Communication
Good communication is important when a community group works together. It helps everyone understand each other, share ideas clearly, avoid mix ups, and keep things running smoothly. Many volunteers like things to be clear and focused. They don’t like delays, confusing language, or conversations that go round in circles. They want simple, open communication, clear meeting notes, and to see real progress. This helps keep things moving and motivates everyone.
Managing expectations is essential. Being honest about what is and isn’t possible — and explaining the reasons why — helps avoid disappointment, frustration, and conflict. Clear expectations mean fewer surprises and more trust. Small, relational spaces help build bridges. In person gatherings, even very informal ones, create opportunities for real conversation, understanding, and connection. These moments help trust grow and make it easier for people to work together.
After each meeting, it helps to have a short update, written in simple language, that everyone agrees on. This keeps people informed, stops confusion, and saves time later. When people do what they said they would do, it builds trust and shows respect for everyone’s time and effort. It is good to remember that community members may have a personal stake in these updates — and that professionals are people too. A little compassion from everyone goes a long way. Clear, simple, jargon free updates help make sure the wider community stays informed and feels included. When everyone in the group knows what’s happening, it helps prevent gossip, misunderstandings, and unnecessary worry. This openness supports trust and keeps the group working well together.
Develop an Action plan
It is recommended that the group uses a shared action tracker to document and make clear the actions taken away from each meeting.
To list actionable tasks, have an action tracker document which is used at each meeting to divide the tasks and actions for different group members. This will help to clarify what tasks need to be done prior to the next meeting and who is responsible for their completion. Examples of initial tasks for community recruitment groups are:
Identify the budget and resources allocated to the recruitment group, decide frequency of meetings.
Identify each group members role and background e.g. NHS, social care, local council, local community representative.
Team leads of healthcare settings should know their current establishment – liaise with them (or have them join the group) to identify vacancies in local healthcare teams.
Each NHS locality should have a designated accountant that will be able to give staffing posts monthly; Liaise with the local accountant to access this information.
Liaise with your Health Board to ensure access to local-specific vacancy data.
An action tracker template is available here: LINK TO ACTION TRACKER TEMPLATE
Listening to communities
Truly listening to community voices means going beyond the usual volunteers who always step forward. It’s about actively reaching out to quieter, longstanding community members whose insights might not be loud but are incredibly valuable. This means putting in real effort to meet people where they already are — at local events, parent councils, community gatherings, or even in their homes. It takes persistence, warmth, friendliness, and genuinely getting to know people while regularly asking for their views.
It’s important to reach out to the wider community, not just those who are already involved. This might mean chatting with people in everyday places, sharing simple updates in community spaces, or asking for opinions through quick conversations, local groups, or informal networks. Engaging with the wider community helps bring in fresh perspectives and ensures people don’t feel decisions are being made in a small, closed group.
By doing this, you help make sure your coproduction group is truly representative and that you’re hearing from the full range of people in the community. Ongoing conversations and check-ins keep that connection strong and make sure the group’s work stays grounded in real, lived experiences.
Regular Community Consultations
One of the most meaningful ways to make sure a volunteer group truly represents the community is to hold regular community consultations. It is recommended that a group does this because:
Regular community consultations help ensure the volunteer group truly represents the wider community.
They keep communication open and give people simple ways to share views, ask questions, and offer ideas.
Consultations help include more than just the voices of those already involved in the group.
They weave a broader set of community experiences, concerns, and priorities into the coproduction process.
Regular check-ins bring a richer mix of perspectives and lived experiences.
This improves transparency and keeps the work grounded in the real needs and hopes of local people.