On and Off the Job Training - Danish Experiences By Leon Østergaard, Statistics Denmark UNECE/OECD Work Session on Statistical Dissemination and Communication February 2005 Henley-on-Thames, UK

Introduction We have to become better at telling the story behind the figures Statisticians are not well equipped to do just that We cannot let journalists take over this task entirely Hence, we have to train statisticians to conduct (part of) the task

Principle of Equal Professional Rights ”In the dissemination of statistical products - with particular reference to News from Statistics Denmark - statistical professionalism and communication expertise are regarded as equally important” Statistics Denmark Strategy 2006

News from Statistics Denmark

550 issues each year 2 issues on an average working day 250 different statistics The media are the primary target group Revised guidelines issued recently

News from Statistics Denmark Statistical Division writes first draft manuscript Must have news focus, headline and one comprehensible graph Forwarded to Dissemination Centre 10 a.m. on the day before publication

1st Strategy: Daily dialogue Communication professional suggests improvements Dialogue via , telephone or face- to-face Communication professional may re- write parts of the text Dialogue continues until agreement is reached (by noon at the latest) Both parties learn from the process, provided they argue their points

Procedure in case of disagreement If disagreement is a matter of principle… …Head of Communication meets Head of Statistical Division If disagreement can’t be settled… …the version of the Statistical Division is printed… … and the involved parties are summoned on a later date to find a solution

Disadvantages The short deadline (10 a.m. to noon) is not well suited for major changes in format, focus etc. The short deadline makes it difficult to produce new graphs etc.

2nd Strategy: Recurrent workshops Recurrent offer to all Statistical Divisions Not compulsory… 8-10 publications discussed in 3 hours Heads of divisions participate Qualitative criticism as well as… …quantitative facts on the use of the publications Written report on agreements If necessary, two or more workshops

Disadvantages Time-consuming Demands meticulous preparation Capacity 8-10 workshops a year… …corresponding to 3-4 Statistical Divisions a year 3 years necessary to cover all Statistical Divisions

3rd Strategy: Internal Courses Introduction to dissemination (half day) - compulsory for new staff members Press course (one day) - compulsory for staff dealing with the media Efficient written communication (two days) - compulsory for all staff members To tell with statistics (two days) - compulsory for statisticians External courses is used only for communication professionals

4th Strategy: Recruiting In recruiting statisticians, communication skills might be regarded as an additional qualification… …or even be required! A suggestion is put forward in our draft language policy... …and favourably received

To tell with internal statistics… Managing change by making it quantitatively visible Measuring media coverage Relating media coverage directly to each publication and each Statistical Division Improving media coverage year by year - in each Statistical Division Progress monitored by internal statistics