The role of communications teams in local authorities has always been far reaching, challenging and packed with opportunities for new ways of thinking and working. Every time we think the political and social landscape can’t get any more challenging, new issues arise.
by Victoria Ford
Right now, financial pressures and the threat of section 114 notices are looming large. It is clear the financial challenges facing many councils is intensifying and the messaging starting to come from authorities is that this isn’t a situation that can be managed through usual financial accounting. There needs to be a significant shift in the type of services provided, and the way they are delivered for councils to be able to continue to deliver for residents and their communities.
The fruitless search for the end of the rainbow
Many of these challenges will not be solved on a council-by-council basis. Interventions will be needed at geographical and national levels along with the ability to look beyond traditional public service delivery boundaries and rethink the way in which public services are delivered. What is clear is that any new political administration is highly unlikely to come charging in with a pot of money found at the end of a Cardiff, Edinburgh or Westminster rainbow. It’s time to take the opportunity to do things differently.
For many of us our impact as communicators will be best felt at that local, council by council level. Comms teams will find they have a different role to play that will test them beyond the operational and reputational management that they excel at. The core skills we have remain, but they need to be applied to a different, difficult and complex context.
The role of communications in transforming services
Transforming services to address significant financial gaps while continuing to deliver for residents will bring new challenges for local government comms teams. But there are some common themes to successful transformation comms in the public sector that apply now more than ever:
1. A strong, cohesive narrative
A starting point to effective communications for any transformation is a strong, cohesive narrative. Like values this isn’t about words on a wall, it needs to be a shared understanding of the desired outcomes and the impacts of change on staff, residents and communities.
We recently worked with a local authority on their narrative using a series of workshops and one to one sessions to get to a point when we had 400 words or so that were understood by both the political and organisational leadership. This meant they were used as the basis for all the messaging that was to come, demonstrating a shared commitment to the challenges ahead and a basis for their vision of the future.
2. A campaign approach
We’re strong advocates of the Government Communication Service’s OASIS campaign model. It’s not about process, it’s about a way of thinking and working. Unless you can focus on your objectives, what comms is going to support by way of outcomes and really understand your audience, then the activities you do are unlikely to hit the mark. You’ll be busy creating and delivering content that may appease stakeholders that comms is being ‘done’ but won’t shift behaviours and create a common understanding that future change can build on.
3. Openness and transparency
This can be a hard one. Often organisations are used to waiting until they have all the answers before communicating anything, but that approach doesn’t work for this scale of transformation. Voids are filled, inertia kicks in and, in worse case scenarios, we find ourselves firefighting in our comms both internally and externally. We advocate working in the open, giving people access to the information they need, when they need it to understand the change and get involved. This is where the campaign approach above becomes critical. We need to make sure the overarching messaging is clear and can provide context to allow that transparency.
4. Strategic advice
This type of work is where comms professionals really come into their own as strategic advisors to leaders and teams. As communicators we are in a privileged position to sit across the organisation and have the experience to understand the potential impact of decisions and how they need to be communicated. We have a responsibility to position ourselves in the centre of the change, be thinking ahead at each stage and giving leaders and colleagues the support they’ll need to communicate effectively.
5. The right support
This isn’t just about us supporting others though, this is a different way of working for many comms teams. It can be hard, really hard, with difficult messages, detailed interdependencies and a complex audience landscape. Comms teams need access to the support they need to deliver this scale of communication. By that I mean training and development and time to develop ourselves individually, but also support as a team to make sure the right resources are in the right place focusing on the right things at the right time.
One of the things I love about my work is when we get to work alongside inhouse comms teams in the public sector and see this development and growth first hand. While not every organisation will have the opportunity for external support, finding a way to provide the right support is key.
Sharing good practice
Comms teams are already in the midst of these challenges and we’d love to hear and share examples of where local authorities are getting this right. We’ve seen a couple of good examples recently:
- Blog from the Chief Executive of Shropshire Council setting our their position and being open about the potential impact of this on their workforce
- Wales this Week : Councils in Crisis television programme featuring Caerphilly County Borough Council where the Leader sets out the challenges and the need for a different approach.
- Could your good practice example be listed here?
We’d love to gather more examples of how local authority comms teams are embracing this challenge so please share your successes and challenges. You can get in touch or find out more about us and our work at https://perago.wales
Victoria Ford is managing director of Perago
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