STAGE 2: CREATING YOUR ENGAGEMENT BRIEF

How to ensure your
engagement has impact


This guide sets out how to design your engagement process so it genuinely informs and shapes the decisions it’s intended to influence. For your process to be impactful, you need to be clear from the start about what impact you want it to have—particularly on decision making—and plan carefully to support that.

Why?

Not all decisions are suited to public engagement.

A good decision for engagement is one where:

  • The decision hasn’t already been made.
  • There’s political will to act, but a lack of clarity about the best path forward.
  • Public interest is high, or the decision will have a significant public impact.
  • Local knowledge and lived experience can contribute to better outcomes.
  • Public perspectives aren’t well understood—or only a narrow set of views have been heard.

Why impact matters

Planning for impact isn’t just about ticking a box. It’s what makes public engagement meaningful. When people see how their input shapes decisions, it builds trust, boosts democratic legitimacy, and improves outcomes. It also makes engagement more worthwhile for everyone involved—ensuring time, energy and resources are well spent.

Planning for impact helps build public trust, strengthens the legitimacy of your work, and increases the usefulness of your engagement.

Types of impact

This resource is primarily focused on making sure your process has an impact on the decision that it was designed to influence. In addition to impact on your decision making you should plan for positive impact on:

Participants

👥 Engagement processes—especially deliberative ones—can be transformative.

Participants often:
◆Gain knowledge and confidence
◆ Change behaviours
◆ Feel more empowered and informed
◆ Act as advocates for the issue and the process
◆ Build trust in your organisation and its decisions

Wider public

Even those not directly involved can be positively influenced.

When people see peers involved in thoughtful decision making, they’re more likely to trust the outcomes.

Advisory groups

When advisory group members understand the rigour behind your process, they’re more likely to back its conclusions and support implementation.

Internal impact

Elected members and officers may develop a deeper appreciation of participatory approaches—and be more likely to support their use in future work.

Local business and civil society

A well-run, transparent process can build buy-in among local stakeholders. You can amplify this impact with initiatives like pledges that encourage action aligned with the recommendations.

Media impact

Engagement processes can generate positive media coverage that builds awareness and transparency, helping the public understand both the process and the outcomes.

Financial impact

Good public engagement costs money—but it can save costs long term by designing better, more accepted policies and avoiding delays, redesigns, or public backlash.

Table of Contents

Action planning for impact

Effective engagement doesn’t happen by accident—it requires intention, planning, and follow-through. By thinking carefully about the type of impact you want to achieve, and building that into your process from the start, you give your engagement the best chance of success.

The table below outlines key actions to help ensure your engagement has real influence on decision making. Many of these focus on internal planning and coordination, but some relate to broader community engagement. These steps may overlap, and the order may vary depending on your project.

📩 Download a printable template here or click below to read through the table.

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