost
Activities / outputs
- Scoping sessions
- Exploratory workshops
- Early horizon scanning
Key lab team reflections for the engagement phase
Importance of a relational approach
- Positive relationships foster honesty and trust
- Time invested here establishes foundations for the rest of the work
- It means listening, not telling, and respecting people’s mana
- Key to creating a culture of collaboration
Strategic context and work programme
- Not all opportunities are equal - where does the work fit?
- How might new opportunities align and connect with existing work?
- Is there anyone on in the Lab’s governance environment who might champion/support the work?
- Seek to hold more opportunities that work capacity
Lean against the problem
- Avoid the trap of rushing to solutionize too soon
- Spend time understanding the problem and the system that holds it
