To effectively update the public on progress, the team must first identify tangible metrics or benchmarks against which it can measure progress and success. In developing a strategy and action plan, the government should clearly outline its goals and objectives, i.e., what success looks like for each specific commitment and overall.
Establish a monitoring body or point person, and create a reporting plan
Determine who will track progress and report on milestones and updates, along with their reporting structure. This responsibility can be led by the core team or handed over to a staff member from one of the departments responsible for implementing the actions under the formal action plan. In addition, these roles can be split and organized based on the hierarchy or distribution of responsibilities for implementation. For example, if a particular department is chiefly responsible for one or more pieces of an action plan, assign someone from that department to communicate updates to a particular member of the core team, who then reports those updates to core team colleagues or municipal leadership.
Each individual must clearly understand their role and responsibilities for monitoring, such as:
- What are they expected to report on? How much of this information is already produced or communicated by the administration, and what information will be new?
- When should they provide these reports and to whom? Is a weekly report reasonable, or is a monthly report more reasonable (especially with regard to longer-term deliverables)?
- What format should be used? Is a verbal update at an in-person meeting (perhaps the core team meets regularly to oversee implementation) sufficient, or should a written update be provided via a more formal channel?
As information is communicated and conveyed to the core team, leadership, council committee or those responsible for implementing the action plan, how and when will this information be shared with the public (as a part of closing the loop, Step 9)? The core team and those responsible for monitoring the implementation of actions under the plan should convene at regular intervals (monthly or every three months, for example) to compile reports and updates that can be shared with leadership (to address issues with implementation) or shared with the public (if tangible milestones have been achieved, or at relevant intervals in the year, such as before summer holidays and the end of the calendar or fiscal year).
Establish metrics to measure success and report on implementation
Consider here the data you will collect to determine whether the goal is reached, and to verify progress. Who will collect the data, who will report it, and how will the public and civil society be able to access it? There may be formal or informal obstacles to how open and transparent the local authority is (or the local administration is familiar with operating).
How will you monitor and communicate updates to the public? Design your reporting mechanism and regularly update it as a part of your public reporting process. Consider the following examples:
- Social media page for each big project: Creating a dedicated page for large projects will allow you to provide a steady stream of updates without crowding the main feed or channel of the local authority. Posting regular updates and checking the inbox regularly will allow people most interested in the project to stay informed and create an easy way for them to get in touch.
- Regular site visits: Regularly visiting the site of a construction or infrastructure-related project will help keep the team informed of actual progress (and photos of the visit can be used to update the social media page with pictures of the current situation).
- Regular neighborhood gatherings and listening sessions: These can be informal or formal meetings where the community can receive updates, ask questions and provide feedback on a topic, issue or project. Bringing along representatives of the team monitoring the process and the team in charge of implementation can help to understand issues that arise, answer questions on the spot and have a meaningful exchange with residents.
- Publicly displayed charts with clear steps for commitments: These can be printed or digital but should indicate to the resident the “what” and “by when” of each commitment.
Core team members and leadership should be aware of information silos and obstacles to sharing information, data and updates that may need to be proactively and formally addressed. For example, these silos (where information is not being shared) may be the result of formal rules, informal practice, or simply the difficulty of knowing how and whom to ask for specific information. The result is that it may be difficult, time-consuming or contentious to receive data on expenses, levels of service delivery or other information about implementation in the absence of explicit requests or permissions. As implementation gets underway, the core team should take the time to identify these silos and address them ahead of time. First, the obstacles to internal information sharing will need to be addressed. Second, the core team should work to address any obstacles to sharing information with the public (allowing them to be open and transparent about actions taken toward achieving residents’ priorities).
These silos can be addressed by modifying procedures or by issuing clear requests and mandates that specific or relevant information be proactively shared with or made available to the core team or monitoring body. These authorizations may need to come from the mayor or local council and should be considered alongside the authorizations of the formal action plan in 8.2.