The toolkit attempts to equip you with information to avoid or manage many possible criticisms and risks, but there is considerable scope for local decision-making. And nothing ever goes exactly to plan. Sometimes an issue grows slowly out of a minor irritant or lack of alignment between team members. Sometimes it seems to come out of the blue from a source you did not even have on your radar. How you deal with those issues is a measure of your resilience. And resilience has some key characteristics:

• Viewing challenges as an opportunity (to learn or try something new)
• Drawing on a network of support
• Maintaining perspective (e.g., “This too shall pass.”)
• Taking the next best step
• Setting up expectations from the start that we can’t know or predict everything and that we will be agile and responsive to emerging issues while prioritizing the best interests and preferences of young people

When undertaking a Community Child and Youth Well-being Survey, you might encounter the following issues that require adaptation:

• Emergencies or crises that disrupt the community
• Criticism from stakeholders or others
• Lack of interest from some of the media, stakeholders or youth
• Difficulty recruiting participants (e.g., too few responses or lack of diversity)
• Changes in personnel
• Operational hiccups
• Fractiousness within the organizing group

The best way to avoid negative consequences is to notice and address potential problems before they grow into something more significant. Make it a practice to ask what is not going well when checking in as a project team. Encourage team members to raise issues early within a culture of openness and shared goals, valuing opportunities to accommodate new ideas and respecting the fact that nobody knows everything. Remember that as you try out something new, you may be creating the path as you walk it. And when disagreement is proving difficult to resolve, consider being guided by young people’s views or enable them to make the decision. 

It is easy to get so preoccupied by bumps along the road that you lose track of the destination and take your attention away from areas that need it most. If you expect things to go off-track occasionally, you are more likely to be ready to respond appropriately. Sometimes, letting something go is the best course of action but, more often, a prompt, measured and targeted response will work best to clear the path forward. Do not forget to close the communications loop when action has been taken. Everyone on the team deserves to know the whole story and feel satisfied when it is resolved.

What do communities who’ve delivered the survey say are the ingredients for success?

• Clear messages and framing – by the community, for the community
• Explain the uses of the survey that will resonate with the audience
• Youth champions – at every step
• Work with youth, not “on” them
• Incentives
• Promotion through parents and teachers 

At the end of this stage of the data cycle, you will close the survey and move to the next stage.