Participant Management Approaches

💡 From One-Offs to Research Strategy: Building a Scalable Participant Ecosystem Early-stage research often looks like this: ❓ “Anyone know a [type of user] we can talk to?” 📢 A call for participants on LinkedIn 📅 A calendar scramble 🎁 A gift card email (forgotten until someone reminds you) It works once. Maybe twice. But as research becomes core to product strategy, this ad hoc model breaks down. A scalable participant ecosystem is what separates reactive teams from truly insight-driven ones. This ecosystem has a few key attributes: ✅ Searchable & segmented Your panel should be structured—not just a spreadsheet of names. Segment participants by user type, product tier, geography, behaviors, or even feature usage. It will help you quickly find perfect candidates for your research task. For example, if you’re testing a new onboarding flow, you will be able to instantly filter for new users within the last 30 days. ✅ Consent & communication-ready Participants should opt in with clear expectations about data use, follow-up communication, and incentives. This enables longitudinal research and follow-ups without legal or ethical friction. Good platforms handle this automatically, ensuring compliance while giving users control over their preferences. ✅ Operationalized logistics Manual coordination kills momentum. Instead of chasing emails or manually filling calendars, use scheduling links that integrate with your team’s availability. Automate reminders, reschedule flows, and incentive payouts—whether that’s sending a gift card or issuing a research honorarium. ✅ Trackable history Every participant interaction adds context. Who’s been interviewed already? What was the study about? Did they show up? Were they insightful? Keeping this information logged helps prevent over-contact, ensures diversity of perspective, and lets you identify high-quality contributors. Over time, you build an internal knowledge base of trusted voices you can return to. Tools like User Interviews (https://lnkd.in/dtVvsDPH) can help you build these foundations quickly. You can use it to centralize recruitment, streamline scheduling, and manage incentives at scale. The beauty of this tool is that once you launch a study, its moving parts largely run themselves. When research is this embedded, it stops being a bottleneck—and becomes a multiplier. 🖼️ Pros and cons of different research recruiting methods by User Interviews #UX #research #uxresearch #design #productdesign

Facilitation ... involving those not there   It happens. A staff team or a board of directors set a session and then, for valid reasons, some members cannot attend. I recently facilitated two strategic planning sessions for a non-profit society in which this happened. They decided that a hybrid session was not feasible.   😁 What did I and the participants do to help the absent members understand and affirm the decisions made at the first session or feel comfortable revising them? 😃 What did we do to help the participants who attended the first session feel that their work was honored and still consider changes?   ➡ Session 1: Nine board and staff members attended the first strategic planning session, with seven absentee members. Using the strategic planning process from Technology of Participation, we developed five-year goals, identified strengths helping and challenges hindering the goals, and developed initial strategies. Participants left feeling energized and part of a dynamic team. One said, “I am amazed at how much we accomplished and with such unity in such a short time.”   ➡ Session 2: Three weeks later, we reconvened for a second session, with seven original members and seven new faces. What happened? We had a candid and positive discussion about the work from the first session with all participants openly saying what they agreed with and what should change. The group affirmed most of the decisions; only changing several goals.   ✅ Why did the second session go so smoothly? We intentionally involved the absentee participants.   1️⃣ Contact the absent participants and explain the discussions and decisions from the first session. 2️⃣ Send a session report and ask them to review and think about the decisions. 3️⃣ Send a worksheet with review questions. I used the ORID Conversation Method (ToP) to structure questions. a.    What questions of clarification do you have? b.    What caught your attention? c.     What are you pleased about? d.    What are you concerned about? e.    What do you agree with? f.      What needs to change? g.    What will you talk about at the session?   4️⃣ Open the second session with a conversation to involve all participants: 🔹 What stood out in the report from the first session? 🔹 What do you like when you read it for the first time or as a participant in creating it? 🔹 What concerned you? 🔹 What do you affirm? 🔹 What needs to change?   5️⃣ Encourage all participants to see the absentee members as providing “second thoughts” about the decisions. Encourage dissent as well as consent. 6️⃣ Take time to discuss the decisions from the first session. During the second session, participants debated the decisions for 2½ hours; time well spent.   Involving absentee team and board members in decisions is possible! Design this aspect of facilitation as carefully as you design the sessions. Participants and you will feel happy and successful! #facilitation #strategicplanning #engage #inclusion

Don’t do this.🚫 A friend recently asked me for advice on how to run an offsite retreat. I've noticed many groups dive right in to the substance, kicking off the day with sessions and activities. 🚫 I used to do that, too, because time is limited and we want to make the most of it. But I’ve found that starting with a “participants agreement” makes the day run so much more smoothly. A “participants agreement” (or whatever you like to call it) draws into sharp focus HOW the group will behave with each other. Most people focus on the WHY (the purpose) and the WHAT (the agenda), but a higher-level experience comes when there’s intentionality around the HOW. Here’s what our agreements usually include: 💬 Active Participation: Be fully present and engaged. ⏰ Mindful Timekeeping: Start on time, end on time. 🤝 Respect for Different Perspectives: Consider all opinions, experiences, and ideas. 🗣️ No Interruptions: One person speaks at a time. 💡Get creative: Try problem-solving, not just problem-explaining. ✅ Accountability: Hold yourself and others accountable for following the participants' agreement and delivering on the day's decisions. We record these on a flip chart and display them so everyone can refer back throughout the day. Bonus points if you co-create this before the event. It sets the tone right from the start! Double points if you can weave your group's values into it. The Lesson: Don’t start playing the game without agreeing on the ground rules. Question: How do you set expectations at the beginning of your gatherings? Share your tips in the comments! 👇 #TipTuesday

You said it was participatory. They said it was a waste of time. This is a great resource on how to fix that by... Defining Participation Clearly → Not all participation means decision-making. Clarify whether you’re informing, consulting, involving, collaborating, or empowering—and communicate that to stakeholders from the start. Identifying Stakeholders Strategically → Map influence and interest. Don't just invite the usual suspects. Consider community voices, marginalised groups, and those directly affected—not just the loudest or most powerful. Involving Them Early—and Often → Late-stage consultations feel performative. Involve stakeholders from design through implementation and learning—not just at the review stage. Matching Methods to the Context → Use the right tool for the right job. A town hall might work in one setting; in another, focus groups or community liaisons might be more appropriate. Creating Safe Spaces to Speak Up → Power dynamics matter. Use breakout groups, anonymous input, or community-led facilitation to ensure everyone—not just the confident few—gets heard. Closing the Feedback Loop → Tell people what you did with their input. Stakeholder fatigue often stems from never seeing their ideas reflected in the outcome. Evaluating Participation Quality, Not Just Quantity → Go beyond “# of participants.” Ask: Who spoke? Who felt heard? What shifted as a result? Sharing Decision-Making Power Where Possible → Involve stakeholders in setting agendas, defining success, and shaping implementation—not just reacting to plans already made. This isn’t about more meetings. It’s about meaningful inclusion that leads to better outcomes. #StakeholderParticipation 🔔 Follow me for similar content

Clients often ask me how they can engage participants in learning programmes to ultimately get better Return on Investment. One of the most powerful ways is to invite participants to take a different role to "consumer". If they are only consuming what others have provided, they will be more likely to be passive, distracted, or even absent. What are the alternatives? ✨ Co-creation ✨ ⛔ Don't assume the training provider and HR/L&D know best and should design and own the programme. ✅ Do invite participants and other meaningful stakeholders to co-create the learning so they feel a sense of ownership and know that the learning will be tailored and relevant to their expressed needs. ✨ Invitation ✨ ⛔ Don't expect participants to just turn up at a learning event and be engaged. ✅ Think carefully about how participants are invited and welcomed before they attend a learning event. The positioning can make the difference between them expecting to be passive consumers versus active participants, and their sense of value from participating. ✨ Effective learning ✨ ⛔ Don't introduce a concept once, in one way only. ✅ Do introduce concepts and then keep revisiting them in different ways. Can a discussion later be reinforced through a Q&A with a senior leader (which also brings a different perspective) and then later be applied through a scenario or case study? This multi-modal, experiential learning and spaced repetition is a powerful way of engaging participants and helping the embedding and transfer of learning. There are so many more ways, of course, but these are a starting point. What would you add? What have you found to be successful? 👇 #LearningAndDevelopment #Learning #LeadershipDevelopment #Training #PeopleDevelopment Image credit: Mapbox on Unsplash.

Don't let reactive enrollment strategies become a burden on your clinical trial! The traditional "pay later" approach of scrambling to fill slots at the last minute leads to delays, missed opportunities, and significant financial strain. Every day lost translates to millions wasted. 𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲'𝘀 𝗮 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘄𝗮𝘆! Invest upfront ("pay now") in building awareness and trust with potential participants. Engage with patient advocacy groups, develop educational materials, and collaborate with research sites. By the time your trial launches, you'll have a pool of informed and engaged individuals ready to participate. This proactive approach leads to: 𝗙𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗲𝗻𝗿𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁: Meet goals sooner, saving time and money. 𝗜𝗻𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗱𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝘁𝘆: Reach a wider range of participants for more impactful results. 𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗱 𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲: Empower patients and foster a positive view of research. Let's transform enrollment from a hurdle to an opportunity! #clinicalresearch #clinicaltrials #patients #innovation #healthcare ______ I help small biotech and biopharma companies overcome enrollment challenges| Insightful Intellect Comment or DM to learn more.