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The PAE ATTENTION Framework
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Look Beyond the engagement itself.
Meaningful engagement doesn't happen in isolaton. The people involved, the approach taken, and the environment around the work all shape what engagement can accomplish.
People. Approach. Environment.
People
Approach
The way we engage shapes the experiences for everyone involved and influences both outcomes and perceptions of success.
Who's at the table
PEOPLE
How we engage and work together
Approach
Environment
What shapes the work
Engagement
Context
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Communication / Comfort / Experiences
Incentives / Facilitation / support
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Leaders, constituents, and funders, along with time and financial constraints, shape how engagement is viewed and prioritized, what we can invest, and how much buy-in we can get.
Environment
Pressure / REsources / Mandates
People bring their unique perspectives, which shape how they engage, and can influence outcomes and perceptions of success.
How we Engage Matters.
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The PAE Attention Framework helps us look at the conditions surrounding engagement, not just the engagement activity itself.
It draws attention to three connected factors:
People, Approach, and Environment.
Each can influence how engagement is experienced, what people are able to contribute, and what comes from the process.
The goal isn't to focus on one factor. It's to pay attention to how they influence one another.
What each Part Means
People
Who is involved matters.
People bring their experiences, perspectives, values, knowledge, and expectations to engagement. Who is involved, who feels able to participate, and how people experience the process can shape what engagement produces.
Pay attention to:
Who is participating?
Who isn't?
What experiences and perspectives are shaping the conversation?
Approach
How engagement happens matters.
The way engagement is designed and carried out can shape who participates, what people contribute, and how their input is used. Facilitation, communication, timing, training, and other choices all influence the experience.
Pay attention to:
How is engagement being designed?
What support do people need?
Does the approach fit the purpose?
Environment
The conditions around engagement matter.
Engagement doesn't happen in a vacuum. Organizations priorities, leadership, funding, timelines, resources, policies, and other pressures can influence what engagement looks like and how much attention it receives.
Pay attention to:
What pressures or constraints are present?
What resources are available?
What conditions are shaping the work?
The pieces influence each other.
People, approach, and environment are connected.
A change in one can affct the others. A new approach may require different resources. A shift in the environment may change who can participate. The peope involved may identify a need to rethink how engagement is designed.
We need to
PAE attention
to how these factors influence each other and how they impact our outcomes.
Why It Matters
See the bigger picture
Look beyond the meeting, survey, focus group to understand what is shaping the experience.
Spot what may be
getting in the way
Identify barriers, pressures, and conditions that can affect participation and engagement outcomes.
Design with conext in mind
Use what you learn to shape engagement approaches that fit the people, purpose, and environment.
How we put PAE Attention into practice
We use the PAE Attention Framework as a lens across our work, from program and policy innovation to engagement support, training, research and evaluation. It helps us ask better questions, understand context, and design approaches that are responsive to the people and conditions involved.
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Where the framework comes from
Collective Insight's PAE Attention Framework (McGaffigan, 2011) provides insight into the importance of representative engagement in the design and improvement of systems. Informed by research conducted within the Cash & Counseling long-term services and supports model, the framework provides a strong foundation for understanding and implementing meaningful and effective engagement across a broad range of program, policy, and research activities.
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