Tag Archives: government relations

Communications, Government Relations

What was the message?

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Imagine planning a message for two months and then forgetting to deliver it.  Sound impossible?The following story really happened.

The real estate group had been planning their presentation to the Minister of Industry for about two months.  They had prepared slides and organized who would speak first and who would address the series of itemized issues.  The Minister was next to impossible to book and so this meeting was considered quite a coup within the organization. The presentation went like clockwork.  The Minister and his staff had sat with rapt attention through the slides. The assistant had made occasional notes and the Minister had asked questions.  It was, therefore, something of a shock to the group when the Minister at the close of the meeting turned to his assistant while the group was packing up and quietly said, “Why did they want to meet?”

It was no less surprising when the assistant shrugged her shoulders and said, “I don’t know; I assumed they wanted to address the pending legislation but they never mentioned it.”

Since the real estate group was under the impression that everything they said was related to the legislation, though they never actually made the link, they were somewhat dismayed.

Tips

  • Assume nothing before a meeting. Always clearly state why you are meeting and what you would like from the meeting.
  • Decide on a facilitator, someone who will lead the meeting and keep things on track.
  • Be clear on what you specifically would like the person you are meeting with to do next.
  • Make sure that you are always linking your information back to your objectives.
  • Avoid jargon, it is difficult to follow and may disengage or confuse listeners.
  • Ask if there are any questions before you conclude the meeting.
  • Follow up in writing restating your request and the highlights of your message.

Although the story relates to a failed government relations venture the same lessons can be learned by anyone trying to communicate. Essentially don’t get so preoccupied with how your message is going to be delivered that you don’t spend enough time ensuring that your audience actually gets the message. Imagine taking out a full page ad in a paper your audience doesn’t read or posting an important family message on Facebook and assuming all your relatives will read it.

 

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Communications, Government Relations

5 Lessons on Advocating with Social Media

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I initially wrote this post back in 2013, but a number of factors made me think it was worth another look.

  • The election of Donald Trump and his love of Twitter
  • The creation of “alternative facts”
  • Concerns about fake news and
  • Facebook’s algorithms

If you’re wondering about the last point, then consider that your newsfeed on Facebook is based on what you have liked in the past.  This means that all you will see are the opinions that agree with yours.  Facebook is working to adjust this, but its worth noting that as brilliant as we may be, alternate opinions are important to have a realistic and balanced view of the world.

Social media has changed the way we communicate and the way we advocate to the government. Messages placed online become living entities fuelled by others. The popularity of these communications tools provides every Canadian with an opportunity to not just express an opinion, but to be heard by thousands of others and possibly generate support for their perspectives.  This opportunity has not been lost on legislators and political candidates who quickly created their own profiles in an attempt to reach broader audiences.  The challenge, of course, is that like all communications tools, you have to use them with care. Social media does not mean accuracy or the use of facts. It also does not need you to keep a message moving once it starts to roll.

In 2008 when the federal government announced Bill-C-51, which had the stated objective of modernizing 50-year-old health legislation, no one really expected anyone beyond health professionals and other healthcare stakeholders to pay much attention.  Instead, what seemed like an army of angry Canadians rallied around concerns that the new legislation might limit the availability of certain herbal remedies.  Communications grew so vociferous and hostile so quickly that the movement became a testament to the effectiveness of social media.

Concerns about the Bill came close to hysteria in some instances. One website claimed that the new legislation would give the government the right to invade homes and remove materials without the need for evidence or a search warrant.  Another site warned Canadians that a police state would result from the implementation of the legislation.  The Health Minister, who was initially dismissive of what looked like a small group of misinformed people, found himself having to explain and defend the Bill in the press and on the Health Canada website.

So while all this people power sounds like great news for the average citizen, you might also want to ask who started the commentary on the Bill.  There are no assurances that blogs or the information posted on social networks will be accurate or honest.  There is also nothing to prevent people with a specific agenda from generating misinformation or confusion around a given subject.

Lessons Learned

  • Always take into consideration who is active on the websites you use as resources.
  • While blogs and social media sites represent a great communications opportunity, they also carry with them significant challenges and some pitfalls.  Know who is talking to you and to whom you are talking.
  • Consider the strengths and weaknesses of different social media sites and use the ones that best fit with your objectives, audience and your time. Once you engage, stay engaged.
  • If you use social media, do so with the understanding that it requires your full attention as a communicator.
  • Social media is not a billboard. People can not only react to it, they can take over your message. Sometimes that’s a good thing, so don’t try to control it, but do try to respond immediately when they take your message in the wrong direction.

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9 Ways Social Media Does Good

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Communications, Government Relations, Internal Communications

The Importance of Research in Business

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Risk is a part of most business equations, but making assumptions without first doing your research is just bad planning. Several years ago as a consultant, I worked with the Executive Director (ED) of an association on a government relations campaign. He had attended many government meetings over the years but I had gotten him an important meeting an Assistant Deputy Minister (ADM).

Since the association had wanted to meet with the ADM for some time, they had lots of information to share. The ED was eager to communicate as much information as possible. He glanced at his notes again and again but he hardly needed them. He knew his issues inside and out.  The trick would be to make sure that the message was being delivered with all the necessary information following a logical pattern.  The ADM was relatively new to the portfolio and was an unknown to the organization. The Executive Director wanted to make sure that he captured all the nuances of the message and left a good impression. I had suggested starting the meeting with a brief description of the association, followed by an overview of the profession, but the Executive Director was concerned about inadvertently insulting the ADM by addressing things that he could easily have learned prior to the meeting.

The Executive Director was about 45 minutes into the hour-long meeting when the ADM asked a question that revealed he had absolutely no knowledge of the profession, never mind an understanding of the association. It was at this point that the Executive Director decided that he would have to do three things,  1) abandon his presentation 2) start the discussion over again with a description of the profession and 3) not make eye contact with me for the rest of the meeting.

Fortunately, we subsequently built a strong rapport with the ADM, but the story stays with me because it so beautifully illustrates what happens when you make assumptions about your audience in business.

Tips on engaging your audience:

  • Assume nothing about what people know
  • Do your research, learn as much as you can about the person you are meeting with before you meet. Look them up on LinkedIn, search the internet for their bio.
  • Send a briefing note in advance of the meeting if your time is limited.
  • Bring material that you can leave behind in case your audience has questions after you leave.
  • Complex messages require multiple meetings or messages.
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Government Relations, public relations

Etiquette – Things You Learned in Kindergarten

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Over the years, I have  helped many clients prepare for their first meeting with a legislator. I have seen presidents of national and multinational corporations, men with billion dollar budgets and thousands of employees break out in a sweat at the thought of presenting their organization’s perspective to a Minister.  I have also had clients whose complete lack of regard for the time and opportunity afforded to them by a meeting with a Minister come close to derailing their corporate objectives before they had even presented them.

In one particularly memorable case, my client who had been out at meetings with members of parliament (MPs) all morning called a minister’s office and asked the assistant to organize a lunch in time for their arrival since they were falling behind schedule. Given that the assistant in question worked for the Minister of Finance it’s fair to say that she had other things too attend to that morning, not the least of which were all of the other visitors waiting to meet the minister. She didn’t call a caterer, she called me.

When people told me government relations was exciting, I was skeptical. I had worked in politics for years and met plenty of lobbyists. While the issues were interesting and the policy solutions often ingenious, the hours were long and moving regulations or legislation is often tedious. Unless it was an election night, exciting is not how I would have described most political action. However, when my day was unexpectedly interrupted by a an outraged assistant previously known for her patience under fire, my heart rate might have picked up. There is definitely a certain amount of drama associated with trying to soothe an angry assistant, while madly pantomiming to your own assistant to call the florist and send a massive bouquet of flowers BEFORE your oblivious client gets there.

Although the client in question headed up a multi-national who could make the nation’s GDP drop when they had a strike, they were still people dealing with people. The cost of the flowers and my time while I sorted out their faux pas was negligible, but that little moment cost them a good deal of credibility. For a large corporation if you perform enough small blunders the cost to your reputation starts to take a tremendous financial toll. Whether you’re annoying a minister’s assistant or frustrating a customer, bad news spreads quickly. Social media means it spreads at the speed of a key stroke.The customer/stakeholder/follower is not always right, but they always deserve to be treated with respect.

Some Simple Tips To Keep In Mind

  • Consider how you might feel if positions were reversed.
  • Treat people the way you want your favorite human treated.
  • Respect the time of the people you are meeting with, including the time of their staff.
  • If you are going to be late, give them a heads up.
  • If you are going to be early, try to avoid their office unless you have no choice and then stay out of their way.
  • Most importantly, play nice.
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Government Relations

Remember Your Manners – A True Story

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Remember your mannersBad manners in business are about as useful as feathers on a fish and as memorable. The following story is based on something that happened while I worked on Parliament Hill.

An executive working in the regional office of a manufacturing company was contacted by his superiors and told that it would be in the best interest of the organization if he were to meet with the local member of parliament (MP) to discuss some of the future goals of the organization.  The Member of Parliament really didn’t have the power to facilitate or interrupt those goals, but since he sat on the Industry Committee, and the changes would require some  regulatory adjustments it made good sense to make sure he was onside.  The executive dutifully contacted the office and set up a meeting with the MP.

On the day of the meeting, the executive arrived and proceeded to extol the virtues of the proposed objectives of his company to the MP.  To his surprise the MP had some concerns.  The concerns did not appear to be well founded or based on any evidence.  The executive explained that the concerns were unsubstantiated, but the MP persisted, expressing his reluctance to endorse the objectives of the company.  It was at this point that the executive became somewhat impatient with the MP, after all, what did the MP know about his business and who was he to raise objections? As the meeting continued it became clear that the two men were not going to see eye to eye, what’s more it was also obvious that the MP might actually represent a problem for the organization. The executive in frustration finally said to the MP that he would, “regret it” if he were to stand in the way of the organization’s goals.

Now for those of you familiar with testosterone, it is clear that the tone of the exchange had more to do with hormone levels than any rational disagreement. It is also possible that had the exchange been limited to these two men it would have ended then and there. Unfortunately, executives from across the country went out to meet with MPs.  It was equally clear that none of the executives had been given government relations training… or relations training of any kind.  All that was paramount to them was the importance of the proposed activity to their organization. The result was that by the time the Members of Parliament had returned to the House of Commons they were good and steamed.  When they got together with their caucus members, their anger escalated to the point that even those who were inclined to support the manufacturer were reluctant to do so in the face of the other MPs’ anger.  The net result was that the pressure on the Minister of Industry to oppose the manufacturer was unshakeable.

To the manufacturer’s horror and dismay, what started out as a no brainer business move became the centre of an outraged grassroots movement against the manufacturer’s interest. The movement was so stormy and politically loaded that the Minister was obliged to support it.

Lessons Learned

  • Assume nothing, determine the mindset of the official you are meeting with and respond appropriately.
  • Do not dismiss concerns always address them thoughtfully.
  • Do not get into arguments with officials. If you can’t agree, end the meeting and leave.
  • Do not threaten, even inadvertently.
  • Do not underestimate the power of a riled or impassioned legislator. Legislators did not get elected because they lacked determination or the ability to rally others to their cause.

Manners are not a nicety, they are a necessity in business.

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Communications, Government Relations, Management

What Exactly Is Your Issue? Four Tips For Better Lobbying

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what's your issueI was on Parliament Hill recently and as my colleagues and I fanned out to share our messages I kept thinking about all the possible outcomes ahead of us.  We had the same message to deliver, but personal style and approach can make subtle changes occur that effect comprehension, reception and even perceived objective. This means that when presenting an idea, the question of knowing EXACTLY what you want is critical.

Whether presenting to government, an interviewer or potential client, it can mean the difference between success and failure.   If you are unclear about your issue, or do not ensure that your audience is clear on what you want, you may find yourself achieving an outcome you didn’t anticipate.  As time management expert Alan Lakein so succinctly put it, “Failing to plan is planning to fail.”

Take for instance the consumer advocate groups that lobbied the Canadian federal government for years on the issue of labelling of cigarette packaging.   They asked government to ban or restrict the word “light” from cigarette packages.  They were concerned that the use of the word would lead the public to think that these cigarettes were somehow not as bad for them as “regular” cigarettes.  In December 2004, then Minister of Health, Ujjal Dosanjh, was pleased to announce that the use of the words “light” and “mild” would be prohibited from use on future cigarette packages. Imagine his surprise, when on hearing his announcement, the various associations in question responded with criticism.  It seems that they were actually using the “light” discussion as an example of the kind of wording they did not want used. As it happens their “ask” was a good deal more complex than the use of one or two words, they were quite legitimately concerned about the use of any language or imagery that might be perceived as misleading, this included the use of numbers or coloring.  Subsequently, they did not see the change as sufficient.

By February of 2005, a grassroots campaign had been launched to tell government that their announced changes hadn’t gone far enough.  The subsequent nature of the relationship between the Minister and the associations following these events can only be speculated on, but needless to say a good deal of engagement would have been necessary to maintain good relations.

Knowing exactly what you want before you initiate anything, from a meeting to a full communications campaign,  provides you with a path. Waiting until you are at a critical meeting or juncture is not the time to to determine what you want. Brainstorming in tight circumstances is unlikely to be productive or successful. Its also likely to lead to frustration for you and those around you.  If you know precisely what outcome you are trying to achieve, you are also in a better position to spot options or opportunities, it gives you the flexibility to take short cuts that will satisfy your objectives. Knowing what you want means you are also in a better position to anticipate how long the process will take and what you will need to do in order to be successful.

When have you planned and succeeded?  Have you been taken by surprise by an outcome? Have you ever failed to plan and subsequently missed an opportunity?

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Government Relations

7 Tips For Meeting with a Member of Parliament

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7 tips for meeting with a member of parliament
There’s No Such Thing As A Typical Meeting With An MP

There is no such thing as a typical meeting with a Member of Parliament (MP).  While all MPs may share the same job, and some share the same party membership, that’s about where their automatic resemblance to each other starts and finishes.  It’s not that you can’t have similar meetings with various MPs, but if you start to think that there is a set of rules or expectations on what will happen in meetings the only thing you can count on is that you will run into trouble.

How the meetings unfold will depend on a number of factors, not the least of which is the personality of the individual. The meeting will reflect what’s on their mind, their impression of you, what time they have, and many more issues you cannot control or even be aware of. Let’s not forget what you bring to the meeting with you.

I was once doing a series of MP meetings, about 50 one on one meetings in a three-month period. During the course of that process, I encountered MPs who knew all about my issue long before I got there and had done significant research after my meeting request was received. I also met MPs who didn’t know anything about the issue and not much more about the organization or group I was there representing. During the same round of meetings, one MP told me that I should never talk to the constituency MP (himself) but instead, I should talk to the party critic. Another MP suggested that I should never meet with MPs unless I brought a hired a lobbyist. I should mention that the particular MP had formerly been the owner of a lobbying firm.

One MP was only interested in talking directly to one of the professionals I was representing. Still, other MPs thanked me for bringing the issue to their attention and committed to speaking to folks in their caucus and in their constituency about the issue.  The range of reactions I received as I met with these MPs was as varied as the faces I was sitting across from.  I liked some and disliked others, but although they had all received the same information in advance, none of them responded in the same way.

Having made it clear that MPs are as unpredictable as most people, there are a few things you might expect when meeting an MP.

Lessons Learned

  • They will want to know who “specifically” you are and what it is you want from them.
  • They will expect you to explain as clearly as possible what your issue is.
  • They may ask you to suggest a solution or that you will provide one as part of your explanation.
  • The MP may oppose the position you are supporting and consequently may decide to argue openly or simply not commit to doing anything to help. In this case, note the position or acknowledge it if they share it with you. State your position, but do not engage in a back and forth argument.
  •  Always offer to serve as an information resource.
  • Remember to take the opportunity to ask the MP for his or her thoughts and how you can help.
  • Always remember to thank them for taking the time from their busy schedule to meet with you. If there are any follow-up activities don’t forget to do them.
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Government Relations

Warming Up The Audience Before Delivering Your Message

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As a consultant I have walked into rooms where the temperature was so cold I debated getting gloves, but whether I’m lobbying or speaking at an event, I always warm up my audience before delivering my message. When they’re warm, I’m hot.

A Story from the Field

The CEO of the large pharmaceutical company was anxious to meet with an Assistant Deputy Minister (ADM).  His company had considerable concerns around a regulatory process and he wanted to share their proposals towards addressing that challenge.  He knew that in the weeks prior to his meeting there had been quite a bit of bad press about the program the ADM was responsible for. What’s more, the bad press had resulted from many unfortunate and accusatory comments leveled directly at the ADM by another pharmaceutical company.  It was of little surprise to the CEO when he was only granted 30 minutes for the meeting, and even less of a surprise when 30 minutes was reduced to 15 minutes once he arrived.

Rather than launching into his proposal, he started the meeting by explaining that he understood the challenges the department faced.  He explained that he thought the press coverage unfortunate since it did nothing to contribute to an open dialogue between his industry and the department.  The ADM who had started the meeting with her hands folded across her chest and her lips so tightly pursed she might have produced diamonds from coal, slowly began to relax.  When her assistant came into the meeting to get her after 15 minutes, the ADM shook her head and the meeting proceeded. By the time the CEO explained that his company funded a group of independent scientists who would be available for an exchange program with the department due to their specialized knowledge, 45 minutes had elapsed. The ADM was leaning forward attentively and asking about how the scientists were chosen and how the exchange might work. The meeting ended after an hour and there were smiles all round.

As government relations exercises go, I have rarely been so impressed with a client for turning what could have been a disaster into a triumph. When we were told we had 15 minutes I wasn’t sure if he would stay or walk out, but he was a total trooper.  Its a lesson that has stayed with me.

Three Tips For Managing First Meetings

  • Assume nothing about your audiences knowledge of you; make sure your position/attitude is clearly stated at the beginning of the meeting.
  • Read the body language of the person you are meeting with and respond to it.
  • Establishing rapport will serve you better than any well practiced pitch.

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