We believe that having conversations is the best way to create change in ourselves and within others. We know that many people do not feel comfortable or confident to share feedback or contribute to physical meetings or in-person situations. Clever Together Conversations give people a place to share their views freely and honestly, so even the quieter voices can be heard.

We aim to create a safe(r) and open environment where people feel free to share their honest thoughts and feelings without fear of being judged based on their identity. Our Facilitation team are responsible for moderating and facilitating the conversation to help achieve this.

In order to create a space where participants feel safe whilst allowing for often difficult, and sometimes contentious, conversations to be had, we have some simple Ground Rules and Guidelines.

Take a few moments to familiarise yourself with these before getting into the conversation.

Ground Rules

1. Keep it anonymous

The platform is for anonymous contributions. To keep everyone safe, posts that contain identifying or personal information are not allowed. This includes names, contact details, phone numbers, addresses or any other personal information.

Any contributions that make it possible to identify someone, even if their name is not used, are also not allowed. For example, referring to somebody by their job title and department might make it possible to identify that person. If you think you recognise someone from their comments or the comments of others, please help keep their identity safe by reporting the comment. 

2. Keep it respectful

Please be respectful whilst taking part in the Conversation. This is a place for all voices and opinions to be heard, and disagreements are welcomed – just don’t let it get personal. Please keep your comments about the topic at hand, rather than the person or people you disagree with. Avoid generalising groups of people with sweeping statements, rather recognise that each group or community is made up of unique individuals.

We do not tolerate racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, ageism, or anything that might be interpreted as hate speech or discrimination. Statements of intent to commit violence or advocate for violence are also prohibited.

Avoid using language that others may find offensive. We have a profanity filter in place which will automatically flag potentially offensive contributions to the Facilitators.

3. Keep it relevant

Clever Together Conversations have specific goals and will be more successful if you keep your contributions on-topic. Do not post spam or irrelevant links to external sites. We do not allow irrelevant, inappropriately commercial, promotional, or gratuitously repetitive messages or images. Please do not post the same thing multiple times – we read all contributions, so there is no need.

4. Keep it legal

We do not allow contributions that discuss the committal, or intent or wish to commit, illegal activities or to coerce others into doing so.

Reporting a contribution 

If you see something that breaks these rules or makes you feel unsafe, you can report it by clicking on the ‘Report’ button (see below). This will flag it to the Facilitators who will take appropriate action. Read on to find out more about what kinds of actions we might take.

How We Enforce the Ground Rules

All contributions are read by the Facilitators who will enforce the Ground Rules and carefully consider how to handle rule breaches. The Facilitators will always let the author of a contribution know if they decide to act (done via email, anonymously through our platform). Your anonymity will not be compromised unless the Clever Together Facilitation team have concerns over your safety or the safety of others. Some steps we may take to enforce the rules are:

• Issuing warnings – we would always prefer to have a friendly conversation to remind an author about the rules (emails are sent through our platform without revealing the author’s identity)
• Modifying or redacting contributions 
• Removing a contribution entirely (we do this very rarely)
• Suspending accounts (for serious breaches or repeated offensives after receiving friendly warnings)
• Escalation to relevant bodies/groups where there is a safeguarding concern

 If you disagree with a decision we made regarding a contribution you made, you can email us on facilitation@clevertogether.com to discuss it with us.

Guidelines

Practical tips

 First, some practical tips to keep the conversation running smoothly.

Avoid acronyms and jargon

Remember that participants are coming from a wide variety of backgrounds, professions, and departments, and not everyone knows the meaning of every acronym or the specific jargon of your role. It will only take a few extra seconds to write it out fully, and doing so will help everyone to better understand your point.

Keep it tidy and on-topic

There is a search bar at the top which can be used to see if a conversation on the topic you’d like to discuss has already been started. We recommend you do this before publishing a new Idea; contributing to an existing discussion rather than creating a new one on the same topic will help add depth to the conversation and allow you to interact with others who are interested in the same topic.

Avoid adding comments to a discussion that are not about the topic at hand – this can derail the conversation and your contributions can get lost. Use the search bar to find the relevant place or add your own Idea if it’s not already there.

Similarly, if you have multiple topics you wish to discuss, please publish these as separate Ideas rather than combining them in one. For example, if you have an idea for how to make your workplace fit for purpose by improving the staff rooms, and you also have an idea about improving the canteen, post two separate Ideas so that people can engage with each and make it clear which Idea others are responding to. The Facilitators may decide to split up Ideas if they do spot any that contain multiple separate points.

Identify what you are responding to

 If you want to respond to a specific comment on an Idea, you might like to start by signalling which comment you are responding to, e.g. 

 “In response to the comment about the staff rooms…”

 Or 

 “I agree that the staff rooms need to be repainted. We could also do with some more chairs.”

How to have a good Conversation

Clever Together Conversations are quite different to other ways of communicating, so we’ve put together some simple advice to help everyone get the most out of it. Read on for our top tips for having a productive and enjoyable discussion on our platform.

Enter with an open mind and good will

Our Conversations are about listening to each other and making an effort to understand opinions that are different to our own. We are not keeping score and we’re not interested in being ‘right’ or ‘wrong’. We encourage you to enter with an open mind and be willing to consider things from different perspectives. Can we find common ground, even when we disagree on some things? We are never all going to agree on everything (that’s what makes us humans interesting!) but try to listen to and respect the value of different points of view. It’s not easy, but we ask that you try to suspend your assumptions and preconceptions in order to get on with the job at hand. 

Be honest

Be polite and respectful, yes, but don’t be afraid to share your honest views on relevant topics. Everyone will benefit more from a Conversation where people feel comfortable to share honestly. Of course, there are boundaries so we can keep everyone safe - see the Ground Rules above to understand where we draw the line.

Use logic and reason

Our Conversations aim to solve tricky, complex problems. That isn’t easy, but we believe that between us all, we have the answers. Sometimes the topics we talk about together can bring up lots of emotions, and whilst we do ask you to be honest and open, we encourage you to take a breath before responding to something that has brought up lots of feelings for you. By taking time to process what you’re reading and think about your response, your contributions are more likely to get us closer to answers and maintain a productive Conversation. When in doubt, you can ask yourself “What might happen if I post this?” to see if the consequences are likely to take the Conversation in a helpful direction.

Feedback and ideas

We are always looking to improve and innovate, and we welcome ideas and feedback about your experiences taking part in a Clever Together Conversation. If you would like to submit anonymous feedback about the platform, you can fill out this quick survey. It will only take a few minutes and your thoughts will be very much appreciated. If you are interested in being invited to a short video call with our Community Coordinators to discuss your experiences in more detail, please send an email to facilitation@clevertogether.com expressing your interest.  We’d love to hear from you!