While the principles outline the vision, and underlying truths to guide behaviour during an engagement, and the ways of engaging provide different approaches, the standards establish a shared expectation.
Below are standards that provide guidelines of expected behaviour from a public servant when they are dealing with external stakeholders.
The Australian Public Service is expected to:
Define the objective
Clearly define the engagement’s objectives, which may include understanding the problem and what expertise should be tapped.
Choose the right approach
Make sure the way of engaging matches the problem at hand.
Manage expectations
Be honest about what is on the table. That is, what is yet to be decided and what has already been decided.
Choose the right people for the job
Ensure participants with suitable expertise, skills and knowledge are being engaged for the problem.
Be transparent
Explain the objectives and process to participants at the outset.
Provide sufficient information
Ensure information that is essential to participants’ roles is made available to them.
Provide opportunities to be heard
Be inclusive and ensure diverse voices are heard - not just the loudest, eg: use plain English, offer multiple feedback channels, proactively seek appropriate participants and remove barriers to participation.
Understand all views
Ensure the views presented are fairly considered at the decision making stage.
Close the loop
Explain how participants’ contributions were taken into account in a timely manner.
Continuous improvement based on feedback
Ensure that there is a feedback mechanism to capture lessons learnt.