• Community engagement in context
  • Community engagement - an overview
  • Community engagement in a representative democracy
  • Key challenges for the public sector
  • Implications for public sector managers
  • The context for engagement
  • Clues to good community engagement
• Planning CE
  • Community engagement and the policy/planning cycle
  • Project goals
  • When is engagement necessary?
  • Community engagement objectives
  • Community research
    • Media research
    • Community profiling
    • Community segmentation
    • Community and issues analysis
  • Key communication messages
  • Selection of engagement techniques
  • Managing risk
  • Evaluation planning
  • Planning transition and exit strategies
• Implementing CE
  • Working with communities
  • Organisational culture
  • Resourcing
  • Structures and processes
  • Continuity and follow up
  • Representation and control
  • Coordination
  • Other issues
  • Embedding good practice
• Methods
  • Overview of methods
  • Methods of information-sharing
  • Methods for consultation and deliberation
  • Methods for active participation
  • Advanced participative methodologies
  • Choosing an engagement method
• Event management
  • Event engagement processes
  • Choosing a facilitator
  • Structuring the event
• Evaluating CE
  • Introduction to evaluation
  • Principles of evaluation
  • Identifying outputs and outcomes
  • Purpose and approach to evaluation
  • Evaluation criteria and indicators
  • Methods of measuring community engagement
  • Steps in evaluating community engagement
• Risk management
  • Identifying risks
  • Assessing risk
  • Managing external risks
  • Managing internal risks
  • Risk assessment and management plan
• Skills
  • Community engagement skills profile
  • Options for skills development
  • Building the skills of your team

Managing external risks

Here are some suggested strategies for managing the external risks discussed in the section Identifying risks. You can customize the suggested management tips to respond to the level of risk identified.

Potential risks	Management tips
Strategic – risk to agency purpose or agenda	Seek involvement of someone in a corporate/policy area for large or potentially controversial projects.
Public image – risk of negative community perceptions of agency	Assess stakeholder expectations against project goals for congruence or potential conflict, and the implications.
Stakeholder relationships – risk to working relationships and trust	Review the breadth of engagement and perceived transparency, openness and level of active participation against the level of stakeholder concern or interest.
Media – risk to relationship with journalists/editors and/or of unbalanced and negative reporting	Review the history of media involvement and appropriateness, timing or extent of any planned advertising, media briefings or releases.
Political – risk of losing control of the project, or loosing the confidence of elected members/government	Estimate the level of involvement citizens may initiate with elected representatives and the possible consequences of organised public action which might attract attention at a political level.
Commercial – risk to cost, competitive edge, risk of sensitive information release	Estimate costs for the engagement process and the impact this might have on budget allocation and check where potential blow-outs could occur.
Staff/employees risk to key staff being unavailable/transferred risk to staff undertaking engagement	Consider continuity of key skilled staff and availability of back-up personnel in case of unforeseen circumstances. Ensure Workplace Health and Safety processes address the needs of staff undertaking engagement, particularly off-site, after hours or in volatile situations.
Technological – risk to loss of intellectual property, processes or methods	Consider the type of information that will become available and whether there might be any risk associated with commercial-in-confidence material.
Business – risk to accomplishing core agency objectives	Review stakeholder issues and assess how these may relate to the core agency objectives or whether there may be cross- agency issues or interaction which might affect control of outcomes.
Legal liability – risk to litigation, public liability, and professional negligence	Consider the engagement process and the extent to which public risk or liability issues may evolve, as well as ensuring any statutory, social and legal requirements are covered.
Cultural/heritage – risk of loss of Indigenous/non-indigenous significant values or places	Assess the extent to which relevant Indigenous and non-indigenous interests are researched, that the level of engagement is appropriate to the situation and clarify and estimate any show-stoppers and the likelihood and impact of these occurring.
Opportunity cost – risk associated with not undertaking engagement	Assess the level of community expectation and interest in the issue and any likely backlash as a result of failing to engage.