1 / 19

Working with Elected Officials

Working with Elected Officials. How to Do It Effectively Newfoundland & Labrador October 2012 Presented by Iain De Jong. About Elected Officials. Real people Well intentioned Busy Weave in and out of different policy spheres

rianne
Download Presentation

Working with Elected Officials

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Working with Elected Officials How to Do It Effectively Newfoundland & Labrador October 2012 Presented by Iain De Jong

  2. About Elected Officials • Real people • Well intentioned • Busy • Weave in and out of different policy spheres • Big picture instead of operational…unless there is a perceived problem where involvement in operations can be seen as operational intrusion • Benefit from briefing

  3. What Was the Platform That Got Them Elected? • Feed it • Educate it • Provide data for it • Support it

  4. Learning Curve • You are an expert in housing and homelessness. Most often they are not. • They are an expert in politics. Most often you are not. • Mutual learning is mutually beneficial. • Don’t just ask an elected official to help you; offer to help them as well.

  5. What They Need to Know vsWhat They Hear Know Hear $ saved Meeting unmet need How it helps their constituency Risks • Amount invested • Unmet need • What it means to their constituency • Risks

  6. Partnership Not Partisanship • Park your own politics and align your message to speak to their politics • Demonstrate a willingness to work together • Your best advocacy is really brokering - what you offer to what they need and how it helps his/her constituency

  7. Activist vs Career Politician Activist Career Want to know how what you do helps them Speak to the issue when it serves their agenda Will see change happen when it comes at minimal risk Will listen intently if you can frame the issue in sound bites • Crave data • Want to understand the issue enough to speak about it • Seriously want to see change happen • Often have various (and competing) opinions on what should be done

  8. Pathways to Success

  9. Name is the Brand • Work with the Elected Official to promote their brand: • “Iain De Jong’s Pancake Breakfast” • “Coffee Time with Iain De Jong” • “Iain De Jong’s Leadership Discussion on Ending Homelessness” • “Iain De Jong’s Golden Brick Campaign” • “Iain De Jong’s Charity Golf Tournament to Support Sunshine Do-Gooder Enterprises”

  10. What Elected Officials Like • Assigning their name • Knowing that what is presented is a “Made in solution.” • Saving money.

  11. Being Solution Focused • Yes, raising an issue can be important, but it is more important to explain how you can (help) solve the issue • Don’t drop an issue on an elected official’s lap and expect them to know how to solve it • Try to link your idea to the strengths that already exist within the bureaucracy…means it can be done quicker

  12. When I Have Been in Trouble With Elected Officials • When I didn’t let them own success. • When I didn’t let them distance themselves from performance that wasn’t optimal. • When I didn’t let them save face when less than ideal conditions presented themselves. • When they were not briefed properly.

  13. Inter-connectivity of Policy Issues • Position housing and homelessness as a social issue and an economic issue…Economic Prosperity and Community Vitality • Homelessness is a disincentive to economic investment • Housing issues make business look elsewhere • It isn’t just about housing for middle income earners…need housing to serve everything from homeless people to Tim Horton’s workers to trades to engineers to CEOs

  14. Risk Assessment • Higher risk without certainty more likely early in a term…access early in the term is essential • Mid-term focus on the status quo • Later in the term focus on how support for what you do can help them with re-election

  15. Type of Engagement • Single point of engagement • Ongoing relationship development

  16. Preparing for Engagement • Busy schedules require setting up meetings well in advance to be effective • Know how much time you are looking for and the purpose of the time • Briefing note is good; full report is bad • Maximum five speaking points • Have the right people there – without swarming • Know what your conditions for success in the meeting are prior to starting the meeting • Stay within your allotted time

  17. Succinctly Describing What You Do • In one sentence, who does your program serve? • In three sentences or less (without any jargon, acronyms, etc.), what problem does your program solve? • How much money does your program cost? • What is the volume of service you deliver? • What three changes occur as a result of your service?

  18. Questions

  19. twitter.com/orgcode @orgcode www.facebook.com/orgcode www.orgcode.com/category/iain-blog/ www.orgcode.com

More Related