Strategic Communications Training of Trainers X State MDA

Welcome Note Opening Remarks Programme Information

Roadmap Training Objectives Training Agenda Strategic Communication for MDAs: Core Principles & Elements Preparing a Strategy Step by Step Comms Assessment/Diagnostic & Benchmarking Breakout Exercise: Preparing a Strategy Diagnostic Q & A Wrap Up

Participant Introductions Name MDA you represent Job Title What you hope to gain from the training? –Participant priorities

At the centre of it all

Training Objectives Improve: Capacitate: MDA appreciation and understanding of the need for communications plans, dept’s, personnel. Ministry capacity to develop and design effective communications strategies for policy-making or reforms. Capacitate: Ministry officials to use strategic communications within their MDAs and supporting Ministries of the state Participants to use the Toolkit, Guidebook and supporting materials to deliver strategic communications training in State MDAs

Strategic Communications for MDAs Core Principles & Elements

Survey Results BMO Responses Government Responses How often Govt. communicates with BMOs? Semi-Annually How involved are BMOs during policy design stage? Majority :not involved How informed are civil servants on policies? Minimally informed Where would you like to see improvements in Govt. communication? 1) relevant policy-makers more accessible 2) forums, channels for ongoing dialogue on business environment policies 3) more effort by Govt. to engage the private sector in policy-making 4) engaging the media on business environment issues Government Responses How often Govt. communicates with BMOs? Monthly How involved are BMOs during policy design stage? Majority: involved How informed are civil servants on policies? Majority: effectively informed Where would you like to see improvements in Govt. communication? relevant policy-makers more accessible engaging the media on business environment issues

An age-old problem ” It should be realised that taking the initiative in introducing a new form of government is very difficult and dangerous, and unlikely to succeed. The reason is that the old order will be opposed to the innovator, whereas all those who might benefit from the new order are at best tepid supporters of him. ” Macciavelli, The Prince Dialogue and advocacy are key tools in improving the business environment anywhere. We’ll talk more about that today, but before we do I wanted us to think about the fact that improving the regulatory environment is not a new problem, it’s been around for ages. And it is HARD work....

Basic Principles of Government Communication Government work is public activity, information about it must be public too Openness and transparency must drive all communications Objectivity Professionalism Public communication is more than just disseminating information + media coverage

Basic Principles of Government Communication Make it easy to understand the information’s relevance to the lives of the general public + private sector Direct exchanges with the public are more effective Public communication = more than working with media Communication is a core public service: requires not just informing, but listening and providing feedback Consistent messages vital to public trust Government communicators must have close relationships to top government administrators Backing up positions with facts is crucial How do we do that?

What is strategic communication? Getting the right messages & information… to the right people … (and by the right people) at the right time … using the right media … with the right effect!  A structured approach that combines information (one-way) and dialogue (two-way) methods to achieve success

The Virtuous Circle of effective policy communication Pro-active, open, targeted communication Greater public & media trust; More interest in policy, coverage participation More & better media coverage; Higher public enagement, support Better public dialogue, feedback = better public policies & services = more support for Government Higher demand for info; Better chance for Govt re-election; support for future programs Strategic Communication moves the circle clockwise A good policy environment is good for citizens, business and government alike. Even for politicians! A situation that works well for EVERYONE. Strategic communication & stakeholder engagement are key to making good policy.

The Virtuous Circle Business environment reforms Choose this slide or the previous one to make the point, both is overkill.- For example, you might use this slide instead of the previous one if you are training MDAs dealing with business environment policy-making Communication Strategy moves the circle. Before starting with advocacy, it’s important to understand that a good policy & business environment are good for both business and government Advocacy is not lobbying or trying to secure preferential treatment– but a situation that works well for EVERYONE. If that is the basis for advocacy, you’ll succeed

Unique Elements of Strategic Communications for Govt Not reactive, but pro-active Goal-driven + consultative Segments key target groups, audiences Specific messages for specific groups Uses non-media and media channels Messengers chosen based on audience trust Coordination of communication activities with other MDAs Internal MDA communication to build support for policies Accounts for MDA comms capacity, funding Consultation with stakeholders Demonstrates the impact of policy-making

Communications Challenges that Government faces? Tradition of weak consultation, dialogue & feedback Lack of priority on comms, stakeholder engagement Weak public relations and media relations skills, experience Communication as a profession is underdeveloped Few capacity-buidling opportunities Unprofessional media & “brown envelope” syndrome Uncoordinated policies, lack of structured comms b/w MDAs & agencies Lack of statistics & research to justify policy positions Transparency in government is on the rise globally– sometimes it is evolutionary, others ‘revolutionary’. That means public requests/demands for information– and involvement in policy-making will increase exponentially over the next few years– How will MDAs and employees deal with this new demand?

3 Communications Stages for Effective Policy-making 1) Consultation-- to develop/formulate the policy 2) Informing & building support-- after policy decided 3) Implementation monitoring, evaluating & demonstrating impact For each stage, the approach and priorities must be different Identify the objective-- inform, engage, advocate, etc. Prioritise the stakeholders Craft the messages Decide the tools to use Informing & building support– consultation is useful at this stage whether or NOT consultation happened in forming the policy from the outset

Q & A

Coffee Break

Preparing a Strategy: Step-by-Step

Strategy-making Tools Strategy Template Making a Strategy Step–by–Step Communication Plan Communication Strategy Action Plan & Budget

The Steps Assess context for policy & communication, media Define the objectives– not only awareness-raising Specify the stakeholders, target groups Decide the message(s) they need to receive ... and who are the best “messengers” List the best actions, activities to meet your goals Specify how performance will be measured, monitoring methods Assign responsibility for implementation Calculate the costs, prepare budget Follow up to ensure success and make adjustments It is important to do steps 1-5 in order. Steps 6-8 do not have to be done one after the other. Step 9 clearly comes last.

Strategy Template Time Frame: duration of project, campaign-specific, etc. Introduction: overall strategy objectives; comms role Analysis: stakeholder identification, internal & external communication, problems/opportunities Constraints; Target Groups: stakeholder map Communications Goals: aims and objectives of overall strategy Messages: overall messages for each target group Methods: channels, one-way, two-way Critical Success Factors Capacity building Monitoring

Communication Plan Communication Strategy Action Plan & Budget Just like we plan other job functions, we are most effective when we plan our communications. Communication Strategy Specifies the goals, target audiences and messages to be communicated Can be designed to cover any period that is relevant Action Plan & Budget Specifies activities, timeframes, measuring tools, responsibilities and costs Updated/modified regularly Together they form a Communication Plan

State of Play Assess But, first must understand the context Objectives are the core of the strategy But, first must understand the context Each stakeholder group’s support for change and opposition to it– their perceptions and positions, interests. External and Internal stakeholders “RP” before PR Learn the awareness, opinions, needs, concerns of MDA “publics” before you “go public” or start communicating Often most overlooked, neglected step … risky! The Bulgaria Case Study in the Guidebook is an examples of where stakeholder perception research to benchmark different taxpayers’ attitudes and awareness to taxes and the Agency itself were critical to ”RP”

Q & A

Communications Assessment 1st step in stakeholder engagement Identify and Map stakeholders Conduct SWOT evaluation Assess communication capacity, needs– Govt, CSOs companies Evaluate media environment & stakeholders’ access Stakeholder research Benchmark internal & external stakeholders’ Attitudes, awareness & understanding of your policy, MDA Identify primary concerns, interests & expectations of each Identify preferred comms channels; Where they go for info People & sources most trusted to inform & engage in the policy Assess ’fear factor’ – who is opposed and why? SWOT is another term for assessment = Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats Stakeholder perception research– qualitative and/or quantitative-- is ideally done before writing the comms strategy, but can/should be done as early as possible in the process AND later as part of M&E The Bulgaria Case Study in the Guidebook is an examples of where stakeholder perception research to benchmark different taxpayers’ attitudes and awareness to taxes and the Agency itself were critical to ”RP”

Analyse context for communication Identify Constraints + Positive conditions Time Stakeholders’ access to information channels Human resources Sources of support & opposition Outside and inside Government Financial limitations Aspects communication cannot address This is a crucial step to do at the outset– to understand the operating environment and resources available for comms. The Guidebook provides several key quetions to answer– see also slide 29 here

Tools for analysis Reports, studies Analysis of media coverage Interviews Roundtables, workshops Opinion polls, focus group studies, questionnaires

Comms. Assessment/Diagnostic Key questions to ask What is the political climate inside and outside your Ministry? Supportive? Opposing? Neutral? What communications structures, functions are in place? Do they work? What resources are available for strategy implementation? What levels of awareness are there for the programme/policy and internally and externally? What does the target audience need to hear? How can the messages be formulated to simply and clearly convey that information to the people who must be reached? What is the media situation? What are the positive pre-conditions? Is there an enabling environment? What data is readily available?

Identifying Constraints Why is this so important? Defining our objectives is crucial, but we can’t achieve them without knowing what stands in the way... ... and figuring out ways to address them! What might be some things that keep us from: reaching key stakeholders? catalysing public dialogue? Just a feew of the many typical constraints are: * Few staff resources, comms professionals to create, implement strategy * Weak appreciatation for need/power of stratcomms for policy success * Lack of institutionalised MDA comms; Weak intra-MDA coordination * Pay-to-play media culture * Low available funding

Preparing a Strategy Diagnostic Break-Out Group Exercise

Q & A, Wrap-up & Next Steps

Participant Evaluations

Thank you