Co-Production That Works: guardrails, gates & gains for charity research

This week’s carousel shows how to make co-production practical and decision-ready so it safeguards people and produces outputs leaders and communities can both use.

What’s inside

• Why co-production stalls (same voices, endless workshops, averages that blur nuance) and how governance fixes it.

• Start safe: name a safeguarding lead, add consent checkpoints, minimise data, and use the “pause rule.”

• Stage gates that stop drift: 3–5 criteria, booked dates, named owners, and record continue/pivot/stop.

• Design dual outputs: a decision brief/dashboard for leaders and a community-chosen output with permissions and credits.

• Insider tips on every slide.

Quick wins

• Put the pause rule on every agenda; assign a safeguarding lead.

• Set a single page of stage-gate criteria (max five) and schedule the decision date now.

• Create a two-track output plan at kickoff: 1) exec decision brief; 2) community format agreed up front.

• Track decisions: log continue/pivot/stop with reasons; publish a short board note monthly.

Co-production works when it’s governance, not just engagement. Build the rails; the relationships will move.

👉 Read the full blog: here

Accessibility note: every slide includes alt text.