STAGE 4: PLANNING

How to form an advisory group


This guide covers the importance of an independent advisory group in in your engagement process, the roles of the group, thinking about membership of the group, and how to set it up.

Why?

An independent advisory group is crucial to the legitimacy of your public engagement.

It ensures the process is balanced and guards against bias towards a particular interest.

Members of the group should be selected to meet the needs of the particular engagement project. The group should be formed at the planning stage in order to give the group time to fulfil its roles. Advisory Groups should be provided with a
šŸ“©Terms of Reference that provides clarity on their role and commitments. 

Note on terminology – we are using the term ā€˜advisory groupā€™ throughout for consistency but advisory groups are sometimes referred to differently – for example as a reference group or stewarding group.

Advisory groups in practice

Who should be involved in the Advisory Group?

To ensure the Advisory Group adds value, knowledge, and legitimacy to your engagement, it is essential to have the right mix of members. People Powered outlines three common approaches to forming an advisory group for balance:

  • Impartial Advisory Groups consist of experts and specialists with no direct stake in the outcome, providing a strategic perspective on the issue. These may include academics, subject specialists, and issue-focused civil society groups.
  • Balanced Advisory Groups bring together a diverse range of stakeholders to reflect different perspectives. For example, the Advisory Group for the Southampton Citizensā€™ Climate Assembly on Transport included both active travel advocates and organisations representing concerns about car use restrictions, such as disability groups.
  • Cross-Party Advisory Groups focus on political balance rather than a full spectrum of perspectives. These groups typically include politicians representing different parties, often in proportion to the local balance of power.

In practice, advisory groups work well as a mix of the options above, but it is worth noting that each has a different perspective on the process and is best suited to serving different roles and responsibilities. Effective engagement design requires diverse expertise and experiences. 

There is nothing stopping you from creating more than one group – for example, if your subject is technical but the issue is local you may create an impartial group of subject specific experts to guide the content and a separate group of local stakeholders to inform the shape of the outputs.

We suggest that 14 people are the maximum amount to have within an advisory group.

We recommend providing remuneration for smaller organisations, individuals and community groups who may otherwise be excluded from participating in the advisory group.

Specific questions can help to make sure no important sectors are forgotten in Advisory Group membership

For example:

Who is directly responsible for the decisions the engagement will feed into?

Who is influential in the area, community and/or organisation?

Who will be affected by any decisions on the issue (individuals and organisations)?

Who runs organisations with relevant interests?

Who is influential on this issue?

Who can obstruct a decision if not involved?

Who has been involved in this issue in the past?

Who has not been involved, but should have been?

In practice, advisory groups often combine elements of these formats.

There is nothing stopping you from creating more than one group – for example, if your subject is technical but the issue is local you may create an impartial group of subject specific experts to guide the content and a separate group of local stakeholders to inform the shape of the outputs.

The important part is that the advisory group supports the engagement in a fair, unbiased way.

Lastly, we suggest that 14 people are the maximum amount to have within an advisory group.

Table of Contents

Exercise: Mapping Your Advisory Group

  • Map groups that represent who is most affected by the issue your project is engaging on
  • Map your key actors, decision makers, and interested parties against:
    • Impartial subject experts
    • Issue focused groups
    • Political representation
  • Give each a rating for their power over and interest in the issue. This is important to check your group includes both those with the power to influence and those who may have less power but will be particularly impacted by the outcomes
  • Consider what a balanced group will look like for your project.
  • See below an example matrix showing power and interest along with some key actor groups as sticky notes. Replicate this on a large sheet of paper.
A matrix showing influence and interest along with key actors.

How regularly should an Advisory Group meet?

At a minimum, the Advisory Group should meet once during the participatory process, though more frequent meetings can enhance its effectiveness. Good practice would be to convene the Advisory Group three times during the participatory process: Ideally, meetings should take place:

  • Before the process begins: To contribute to overall design, recruitment, and stakeholder mapping.
  • During the process: To provide guidance on speakers, content, and review outputs (this is the most critical meeting and should be retained if others are not feasible).
  • After the process: To reflect on outcomes, support dissemination, and help ensure recommendations reach decision makers.

Advisory Group members may also contribute in other ways, such as acting as speakers or observers during sessions.

What do Advisory Group sessions look like?

The structure of meetings should be clearly defined, with a focus on how members can contribute their expertise, networks, and insights. The specific role of the Advisory Group will depend on the available time of its members, the nature of the participatory process, the level of scrutiny it may face, and the overall objectives of the engagement.

Advisory Group meetings should last between one and two hours, allowing sufficient time to digest information, ask questions, and engage in meaningful discussion.

Building strong relationships is key to the effectiveness of the group. Allocate time at the beginning of each session for introductions and reconnectionā€”both with each other and with the discussion topics. Investing in relationships enhances engagement and commitment, leading to deeper discussions and greater impact.

Meetings are usually chaired by either the commissioning organisation or the delivery partner. Advisory Group agendas and any pre-reading should be sent out at least one week in advance to allow members sufficient time to prepare.

Following each meeting, a concise summary should be shared with all members, including those unable to attend.

Creating and delivering your advisory group –
an action planning checklist

The table below takes you through the key questions you need to ask when setting up your advisory group.

šŸ“© Download a printable version here and complete this with your team.

Exercise: Timeline planning

Look at your project timeline. Considering the roles that you would like your advisory group to fulfil, plot key moments for the advisory group on your timeline. These should be at minimum:

  • identification of members
  • invitations sent
  • Meetings

We know people have busy calendars, so we recommend leaving at least three weeks between sending invitations and your first meeting. This will help maximise attendance.

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