What is Engagement?

Recently I had the pleasure of attending a really good conversation hosted by Decode, a consultancy in the innovation and strategy space. They convened a conversation about “engagement” of the market segment that is between the institutions of school and family, ie. the 23-30 age group. It was a really diverse group of people ranging from post-secondary administrators to arts and culture evangelists to a Toronto city councilor. The conversation was held at the Centre for Social Innovation, which is a great place to hold conversations of any type.

I came into the conversation with very little context so when Eric, the convener of the circle, asked an open question of how we could define “engagement” my first reaction (which subsequently came pouring out of my mouth) was imagining a marketing person deciding to use the word as a euphemism for “sell to”. I’m sure you’ve heard some disingenuous person shift their verbiage to “engage” as a result of a consultant telling them that it’s no longer about selling, it’s about “engaging in a conversation with your customers.” I said this knowing that nobody in the conversation actually represented this view, but it got me thinking about the bigger definition of engagement.

Some of the people who were in the room work for large not for profits who rely on the generosity of the community to keep their programs going, so I decided to be a little more provocative by suggesting that looking to “engage” young people still had a hint of “selling” in that engagement to them meant convincing young people to donate their time or money to that particular organization. This “problem” of a lack of engagement is partly what led to this conversation being convened.

I would suggest that volunteering time and money with a large not for profit is a great example of engagement, it’s not the only one. For example, I feel as though spending time with my fellow “free agents”, attending their events, mutual problem solving and working together is an important example of engagement. It’s not within the context of any particular institution but I feel as though it makes my neighbourhood, my city, my community a stronger place.

What does engagement mean to you? Are you engaged? How could you be more engaged?