Practical Tips on Issues Management
Do you find it challenging to condense complex stories into bullet points for your senior leaders? Do you struggle to manage multiple competing issues at once? If so, you're not alone. Many public servants struggle with issues management, particularly in our increasingly complex landscape.
In this blog post, you'll find:
a video with insights from a DM who is especially clear and compelling when she talks about the essential aspects of issues management
some of my favourite tips on issues management
the crucial role that political acumen plays in issues management
some ideas to help you refine your skills
A video on issues management in a changing landscape
Let’s start by unpacking issues management with Bobbi Plecas, Deputy Minister for the Ministry of Post-Secondary Education and Future Skills for the Province of British Columbia.
My favourite tips for issues management
As an Executive Coach, I am often asked by my clients to share some ideas about issues management so that they can learn what they should be paying attention to. Here are some of my favourites:
1. Condense a complex story into a series of bullet points
My senior clients often complain about the length of the briefing materials they receive from junior staff, and yet they know that it takes time to develop a sense of what belongs in and what belongs out.
What you provide in your briefing notes has to give the recipient a brief summary of the issue. Generally, there is a format for these documents, which makes them a bit easier to produce, but it is an advanced skill to condense all the data you have at hand. Once you’ve mastered this, you will know that you have arrived at a new level on your journey!
2. Manage issues while continuing with the regular business of government
Managing issues alongside regular business comes down to a skill I call expectation/demand management (read more about this in the Career Blind Spots Guide included in our program materials). When you become good at this, you will be able to negotiate the outcomes that are being requested of you. You’ll do this by knowing what the key players really need, and if requests are unclear, you will be comfortable picking up the phone to ask for clarification. You will also be able to reuse materials that have been produced earlier, and you’ll know when various requests for information can be bundled into categories that make the best use of staff time.
When you are not managing the demands placed on you well, you may be taking on too much work or agreeing to take on work before you have considered the resources available. You may feel unable to refuse assignments and may lack a way to express this. This can occur when you have just started a job and are not clear on your role, when there is a gap in the team's accountabilities, or after a re-organization. If you are confused, your reports will likely be too, so you may notice that they are not managing your expectations.
If you’re consistently struggling to manage expectations and demands, you may notice that you take on more of the work yourself and are showing signs of becoming overwhelmed or working longer hours than you did previously. To avoid this situation, take the time to develop a strong and respectful relationship with your boss or minister so that when the time comes to speak truth to power, you can do so more easily.
3. Responding when your organisation is consistently getting bad press
Consistent bad press reflects badly on the organisation and the government, and it affects staff morale. The confidence of the public is integral to the success of the organisation.
Consistent bad press can happen if the organisation hasn’t embraced the importance of consistent communication with the media. Without a communications plan, media enquiries might go unanswered or maybe no one is following up on stories that contain inaccuracies that cause concern within the government and among stakeholders.
While you may be one of many players in this work, your point of view is important. Sometimes it can feel as though everyone must be seeing what you are seeing, but for some reason, they are not acting on it. What seems self-evident could be a clue that you need to let your voice be heard.
4. What do politicians need from the bureaucracy when dealing with tricky, time-bound, high-risk, media-sensitive issues?
As a senior leader, you are sometimes required to manage challenging issues in the public eye. Still, for reasons of cost or complexity or competing budget pressures (or all 3), you realise that there is no relief in sight.
When this happens, it is important to remember that as a senior leader, you are tasked with managing under these difficult services. You can’t report to your DM/CAO or Minister/Mayor that a situation is unmanageable. At the same time, you can’t minimise the challenges and tell them that all is well and they don’t need to pay attention to what’s happening.
For your Minister to speak confidently, they have to feel confident about your ability to manage. If you use “the sky is falling” approach and claim that if additional funding isn’t provided by a certain date, terrible event(s) will occur, and when that date comes, the awful event doesn’t occur, your credibility will be lost.
5. How to respond in a crisis such as an environmental disaster or a pandemic
The best advice I have heard is to prepare for it before it happens. Like cyber security threats or environmental disasters, it’s understood now that it's no longer a matter of ‘if’ but ‘when’.
But getting logistically prepared is probably the easy part. The hard part is in the doing because these are incredibly time-consuming and draining events. Most of my clients want to discuss the impact this all-consuming event is having on them and their families or on their staff and their families.
To help get you through these times, it’s extremely important to clarify the expectations for the leadership team – you may be in a position to translate the expectations or set them – so that people understand who is on the team and what their role is. Lack of role clarity seems to be among the most likely causes of delivery problems.
The role of political acumen in issues management
While the tips I’ve outlined above will improve your issues management skills, I also recommend building your political acumen. Political acumen plays a crucial role in issues management by enabling leaders to analyse and respond to the political, economic, and social forces that influence public opinion and decision-making. Learn more about the concept in my other blog post here.
Refining your skills
Issues management is an essential part of government work. To improve your skills, consider working with an executive coach, taking our Issues Management short course, or shadowing a colleague with skills in this area.
Work with your coach
Your coach can help you create a process to improve your briefing skills, act as a safe place to vent concerns during crises and provide practical tips when you have to manage up.
For briefing notes, don’t wait until the first time you are asked to write a briefing note! Pick an issue central to your Ministry or Department and practice drafting a briefing note. Think about what’s most important from the perspective of the person you are writing the note for. Putting yourself in their shoes is critical. Once drafted, get feedback from someone who excels at writing briefing notes.
Looking for an Executive Coach?
We work with several coaches who have taken the Inside Public Sector Leadership Program and who have worked with public sector clients for many years. Please contact us if you would like a no obligation referral with a complimentary ‘fit’ meeting: programs@publicsectorleadership.ca