Title image: Co-production in practice

How to start co-production

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Introduction to Section 1 What is co-production? Why co-production? Participation and co-production What does co-production look like?
Introduction to Section 2 How to start co-production Methods and techniques Spotlight on lived experience panels Spotlight on facilitation techniques Supporting people in co-production
Introduction to section 3 Advocating for co-production The policy context Frameworks and tools
Introduction to Section 4 Reflecting, evaluating and learning Tips and helpful resources for evaluation

Whether you are working alone on a project or advocating within your organisation, the journey of putting co-production into practice can often seem difficult, with many people not being sure where to start.

In starting the journey, we firstly need to be committed to the principles of co-production, open to change and comfortable with taking some risks where outcomes and associated successes are not always guaranteed.  

Every journey of co-production, even if not successful, will produce learning points that will allow us to develop better more inclusive practices in the future. 

Key steps 

Here are some key steps to think about when starting any co-production activity, either as an individual, practitioner or organisation. 

Understand co-production: begin by trying to fully understand what co-production entails

Do some research, look at case studies for co-production and talk to others with experience.  Appreciate that it is a collaborative process where everyone involved works together on an equal basis and that for this to happen cultures, expectations and behaviours may need to change and adapt.  

Define motivations: what is the purpose of the activity?

Identify what needs to change, what you want to achieve and what levels of involvement will be needed.  Be clear on the objectives of the activity, what benefits they will have for all those involved in the process and what success will look like.  Be realistic and clear, where appropriate, on what can and cannot be affected.  

Identify stakeholders: determine who needs to be involved in the process

Ensure that you are being as inclusive as possible by identifying any barriers to involvement that might exist and taking steps to reduce these.  Involving the right people may at times be difficult but will maximise the opportunity for a successful process.  

Build relationships: no one group, or person is more important than the other in the co-production process

This means that everyone has unique skills and assets to bring to the activity.  Building trusting relationships based on respect, transparency and mutual benefit is therefore key to any successful co-production activity. 

All people involved should feel valued and respected through the process, have effective communication and work together towards the collective goals.   

Create a framework: allowing everyone involved to be clear on the collective goals 

Establishing an agreed framework or structure for the process can include activities like: establishing defined roles and responsibilities (potentially through a Terms of Reference document); setting timelines; defining reciprocity arrangements; and/or defining decision-making processes.    

Training and capacity building: allowing everyone to meaningfully participate

Ensure that everyone involved has access to training or resources needed to build capacity by enhancing skills and understanding, allowing them to fully participate with confidence.

This could include formal (or informal) training sessions, information workshops, resource documents in a suitable format, access to advisors/field experts or access to equipment.    

Monitor and evaluate: consider this at the very beginning of the co-production process

Steps should be taken that allow for continuous monitoring of ongoing activities as well as final project evaluation around success and impact.  This will allow for a more flexible process that can be responsive to any adjustments or improvements that may be required on an ongoing basis. 

By implementing good monitoring and evaluation practices it will be possible, not only to celebrate ongoing successes points, but also to identify positive impact and the achievement of original co-production objectives.  

Reflect and learn: what next?

At the end of every co-production process, once monitoring and evaluation has been recorded, it is good practice to reflect on the activities and identify “what next?”. 

Ask yourself what you have learned from the process and what you will do differently (or not so differently) in the future.  Think about how you want to record this and tell your co-production story. 

Using these steps to start (or continue) your co-pro journey can make it feel less daunting by breaking it down into focussed and achievable chunks.  They will also help to inform a holistic co-production process where all important elements are considered. 

The Bethany Christian Trust took the daunting step of beginning a co-productive process in 2023 and looked to the Scottish Co-production Network membership to help them inform this process.  Already having significantly developed motivations, they wanted to increase their knowledge of co-productive practices and learn from others about how to kickstart their local process. Read the case study.