You know that community engagement is important, but your team might hesitate to involve citizens if they are pushed for time. They might think that involving the community will just create complexity and unnecessary distractions when they already have a goal and a game plan in mind. When you throw in the option of engaging your community online it can just be too overwhelming and cumbersome.

When you can harness technology to reduce the administrative burden, online community engagement can actually free up your time. Plus, having access to a dedicated and experienced support team can help you launch and manage your engagement projects with ease.

Here are five talking points that can encourage your team to see online community engagement in a new light and create space for new and exciting technology that will save you time.

1. “It’s better to discover the risks before they become problems.”

Risks exist whether you choose to look for them or not. Online community engagement allows you to quickly identify negative perceptions and potential resistance before they become problems.

2. “Let’s measure twice and cut once.”

The best scoping work begins with a thorough needs analysis. Clarifying the community’s needs helps you allocate the right amount of time and resources to your project from the get-go.

3. “What if we miss the mark?”

Community acceptance can be the difference between the success or failure of your project. Take your community on the journey with you and reduce the chance of rejection after you have already invested all of your resources in the initiative.

4. “Couldn’t we achieve more with the public’s backing?”

It doesn’t take much for a disgruntled citizen or journalist to publicly air negative opinions and create a politically unfavorable environment, potentially bringing major decisions and milestones to a halt. It’s better to engage early and control the narrative.

5. “Are we solving the right problem?”

The more information you have, the better your decisions will be, the less time you will spend making revisions throughout the project. You can also gather and analyze lots of information quickly using online community engagement tools.

Want to save time on your next big project? Share this article with your team or book a demo to discover the benefits of online community engagement.