How to promote the participation of users in the organization

The participation of the groups involved in the entities is a key element for the democratic and effective management of these, as well as an organizational challenge. All the groups involved in the organization must have a voice: structure, volunteering, social base... It's about promoting a collective awareness. Specifically, the participation of users of the organization's services and actions can be particularly complicated, while also being key to the adequacy of its work.

After all, who knows better what is needed from the organization than the people who seek support there? For this reason, The Confederation has drawn up the guide ' How to get the people served to participate in your organization? ', which wants to shed light on this issue. This resource summarizes the keys to this document.

Why should people in care participate?

Democratic governance in entities will only take place if each of the parties involved in the entity are listened to and oriented towards a common good. In this context, the voice of the people served is key, both to strengthen the organization and to benefit them themselves.

In fact, the participation of users will help the organization to carry out its work in a very positive way for the former. Participation will not only give an impetus to the empowerment and autonomy of the people served and their sense of belonging, making the identity of the organization their own , and making them part of the change. It will also make it easier for the organization to design its programs and services that really adapt to the realities they face, but without falling into paternalism . In addition, they will be able to do this by incorporating new perspectives from the people they serve that will allow them to innovate in their programs.

Basic aspects

There are five basic aspects of an entity's engagement status, which function as indicators and as a starting point for subsequent methodologies.  

The first is the organizational culture and its degree of focus on participation. This can be seen in the conceptual approach to structural functioning: talk about "processes", instead of programs; raise some goals in terms of development, instead of presenting the goals as fixed and established; make decisions in a decentralized way...

Another indicator is the profile of the people served . It should be borne in mind that, whatever the organization's objective, the people using the services will be very different, with very different ages, origins, backgrounds, processes, beliefs and ailments. It will be necessary to bear in mind this diversity and profile the user groups in participation.

Another basic element is the empowerment of people , which is directly linked to the information they have and the resulting decision-making capacity. This empowerment can be personal, in relationships or collective.

A fourth aspect that can help establish the basis of participation is the identification and analysis of the channels and spaces for participation . It is advisable to make a map or a diagram that identifies which ones exist, their types , and which collectives or groups they are aimed at. The channels can be face-to-face or virtual, unidirectional or bidirectional, individual or group... The spaces can be for direct participation (without mediation, in assemblies, voting, working groups), representative (with mediation, exercising representations according to the col· educational) or dialogic (of a deliberative type, with debate, consultation...).

The last element to be analyzed to define the primary nature of participation is the level of participation , what you have and what you want to achieve. In this sense, the minimum level of participation is that people can make contributions , through a collection of opinions that allows them to make proposals and generate ideas on specific topics. The highest level is that people can directly make decisions on certain issues, for which it is necessary to create spaces that promote debate and deliberation, and to ensure that they have all the necessary information.

User participation steps

Each organization is different, and depending on the group it serves and its needs, the possibilities and methods of participation may vary. However, there are some guidelines that can be followed in all cases to design the participation of volunteers.

The first step is constructive, and consists of aligning the will of the organization towards democratic governance . This is important because participation will be of no use if it is not trended globally and across the board towards an organizational culture where people are at the center of decision-making.

The next phase is to create a team that has the role of managing participation that reflects this transversality . This means that it must be made up of people from all the groups involved in the entity, including one or more users.

Next, it will be necessary to analyze the starting point, defining the objectives and the real needs of the people served , and deciding the modalities of participation, the roles, the responsibilities... It is recommended to start from the aspects set out in the section ' Basic aspects' of this resource.

The last step in the definition of user participation is to plan the strategy to reach real participation, landing all the decisions on a road map that will have to be followed in detail. This means, first, fixing the means for people to access the information necessary for participation and decision-making. At the same time, it also involves empowering the people served without paternalism in line with the organization's values. Finally, the channels and ways to make the contributions must also be offered.

Barriers to participation

The design of the user participation campaign must take into account the barriers that may prevent or hinder this participation.

The most obvious obstacles are those that directly affect decision-making capacity because they hinder the acquisition and assimilation of information : language, lack of time, physical or mental abilities, digital skills... In these cases, it will be necessary to contemplate a kind of accompanying role, creating a figure who can offer assistance when necessary.

Another obstacle to participation that can be alleviated from the formulation of the strategy is the emotional attachment of the people served to the organization. This can be promoted by creating spaces for interaction and exchange, making the users of the entity's values ​​participate.