The right voices change everything. Getting people in the room is where it starts, not where it ends
We are serious about listening. That means designing involvement that reaches the people who matter, not just the ones easiest to ask. And we are equally serious about what happens with what people say. Because involvement that doesn't lead to change isn't involvement, it's consultation theatre. We help you do it properly, from the question you ask to the action you take.
Do It Differently
Most involvement work goes wrong before it starts. The session gets booked before the question is clear. The same five voices show up. A report is written. Nothing changes. Sometimes it goes wrong earlier than that. The people running it are not sure they want the answers that might come. Or they think they already know what people will say.
Do It Differently is our participation, co-production and engagement service for organisations working with children, families and communities. We design the process, facilitate the sessions and help you build the capacity to do it well yourselves.
Design
We work with you to scope the involvement before anything is booked. The right question, the right people, the right approach for what you are trying to decide.
Facilitate
Workshops, panels, focus groups, away days and strategy sessions. We choose the method to fit the question, not the other way round.
Embed
Most organisations buy a one-off project. We help you build it in. Training, structure and support so your own people run engagement well long after we have gone.
Whatever the room needs
We use different methods for different conversations. The right method is the one that makes it easier for the people in the room to say what they actually think.
Some groups need to build something with their hands before they can talk. Some need structured dialogue. Some need deliberative time, with evidence and structure, to reach a considered view on something complex. Some find their way in through drawing, mapping, photographs or objects rather than words.
Some need permission to disagree well. Real conversation often stalls because the group has been told, implicitly, to keep things polite. We design sessions where disagreement is part of the process, not a problem to manage.
Sometimes the room just needs to be set up so the quietest voice carries the same weight as the loudest.
The right method depends on the question, the group, and what would count as the conversation going well. We choose with you.
Start with the question
Tell us about the decision you are trying to make, who it affects, and what would count as it going well.
The first conversation is free. We will listen, ask a few questions, and tell you honestly whether and how we can help.
If we are right for you, we will design something that fits. If not, we will say so.