How to get involved in a challenge conversation

Your challenge has launched and is gaining momentum. You’re already checking in regularly to see how things are going and to moderate your users’ ideas and comments, so it’s a great time to also get involved in the conversation.

Adding comments in Dialogue benefits both you and your challenge users. It helps you to get more information, but also shows your users that this is a genuine conversation that you’re really listening and responding to.

We know this can be a bit daunting, so here are some tips to make it work.

Comment in a light-hearted way

People really respond to an organisation when it communicates in a human way. Be friendly and approachable - remember that you're asking for help from your users. Decide on your tone of voice beforehand and make sure this is used by all challenge admins and moderators.

Be engaged

Have a look at the conversation and:

• Comment on great ideas that are getting a lot of positive responses
• Ask for more information on ideas with potential
• Highlight strong ideas that are being neglected.

Letting your users know that you’re engaged in the challenge brings it to life and demonstrates to them that their contributions are valued.

Provide information

It's likely that your organisation has done a lot of things that people don't know about, and you may get some suggestions of things that you already do or plan to do. Add a comment to let people know about it - it’s a useful opportunity for all visitors to your challenge site to learn about your work, not just the user who submitted the idea. This approach can be particularly helpful for putting forward a positive response to a negative comment.

Link ideas

If a respondent submits an idea identical to an earlier idea, it’s a good idea to make a comment pointing this out and then lock the later idea. This ensures that all ratings and comments are directed at the original idea rather than divided between the two.

Yes, you might get some negative ideas and comments during your challenge. But it’s really likely that you’ll also get fascinating, insightful and creative ideas that you wouldn’t have thought of. Engaging with your challenge can help it to thrive, and help participants to see the human face of your organisation.

And a final tip for a quiet challenge…

If your Dialogue challenge has launched and no-one is engaging, adding a few interesting ideas yourself can get things started. People can be reluctant to be the first to participate - it’s often easier to join an existing conversation. Many Dialogue users make it clear to participants that they’ve done this: they use an organisation-related user name and explain on their challenge page that they’ve seeded the challenge with a few introductory suggestions.