Cultivate the Relationship First

When developing a relationship with a stakeholder, cultivate your relationship with the person before asking for their ideas, help, and time. Strive to move at the pace of trust. Focus first on getting to know people rather than getting to know problems. Build empathy by focusing on what matters to the person you will be working with.

Prioritize Small Improvements

Thoughtful civic design might offer a small, seemingly trivial, but impactful change. One approach to civic design is to look for many opportunities to make definite, even incremental short-term improvements to the ways that people experience a civic issue. On their own, each small improvement might feel trivial, but (a) try not to lose track of the fact that small changes can meaningfully improve a person’s life, and (b) each small opportunity for improvement might point toward bigger opportunities to make lasting improvement as well as (c) root causes underlying the challenge.

Be Appreciative

Time is valuable. When you request something from stakeholders, remember that you are asking for their time and energy. While you and your team are working to address meaningful civic issues that may matter to the stakeholder, be grateful when they offer their time and energy. You might demonstrate your appreciation by writing thank you notes, by responding promptly when stakeholders raise questions, and by paying attention to them.