Learning Lessons: Improving Project Success through Effective Communication and Participation

Abstract

Communication, specifically one that is participatory, is essential in all facets of development work. Participatory communication can be defined as a balanced, twoway information sharing wherein information can flow horizontally, vertically, and iteratively. The use of various types of communication media enables stakeholders (i.e., government, the private sector, and civil society) to participate in the development process, and hence, allows them to influence or contribute to the design, implementation, and monitoring of a development activity. Notwithstanding the level of participation, communication can contribute to increasing awareness, fostering behavioral changes, facilitating mobilization, and establishing partnerships in pursuit of common goals. However, the lack of it can also break down negotiations, limit alternatives to addressing problems, constrain benefit distribution of development interventions, lead to marginalization of stakeholders and, ultimately, restrict the attainment of desired outcomes. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has recognized the important role of communication in facilitating development work through its emphasis on participation. ADB’s first guidelines on participation listed communication tools as a first mechanism for facilitating participation. Subsequently, ADB continued to formalize the importance of communication in its 2005 Public Communications Policy. Later in 2006, ADB’s guidance on participation deepened the connection between communications and participation. For example, the 2006 guide suggests developing a communication plan with governments in projects likely to generate a high level of public interest. ADB now defines participation in a framework that includes (i) information generation and sharing, (ii) consultation, (iii) collaboration, and (iv) partnership. Depending on the extent of participation, these approaches are integrated into various processes during project design, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation, covering a continuum of participatory relationships between various stakeholders.