Search
A participative community planning
process 1by Bob Dick, with ideas contributed by Frank
Denham, Robyn Cross and Eve Robinson
This is a resource file which supports the regular public program "areol" (action research and evaluation on line) offered twice a year beginning in mid-February and mid-July. For details email Bob Dick bdick@scu.edu.au or bd@uq.net.au
... in which a consensus-seeking process is described, and the steps of a detailed participant workbook are presented
Contents
- What
this document is about: a brief word to
organisers
- Why
have a search
- The
overall process for the day
- A
note
on the process
- Using
this workbook
- Working
well together
- Some
groundrules for effective work
- Latecomers
- Choosing
items
- Notes
Preface
This is a guide to structured one-day searches for community planning. It has now been through five major revisions and a host of minor ones. By now a well-tried process, this particular variety of search has now been used for over fifteen years or more. This has occurred in a variety of settings and with a diversity of participants.
Version 6, the previous revision, represented a substantial revision of earlier versions. Previous versions attempted to include substantial advice to organisers. This was becoming so cumbersome, however, that edition 6 was much briefer than version 5. In edition, the overall structure of the process was somewhat changed to save time, and the wording substantially simplified. Version 7 is a much the same as version 6.
A detailed set of suggestions for organisers may eventually appear, to replace that portion of the earlier editions.
Acknowledgements
I owe a lot to a lot of people. Three, however, deserve special mention. The contribution of Frank Denham has been substantial. He has been involved in many searches with me over the years, and has almost always had some useful suggestions to offer. Many of the details of wording and format are his. I have used several ideas from Robyn Cross, who assisted with two searches in Belyando shire. She helped to simplify the language. Eve Robinson has contributed a number of ideas as we have worked together on searches associated with the program. At the time she was project officer for the Small Town Self Help program in the Queensland Small Business Corporation. In this program a number of one-day community searches have been run, with numbers ranging up to 110 participants.
I learned about search initially from John Damm, and have profited from discussions with many of the people who developed and used it in Canberra. Fred and Merrilyn Emery, Alan Davies and Alastair Crombie deserve mention.
In fairness to the Canberra people, I should say that some of them have expressed misgivings about this particular design. Among other things, they regard it as mechanistic. However, participants don't experience it as such. And it is a time-efficient design which often gets further into action planning than some other searches I have seen used.
I also enjoyed working on search designs with Lloyd Vidler, of the Uniting Church, and Dell Woodcock, formerly of the Small Business Development Corporation. Other suggestions have been provided from time to time by the people who have helped facilitate small groups at some of the searches, by others who have taken part in them, and by people who have studied with me at the University of Queensland.
What
this document is about:
a brief word to organisers
This is a description of a brief "search." It is presented in the form of a participant workbook for a one-day search in a community setting; but it also serves the purpose of an introduction to one possible process for a brief search. There are several varieties in the family of processes which go by the generic name of search. This is just one of them.
Search is a participative strategic planning activity suitable for small to medium numbers of people. It is sometimes known as futures search, or search workshop, or search conference.
In the form in which it is presented here, it can work well even in inexperienced hands, though there are restrictions. It is safe for numbers up to about 25 or 30 if you are not pushed for time -- an evening plus a full day works quite well with small numbers. It is briefer than the versions described in earlier editions. Nevertheless, I overestimated the robustness of the earlier versions. If you have only one day, or if numbers grow beyond about 30, even this shortened version is rushed and may require skilled facilitation.
Obviously, a day and a half would be better. I have prepared it as a one-day design because in community settings it is hard to get participants to come along for longer.
The easiest way to learn how to use the process is to attend a community search.
You are welcome to copy this book in whatever numbers you require if you are using it for a search and you do not sell it at a profit. It is currently formatted for back-to-back printing; I suggest you do that if you can. Done back to back the instructions for a step and the corresponding worksheet are on facing pages.
You might also consider tailoring this document to fit the situation you intend to use it in. This can be done by changing "your community", whenever it occurs, to "Organisation X" or "Community Y" or whatever. To help in this, this document is also available on disk (800k 3-1/4" floppy) as a Microsoft Word 5.1a document file suitable for use on a Macintosh Plus or any of the more recent Macintoshes.
To participants...
Welcome to a community "Search".
Search is a process which helps you to agree on your goals for this community. It is part of a project to make your community more of what you want it to be.
Why have a search?
If people have a shared vision to aim for, they can work together to achieve it. They can make things better for everyone in the community. But to do this they must first know what they agree on -- they must have a shared vision which is public. This planning day will help you to agree on the shared vision, and to begin your plans for working towards it.
There is probably more agreement than you realise. In normal talk people often focus on their differences. Agreement is often ignored: not even talked about. Search is a way of getting to the agreement, and using it as the start of plans for the future.
This planning day provides you and others with a chance to compare your wishes for the future, and begin to achieve them.
Although there is a lot to be done, most people find planning days using search to be enjoyable and worthwhile. We hope you do too.
You will find a summary of the overall process for the day below.
The overall process for the day
The steps in the day's process are as follows:
- Introduction and overview
- Optional: community history
- Develop a shared vision
- Wider influences
- Identify "stakeholders"
- Optional: other information
- Add to the shared vision
- Identify key plans
- Set up working parties
A note on the process
From time to time you will work in small groups, probably for almost half of the day. This is not for talk, but instead to be guided through a step-by-step process. By the end of the day you should have a shared vision, and the start of some plans for achieving it.
At first you work on the shared vision. You then add to this to take into account...
o the outside world;
o the needs of other people
o and perhaps other information
You then decide which parts of the shared vision should be given first priority, and what groups of people might be able to do something about this.
So that each of you is able to add something, you will spend a few minutes working alone from time to time. You will then usually pool your ideas within small groups. Ideas from small groups will then be collected for all groups. This will happen several times during the day -- working alone, then in a small group, then in the whole group.
An organiser will also help to guide you through the day. To save time or to help the process work well, (s)he may leave out or change some of the steps in the workbook. There may also be a facilitator in your small group, to help guide you through the process.
Using this workbook
This is your own copy of a workbook that will help to guide you through the process for the day. You may write in it as you wish; and you may take it with you at the end of the day.
Throughout this workbook there are pages you can use as work-sheets. If you fold a sheet back-wards down the centre, you will be able to see it while you work on a following page -- see the diagram at the left. That will sometimes be useful.
Working well together
A one-day search is rushed. There are many steps to work through, and often large numbers of people. If everyone tries to make it work well, you will make a good start, and enjoy yourself. Three things to remember are...
o If you help to keep your small group working well, it should be more enjoyable as well as more productive.
o The more you work together, searching for those things you all want, the better the plans you will develop.
o The more creative you are during the individual and small-group work, the better the ideas you will have to work with.
On the following page are two sets of suggestions, or "groundrules": on working well in groups, and on being creative.
Some groundrules for effective work
1. Working well in groups
- Agree on common
goals and work towards them
- Allow everyone to
have their say in small groups
- Attend to others;
try to understand what they are saying
- Build on the ideas
that others offer
- All be responsible
for how well the group works
- Let others know what you are doing (no hidden agendas)
2. Working creatively
Don't criticise Do not criticise any ideas when you are pooling your ideas to form a small-group list, whether the ideas are your own or someone else's.
Anything goes If an idea occurs to you, say it, or follow it up with another idea. Let your mind go wherever it wishes to go. Let the ideas of other people spark off ideas in your own mind too.
Latecomers
It is best if everyone is able to be here for the whole day. If people do arrive late, please tell them about the information below.
Welcome to a "Search workshop". It is to develop better plans for the whole community. It is a busy day; but in the past most people have found it worthwhile and enjoyable. We hope you do too.You have missed some of the search. This note will help you to know what has happened, and fit more easily into your small group.
A search workshop helps people to set common goals. There is a planned set of steps to achieve this. Common goals are developed, and then revised. And then some working parties are created to work towards those goals.
The other people in your small group have read some suggestions for working well together. For your benefit, here is a brief version.
Choosing items
During the small group sessions which follow, you first collect your group's items. You then decide their order of importance.
A quick and easy way of doing this is to use voting. Again, you work alone at first to decide your votes. Then you combine your votes with the votes of the others in your small group.
Adding up the votes then allows you to decide the order of importance.
Group choice by voting
- Work alone.
For now, ignore the items you gave. Jot down the numbers
of the three * most important items from other people.
You can include items which you had on your own list, but which other people actually gave to the group list.
- Now choose the three
* next most important items; you can include your own items
this time if you wish.
Steps 1 and 2 give you six items: three most important, and three next most important.
- When everyone is
ready, place two ticks next to each of the most important items
on the group list, and one tick next to each of the next most
important.
- Add up the ticks, and decide the order of importance of items.
* Facilitators may increase this for long lists and/or small groups
The process
1. Introduction
The organiser will explain the process for the day, and help you to choose small groups.
The small groups will be chosen so that each small group is as much like the whole community as it can be. The process will work better if the people in your small group are as different from one another as you can make them.
It will work best if everyone helps to make all the groups suitably mixed. If you can improve the mix by exchanging people between groups, please do so.
Step 1
Before you begin, please read below.
Identify common goals
The purpose of the search is to find out what everyone or almost everyone can agree on. It is not a forum for people to argue for their own interests, or the interests of their own group or organisation or community.
If there are issues of debate, or important minority views, these are best dealt with in other ways and at other times.
Act for the whole community
During the day, you are asked to act for the whole community. You are not here as a representative of any group or organisation or community. You are here to help to identify the goals that everyone or almost everyone would like to achieve.
Use the processes provided
To complete the tasks within the available time, there is no time for discussion or debate in the small groups. The way to complete the tasks in the time is to allow time for people to fill in the worksheet at each step, and then collect that material without discussion.
Information, not argument
When your small group is voting on an item it may sometimes be useful to provide brief information for other group members. It is not useful to debate the issue or to argue for your point of view.
2. Recalling the history
This is an optional step; it is usually left out. If it is included, your organiser will tell you. There are two sub-steps: working alone, and then telling the whole group about one or two important things from the history of the community.
Step 2(a)
Work alone. Use the worksheet below to recall some important history
Step 2(b)
If this step is included, the whole group will be guided by the organiser into telling some of the history
Worksheet 2(a): The history
Work alone without talking at first
Think back over your
time in the
community. Work back from now to
the past
What were the events you
recall which
were important to the community?
As you think of
something, list it on the
right. Leave two lines space under each
item
You may also include
events which you
were not here for, but which you heard
about from others
Make your list as long
as you can in the
time you have
Now look back over your
list. In the space you left below each item, write a few
words about why the event was important then? and what is
its importance now.
3. The shared vision
Step 3(a)
Work alone. Use the worksheet below: note down what you would like this community to be like
Step 3(b)
Join the other members of your small group. Pool your ideas, writing them on butcher paper
Step 3(c)
In your small group choose the most important of the items to report to the whole group. Choose those items which you think would be better for all members of the community
A way of choosing was described earlier
Step 3(d)
Choose someone to speak for your group. Join the other members of the whole group. Bring your butcher paper list with you, ready to give your items for a whole-group list. Bring about 8 items back to the whole group. (The organiser may vary this number.)
Worksheet 3(a): The shared vision
Work alone without talk at first
It is the year 2005
In the last 10 years,
everyone in this commun-
ity has done a superb job -- far beyond what
anyone expected
So has everyone who has
anything to do with
the community
So now, in 2005, the
community and the people
who live in it are enjoying the result of 10 years
of excellence
The effects of this
might spread very widely
indeed. What is the world at large and the
community like as the results of 10 years of
excellence?
Write down your ideas in
the space at the right
-- as many as you can in the time you have
4. Wider influences
Most planning is done as if the rest of the world is going to stand still in the future. Of course, it won't. This step gives you a chance to think about other changes, and the effect they might have on your community
Step 4(a)
Work alone. Use the worksheet below to note down some of the changes you expect in the world during the next 10 years
Step 4(b)
Which of the changes do you think are most likely to have an effect on this community? Mark them on the worksheet, for instance by underlining them
Step 4(c)
Join the whole group to help list some of the changes which may influence your community. Leave these visible so that other groups may also read them
Step 4(d)
Work alone. Note down anything you think you would like added to the shared vision of step 3 to take account of the changes. [Use the worksheet for step 7(a)]
Worksheet 4: Other influences
Work alone and without talk
What changes will take
place in the world
in the next 10 years?
List the changes on the right
You may want to take into account...
- population
makeup
- technology
- the way we live
- politics
- economics
- industry and
commerce
- energy
and whatever else you would like to add
See how many likely
changes you can write down in the time you have
5. "Stakeholders"
(This step may be done in the whole group)
A "stakeholder" is anyone who has a "stake" in what the community does and how it does it. All the different types and groups of people who live in the community are stakeholders. So are people who work here, or supply goods or services, or buy anything the community provides. So are government agencies and the like who have offices here, or who provide funds, or who control what can be done.
Step 5(a)
Work alone. Below note down the people or groups who can influence the community or are affected in any way by what the community does or how it does it
Step 5(b)
Join the other members of your small group. Pool your ideas, writing them on butcher paper. Leave your butcher paper visible. Please write so that others can read what you have written
Step 5(c)
Work alone. Note down anything you would like to add to the shared vision of step 3 to take account of the wishes and views of the people and groups you have just listed. [Use the worksheet for step 7(a)]
Worksheet 5(a): The "stakeholders"
Work alone and without talk
Who are the people who
affect or are
affected in any way, for better or worse, by
what happens in this community?
List them on the right
(It is enough to write
down classes of
people, not actual people's names)
Include the people who
are part of the
community
... and people on
whom the community
depends for its well-being in any way ...
... and those who
depend upon the
community in any way
Write down as many as
you can in the time you have
6. Optional: Other information
At this stage you may be given other information to help in your planning. Your organiser will let you know if this step is included
Step 6(a)
You may use the space below to take notes on any relevant information
Step 6(b)
This information may suggest additions to the shared vision. Again use worksheet 7 for this
Notes on extra information
Here is the space to
take down any notes you wish to make on the extra information
provided
7. Adding to the vision
This may be done in the whole group. If so, your organiser will inform you
Step 7(a)
Walk around with one other person, looking at the lists from steps 4, 5 and 6. As you do, talk about the additions that might be made to the shared vision. Add to your list (next page)
Step 7(b)
Join the other members of your small group. Pool your ideas, writing them on butcher paper
Step 7(c)
In your small group choose the most important of the items to report to the whole group
Step 7(d)
Choose someone to speak for your group. Your suggestions will be added to the vision
Steps 7(e) and 7(f) follow the worksheet...
Worksheet 7: The shared vision ... extra
items
Here is the space to
write down the items you wish to add to the shared vision of step
3
Two rounds of voting, most probably in the large group, are used to choose the parts of the vision which are the most promising for development
Step 7(e)
In the large group choose the items which best describe the community you wish to live in
Step 7(f)
In the large group choose the items which most require improvement and are most able to be improved by local effort
Worksheet 7(e): Choosing items from the vision
Two rounds of voting follow. In each round you can choose items from anywhere on the "shared vision" list, with one exception. You are asked not to include items which you yourself or your group spokesperson called out. You may include them if you had them on your private or group list but someone else called them out
You can write the numbers of the items in the boxes
From the "shared vision" list, choose the...
+---+---+---+---+
4 most important | | | | |
+---+---+---+---+
+---+---+---+---+
4 next most important | | | | |
+---+---+---+---+
...items (8 in all). Your organiser may change this number of items
"Important" means those items which best describe the community you and the other stakeholders would prefer
From the "shared vision" list, choose the...
+---+---+---+---+
4 most promising | | | | |
+---+---+---+---+
+---+---+---+---+
4 next most promising | | | | |
+---+---+---+---+
...items (8 in all). Your organiser may change this number of items
"Promising" means those items which are worth achieving, and which can be achieved through local effort
Reminder...
The steps which follow begin to turn the vision you have developed into more practical and specific plans. It sometimes happens at this stage that some people begin to argue for their own interests (or the interests of some group or organisation or community they represent).
This undermines the search, and makes it difficult to complete it in the available time
Before you continue, please read the next page
Identify common goals
The purpose of the search is to find out what everyone or almost everyone can agree on. It is not a forum for people to argue for their own interests, or the interests of their own group or organisation or community.
If there are issues of debate, or important minority views, these are best dealt with in other ways and at other times.
Act for the whole community
During the day, you are asked to act for the whole community. You are not here as a representative of any group or organisation or community. You are here to help to identify the goals that everyone or everyone would like to achieve.
Use the processes provided
To complete the tasks within the available time, there is no time for discussion or debate in the small groups. The way to complete the tasks in the time is to allow time for people to fill in the worksheet at each step, and then collect that material without discussion.
Information, not argument
When your small group is voting on an item it may sometimes be useful to provide brief information for other group members. It is not useful to debate the issue or to argue for your point of view.
8. Identifying key plans
Step 8(a)
Decide who can do what to achieve the most important and feasible parts of the shared vision
Choose those projects which will do most to improve the community for all the people in it, and which can be improved by local effort
Step 8(b)
Join the other members of your small group. Pool your ideas, writing them on butcher paper
Step 8(c)
In your small group choose the most important of the items to report to the whole group. Then choose someone to speak for your group
Step 8(d)
A whole group list will be compiled
Worksheet 8: Key plans
(The "who" should be someone in the community, present if possible)
Who can
do what (by
when)
Now look back over your list and choose the most important items
Some useful information about follow-up
The usual procedure after the search is for a steering committee to set up small "working parties." The working parties consist of people directly affected by the planned improvement. It is their task to do the detailed planning for the activities you have chosen
The procedure is usually as follows. For each of the chosen activities the steering committee...
1 sets up a small working party of those directly affected;
2 helps the working party to operate well as a group;
3 coordinates the activities of the various working parties.
The working party then...
4 does the initial research to collect the information it needs;
5 decides the various ways in which the improvement can be brought about, and chooses the most effective;
6 does the detailed planning for the improvement;
7 implements it
Your task in the final step is to offer useful suggestions...
- to the steering committee for setting up the working parties; and
- to the working parties, for doing the research and planning and action.
9. Arranging follow-up
This step may be done in small groups other than those you originally formed. If so, the organiser will inform you
Step 9(a)
Join the other members of your small group. Together decide which items on the whole-group list most deserve attention
Step 9(b)
In the whole group, decide...
- Which items should
be given priority (because they are both important and
promising)
- What working parties
should be set up
- Who should be on
each working party
- What suggestions should be offered to each working party
10. Working parties
The success of the program depends on the working parties which are set up, and how they go about their tasks. To help them in their detailed planning, here is a description of a planning process they can use. This step is probably not included in the initial planning, but is for follow-up
A process to develop more specific plans of action
Steps 1 to 4 below allow you to put together a rough action plan. This plan is then refined in the steps from 5 onwards.
1 Goal
Define the goal that you hope to achieve with your action plan
Note: it is best that you define it as a goal for yourself. Suppose you want the Government to provide more advice to small business. A suitable goal might be "For us to convey to the government the advantages of providing advice to small business..."
Write this goal at the top of a piece of butcher paper
2 Possible activities
Individually:
On your own, without talking to others, each make a private list of activities that might have to be carried out to achieve that goal
As a group:
On the piece of chart paper, and working from your individual lists, make a group list of the activities
Include any other ideas that occur to you while the list is being prepared
3 Key activities
Decide which of these event are most important in achieving the goal -- which events must take place if the goal is to be achieved.
These will be called "key events" in the rest of this description
4 Event track
Fix several pieces of chart paper together horizontally to give you plenty of width. Alternatively, use the end of a newsprint roll (often available from newspaper publishers at a reasonable cost).
Draw an "event track". Label the start "now", and the end with your goal...
now ------------------------------------------------------------------------------> goal
Write in on this event track the key events, in the order in which they would have to occur to be effective
The simplest way of doing this is...
- Start with the most
important key event, and locate it on the event track.
You can use just a few words to describe it at this stage.
- Then take the next
most important key event. Locate it at an appropriate
point relative to the first key event.
- And so on...
Events may sometimes have to be written in several different places. For example some events will be written twice: once for planning and then a second time when the plan is carried out.
From here, each step is applied to each event in turn. For each event...
5 Other events
Identify any other events which would have to occur before it could be done
Add these other events both to your list, and your event track
6 Who and what
When you have all events fitted on the event track, take each in turn and plan
whowhat and
by when
You may at this stage want to break up some of the more complex events into a sequence of events
It is better if the "who" is someone present, or you have checked that the person is willing to do it.
The following steps are a set of check questions. They help you refine your plans further. In a very complex action plan, you may need to develop separate action plans for different stages of the event track.
For each key event in turn...
7 Assumptions
"What assumptions have we made in compiling this action plan?"
Decide who will do what by when to check that assumption as part of the action plan.
Common assumptions which may need checking include...
- Assumptions about
the attitudes of people. You may need to include actions
to check their attitudes.
- Assumptions about resources. You may need to include actions to ensure that the resources are available.
Important resources include time, money, people, and the skills of the people affected.
8 Coordination
"What coordination is required between different parts of the action plan?"
Decide who will provide the coordination.
9 Potential problems
"If we do it this way, what could go wrong?"
Decide if the potential errors are serious enough, and probable enough, to do something about.
"What could we do to remove those potential problems?"
Decide who can do what by when to remove the potential problems. Add this to the event track
"What contingency plan could we use to deal with the problem if it still arose?"
If the problem is severe enough, develop a contingency plan and add it to the event track.
"How will we know when something still goes wrong?"
Decide who will do what to monitor progress with the action plan.
10 Follow-up
Plans almost never work as intended. For all but the simplest of action plans you may need to change your mind in the light of later surprises.
Therefore, add to the action plan some provision for regular follow up -- who will notify whom of the follow up meetings, and by when?
Notes
- Modified with few amendments from the monograph of the same name.
_____
There is a hardcopy version: ISBN 0 9589008 9 2
Note: In hard-copy form, the workbook section typically carries step-by-step instructions on the left-hand page and a worksheet on the right-hand page.
Copyright (c) Bob Dick 1989-1999. This document may be copied if it is not included in documents sold at a profit, and this and the following notice are included.
This document can be cited as follows:
Dick, B. (1999)
Search [On line]. Available at
http://www.uq.net.au/action_research/arp/search.html
