35 Shuffle: A Dynamic Engagement Method
June 8, 2024Engage effectively with the 35 Shuffle method, prioritizing ideas democratically in workshops and focus groups.
The Bridge: Classic But Still So Good
February 21, 2024Recently, we used the bridge technique in a series of national roundtables. This technique uses a visual template that is…
Bridging the Generational Gap: The Art of Engaging Across Generations
September 5, 2023At Engage Delaney, we recognize that in order to make better decisions, we need to engage different generations of thinkers.…
The Value of Third-Party Reporting
July 6, 2023Applying strategy when managing a project goes beyond planning, facilitating, and analysis and reporting. Engaging a neutral third party to…
The Role of Engagement in Decision-Making
July 6, 2023At Delaney, we follow the International Association of Public Participation (IAP2) practice framework and engagement best practices in each of…
Public Engagement Strategies to Foster Diversity and Inclusion
May 25, 2023The beauty of public engagement lies in its diversity. The kaleidoscope of ideas, perspectives, and voices is what makes it…
Leveraging Surveys to Engage with Communities: The Power of Being Heard
May 18, 2023The importance of community engagement cannot be overstated. When individuals feel connected, heard, and understood within their communities, it fosters…
Designing Engagement Surveys : There’s still time to sign-up!
March 29, 2023There’s still time to sign up for our Designing Engagement Surveys. This jam-packed course provides participants with 16-hours of live…
The Luck of the Engaging Irish
March 17, 2023Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Always a day of celebration in our family. How could we not celebrate with a name…
2023 Engagement Forecast
February 1, 2023It can’t be too late to wish you Happy New Year, right? January has been a whirlwind and so, here…
Autumn Leaves….and By Popular Demand Newly Added iap2 Courses
September 16, 2022by Valerie Delaney, Principal, Learning + Development The last couple of weeks of our extended stay at our cottage in…
Building Engagement Habits
September 9, 2022by Jessica Delaney, Principal, Engagement + Strategic Communications There is something joyful about fresh notebooks and pens, soothing hot drinks…
Five-Point Readiness Checklist for Engagement Surveys
April 29, 2022by Naomi Devine, Senior Designer and Digital Engagement Specialist So many surveys. Often low barrier, this is a technique to…
Building Rapport, Quickly
January 18, 2022by Naomi Devine, Senior Designer + Digital Engagement Specialist Establishing rapport (developing the positive relationships between a facilitator and participants,…
A quick, but powerful, tip for building rapport while learning to decide as a group
November 22, 2021by Naomi Devine, Senior Designer + Digital Engagement Specialist One of the first challenges any facilitator has, when working with…
Is this meeting swab worthy?
November 4, 2021by Jessica Delaney, Principal, Engagement + Strategic Communications Different regions are in different places with the pandemic and increasingly, many…
Delaney Confidence Series – Spotlight on Communications for Engagement
October 13, 2021by Jessica Delaney, Principal, Engagement + Strategic Communications In much of our training, we focus on differentiating clearly between communications…
Your Reality is Only Your Own
October 6, 2021by Jessica Delaney, Principal, Engagement + Strategic Communications A few weeks back, I was in a Zoom meeting with 15…
Delaney Micro Credentials: Back to School and Oh So Cool
September 16, 2021by Valerie Delaney, Principal, Learning + Development Ok, don’t tell me it’s just me. I loved getting achievement badges in…
The Long-Haul of Cycling and Engagement
September 7, 2021by Jessica Delaney, Principal, Engagement and Strategic Communications Twenty years ago (now I am dating myself) I taught spinning classes.…
Living in Wildfire Country
July 27, 2021by Jessica Delaney, Principal, Engagement + Strategic Communications Living in the Okanagan I’m used to it being hot, but this…
Continuous Improvement
April 9, 2021by Richard Delaney, President It starts with knowing things could be better. What comes next is intention, combined with follow…
Words are important…they can wound or they can heal
March 15, 2021by Richard Delaney, President, Delaney, the engagement people Dear Professional Engagement Colleagues: Canada’s history and current relationship with Indigenous Peoples…
Beyond Impacts: Sharing Information to Unlock the Power of Community
March 10, 2021by Jessica Delaney, Principal, Engagement + Strategic Communications Lately the Delaney team has been supporting a number of housing projects…
An Anniversary: My last in-person engagement
February 24, 2021by Jessica Delaney, Principal, Engagement + Strategic Communications It was February 27, 2020…my last in-person engagement. It was a great…
Values and Engagement: When the rubber hits the road
February 2, 2021by Jessica Delaney, Principal, Strategic Communications + Engagement It seems to be the time of year when organizations are rethinking…
Top Three Training Trends for 2021
January 18, 2021by Valerie Delaney, Principal, Learning + Development This was a challenging year for so many and in so many ways.…
Engagement Forecast 2021
January 5, 2021by Jessica Delaney, Principal, Engagement + Strategic Communications Every year, we do an engagement outlook or forecast looking to see…
Out with the old! Cracking the code on stellar engagement planning
October 8, 2020by Richard Delaney, President, Delaney, the engagement people It’s an exciting time for engagement worldwide. The international organization that stewards…
The Comfort Zone
September 28, 2020by Valerie Delaney, Principal, Learning + Engagement A painted rock on our beach trail says, “A comfort zone is a…
Active Listening: The New Superpower
September 23, 2020by Jessica Delaney, Principal, Engagement + Strategic Communications Really listening, cutting out the noise of social media, other people and one’s…
Excellence is An Inside Job
September 10, 2020by Valerie Delaney, Principal, Learning + Development We have just completed our fourth Delaney Virtual Academy for the iap2 Planning…
The Sign of the Time – Change
August 28, 2020by Brenda Kortekaas, Specialist, Learning + Development In the last few years, Ottawa and area is becoming known for tornado…
Online learning: the Co-delivery Model
August 21, 2020by Valerie Delaney, Principal, Learning + Development We’ve been loving training co-delivery here at Delaney for many years. Richard and…
Operating Values: Virtually and In-Person
August 19, 2020by Jessica Delaney, Principal, Strategic Communications and Engagement Have you ever had an interaction with someone and you thought: “wow,…
Should we access our in-house resources or hire an engagement consultant?
July 22, 2020by Kristi Merilees, Director, Engagement and Communications Increasingly, organizations are recognizing the value of allocating resources to community and stakeholder…
More great news about Delaney online training!
July 16, 2020by Valerie Delaney, Principal, Learning + Development Delaney is delivering its third iap2 Planning for Effective Public Participation Virtual Academy…
Virtual IAP2 Training
July 6, 2020by Jessica Delaney, Principal, Engagement + Strategic Communications In mid-June I delivered my first virtual IAP2 Planning course. It wasn’t…
The hidden power of audio for online engagement
June 17, 2020by Naomi Devine, Senior Designer and Digital Engagement Specialist No, I won’t likely start my video, so please stop asking.…
Let’s engage, let’s do a survey
May 28, 2020by Danielle Armengaud, Specialist, Research and Communications How often have you heard engagement and a survey be joined as if…
Engagement with Deaf, Deaf-Blind and Hard of Hearing Stakeholders during the Time of COVID-19
May 19, 2020by Emina Dervisevic, Director, Engagement + Communications As you all might have guessed, the global pandemic has affected the world…
Not a hot mess; A spicy disaster
April 28, 2020by Jessica Delaney, Principal, Engagement + Communications I recently read this title on a serving spoon and laughed out loud.…
Be Kind, Be Calm, Be Safe… and stay connected
April 16, 2020by Jessica Delaney, Principal, Engagement + Communications Dr. Bonnie Henry has been a clear leader during these challenging times. She…
Engagement Techniques for You and Your Family During COVID-19
April 9, 2020by Jessica Delaney, Principal, Engagement + Communications During “normal” times, I would be looking at a busy training calendar and…
Workbook: How to Engage with Your Kids During COVID-19
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During Normal Times…
April 2, 2020by Jessica Delaney, Principal, Engagement + Communications If we were not in the COVID-19 period and life were “normal”, I…
What’s Next?
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Making a Schedule and Managing the Minutes
March 31, 2020by Jessica Delaney, Principal, Engagement + Communications Today is the first day of virtual school for my little ones. They…
Health + Wealth during COVID-19
March 29, 2020by Jessica Delaney, Principal, Engagement + Communications I have been home and stayed home for more than two weeks. It…
Engagement Reflections during COVID-19
March 24, 2020by Jessica Delaney, Principal, Engagement + Communications It’s an interesting time and by that I mean panicked, lonely, unsure, fearful……
Welcome Kristi!
March 8, 2020by Kristi Merilees, Director, Engagement + Communications I have always been happiest in a team environment where there is an…
Engagement in the Age of COVID-19
March 3, 2020by Jessica Delaney, Principal, Engagement + Communications For those of us in engagement, human connection is our life blood. We…
Engagement Best Practices – Lessons Learned
February 23, 2020by Emina Dervisevic, Director, Engagement + Communications In 2019, one of my most interesting projects tasked me with research of…
Trust: The Currency of Deep Engagement
January 27, 2020by Jessica Delaney, Principal, Strategic Communications + Engagement We do a lot of engagement where the sponsor of the process…
2020 Engagement Forecast
December 18, 2019by Jessica Delaney, Principal, Engagement & Communications One of our annual traditions is the Delaney + Associates engagement forecast, where…
Change and Flexibility – How Pliable are we?
October 23, 2019by Brenda Kortekaas, Community of Practice Coordinator “Change is inevitable. Growth is optional.” Quote by John C Maxwell I find…
Treat Yourself Like a Dog
October 16, 2019by Jessica Delaney, Principal, Engagement + Communications I am not sure about anyone else, but it’s a really crazy season…
Less than 90 Days
October 8, 2019by Jessica Delaney, Principal, Engagement + Communications So, we are in the home stretch of 2019. For me, it hasn’t…
Joining the Delaney Team
October 2, 2019While I have known Richard and Valerie Delaney for several years and Brenda Kortekaas even longer, I have not really…
The ONE Thing
September 13, 2019by Jessica Delaney, Principal, Engagement + Communications I recently was listening to a podcast with guest Jay Papasan who co-wrote…
Engaging Those Who Get It
July 31, 2019by Jessica Delaney, Principal, Engagement + Communications I recently heard a new term that caught my attention: neurodiversity. The term…
Choice and Influence
July 24, 2019by Jessica Delaney, Principal, Engagement + Communications So, in our house, the paint debate continues. My six year old is…
4Hs and Goodnight
July 16, 2019by Jessica Delaney, Principal, Engagement + Communications I am a mom. I think I’ve mentioned that it’s the hardest job…
Finding Balance in the Details
July 10, 2019by Brenda Kortekaas, Community of Practice Coordinator Delaney + Associates receive many compliments in our training exit surveys regarding our…
The Power of Smell
July 2, 2019by Jessica Delaney, Principal, Engagement + Communications Recently, in training and workshops I have been facilitating, I have used essential…
Engaging in Summer
June 26, 2019Engaging in Summer by Jessica Delaney, Principal, Engagement + Communications Maybe it’s because of winter, but Canadians appreciate summer. We…
You Matter in Your Practice
June 20, 2019You Matter in Your Practice by Jessica Delaney, Principal, Engagement + Communications This week I am delivering the Facilitating Engagement…
What If…
June 5, 2019What if… By Jessica Delaney, Principal, Engagement + Communications For years now, I have wanted to launch an online store.…
Hell Yeah, Heck No and Engagement
May 28, 2019Hell Yeah, Heck No and Engagement By Jessica Delaney, Principal, Engagement + Communications I was recently listening the Tim Ferris…
Habits and the Engagement Practitioner
May 22, 2019Habits and the Engagement Practitioner By Jessica Delaney, Principal, Engagement + Communications I just started reading James Clear’s Atomic Habits.…
Happiness Equation
May 15, 2019By Jessica Delaney, Principal, Engagement + Communications Neil Pasricha’s book, the Happiness Equation: Want Nothing + Do Anything = Have…
The Spectrum and my home office
May 9, 2019By Jessica Delaney, Principal, Engagement + Communications Recently, I was painting my home office and narrowed it down to five…
Being the Calm in the Storm
May 2, 2019By Jessica Delaney, Principal, Engagement + Communications I recently saw this image on social media right around the time my…
Technique Focus – The Bridge
April 17, 2019By Jessica Delaney, Principal - Engagement + Communications, at Delaney + Associates, and Tanya Gadsby, Creative Director + Graphic Facilitator, at Fuselight…
Mentorship: How to Collectively Grow
April 17, 2019I am currently volunteering as part of IAP2 Canada’s Mentorship program. The program began in January, runs until June, and…
Being Your Own HERO
April 2, 2019On a recent flight on Air Canada, I took a quick read of an EnRoute article entitled: Can Travel Transform…
Directed Storytelling + Journey Mapping for Deep Engagement (and better service design)
October 11, 2018A key question in my practice is this: “how do I continue to bring a creative approach to engaging and…Tweets of Note…
October 10, 2018There is, of course, no substitute for attending events in person. But a little digital engagement can go a long…
Engagement in the Age of “Truth Decay”
October 10, 2018Polarization. Confirmation bias. Fake news. What does it mean to be a neutral, third-party engagement practitioner and facilitator in the…
Informed Humility: Research, and Still Know that You Don’t Know (everything)
October 10, 2018I said it during a course just a few weeks back: “We need to aim for informed humility”. I’ve since…
NCI Charrette Blog Day 3: It’s All About Flow
November 17, 2017This is the final installment in our blog series about the National Charrette Institute (NCI) certificate program. Click here for…
NCI Charrette Blog Day 1: Getting Ready to Engage
November 14, 2017The Vancouver D+A team is taking charrette training this week with the National Charrette Institute (NCI), and we're blogging each…
Webinar: An Organization-Wide Approach to Engagement
October 24, 2017If you are a project manager, a communications specialist, a business/policy analyst, a program evaluation specialist, a planner, or you…
Featured Technique: Charrette
September 25, 2017Delaney + Associates is excited to host the National Charrette Institute in Vancouver Nov. 14-16 to deliver its certificate training…
Explore Your ‘Culture of Consultation’ in Upcoming Webinar
September 25, 2017Are you currently developing a community engagement plan? Considering how you engage with your clients and stakeholders? Perhaps developing or…
What’s (Not) New in P2: Challenge of Closing the Loop
May 5, 2017Healthcare is one of Delaney + Associates' areas of expertise, and patient engagement – and increasing patient engagement – across…
Featured Technique: Future-State Action Bridge
May 5, 2017The context: In engagement processes that involve group problem-solving and future planning, it can be easy for participants – and…By Design: Bringing Intention to Engagement Design
March 23, 2017I recently read an article about an organization working to establish their culture by design rather than by default. Their…
Tips for Neutral Communication
January 25, 2017In our two previous blogs on communicating in the post-truth era, I focused on how to communicate in emotionally-charged environments…
Tips for Communicating to Support Broader Engagement
January 23, 2017This is the second in a three-part series on communicating in the "post-truth" era. Read the first part here. What…Communicating in the Post-Truth Era: A Three-Part Special
January 20, 2017In our January newsletter, I shared my top three engagement trends for 2017. One of them included the oversimplification of…
Featured Technique: Problem Flow Diagrams
January 5, 2017The context As we move into the New Year, and an era of increasing public engagement efforts by organizations and…
Day 11: Build Relationships Through Authentic Engagement
December 22, 2016Imagine this: We sometimes tell clients not to engage. Why? Because if you cannot engage authentically, then it’s better not…Day 10: Shared Values Yield Compromise for Consensus
December 21, 2016There are positions, interests and values in the world of stakeholders. When focused on positions, two parties are furthest apart. It’s…
Day 9: Create Brilliant Process, Beginning with the End in Mind
December 20, 2016Many of the principles that we covered last week come together today. By carefully following each of the previous…Day 7: Create an Environment of No Surprises
December 16, 2016Except for at Christmas time, and maybe the occasional birthday, most people don’t like surprises – particularly in an engagement…Day 5: Engage on Process Before Content
December 14, 2016Jumping right into the pool, cutting fresh tracks, or launching yourself into the IKEA ball room: these are all things…Day 2: Never Guess
December 9, 2016This is part of an ongoing series exploring Delaney + Associates’ top 10 engagement tips, also known as our Company…‘12 Days’ Blog Series: Principles of Engagement
December 8, 2016The holidays are here again, and so is the D+A 12 Days of Christmas blog series, full of engagement tips,…A Case for Investing in Engagement
November 16, 2016Fact: Public participation is on the rise. It’s a growing field with increasing interest across many sectors. We see in…