Fast facts

Tool: co-word fast check

This decision making tool has five quick questions to help you choose the best-fit word to describe the level of participation in your project 

Questions by Better Together Collective and morgan&co to align with contemporary participation ladders, scales and spectrums.

You are free to use and share under the terms of creative commons licence.

This means that : We encourage you to share this material widely. You must give appropriate credit, link to the licence and state if you made changes. You may do so in any reasonable manner but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use. You may not use the material for commercial purposes.

What it’s about

When working with people and communities, it’s important to make sure the word you use to describe your approach is the right fit for what you’ll be doing together.

When governments, organisations and project teams use co-words and concepts interchangeably, they lose their meaning. It causes confusion and risks harm. You need to accurately describe your approach (eg. co-design), be honest about what is possible, and clear about any limitations. 

This tool is for

• those working collaboratively or in partnership with people with lived experience and communities

• senior executives and funders to understand what should be happening when they promise co-words (eg. co-design, co-production or community led), partnerships or other participatory ways of working.

Use this tool 

• before starting/ in the planning phase to check that the word you are using fits what it is that you plan to do or can actually do 

•  to sense check work you’ve already started and make adjustments or plans to do better next time.

What this tool isn’t

This decision making tool is not a cover all. It’s intended to provide high level guidance rather than specific advice. We won’t gather or store any of your personal information. 

How it works

👉🏼 go to this link here

👉🏼 answer five fast-check questions about your project or engagement

👉🏼 your answers will lead you to some thinking points aligned to public participation spectrum guidelines, some example words that could fit your description of the work, and suggests some ways to level up if you wish to. 

Takeaway

Use this tool to identify the words that would most accurately describe your work. You’ll be confident that the word you are using to describe it is fit for purpose and credible.