Enhancing public sector communications

March 2009Meredith BarkerPublic Sector Relationship Manager, Archives NZ

Archives New Zealand – Relationship Management Strategy

Why do we need a strategy?• the purpose of this work is to build new

relationships and strengthen existing ones with the public sector

• to raise awareness of the work Archives New Zealand does • to make sure we’re using the right tools to get our messages

out there.• feedback from stakeholders says we’re communicating well

but we want to do better

What’s the process?

• Workshops with internal and external stakeholders• Stocktake of communications to date:

– what has worked and what hasn’t both internally and externally

- evaluated who we’re talking, to how often, and whether our messages are being received

- new target audiences

What does it mean for the public sector?

• Stronger relationships between Archives New Zealand and its public sector stakeholders through:- targeted and timely communications- building relationships across organisations (information managers, CIOs, chief executives etc)

• A whole-of-organisation view to get messages across – not only bottom up but also top down

• Greater support in selling messages across organisations• The relationship management strategy is not a golden ticket,

we’re relying on you to communicate relevant information messages within your own organisations.

‘Selling’ messages within your own organisation

• The greatest threat to many projects is a failure to communicate

• No matter what our profession,

we must be able to communicate

effectively to succeed

Basic communication planning

• Keep it simple and stick to the basics:

- purpose: why am I doing this?

- objectives: what do I want to achieve?

- key messages: what do I need to say

- audience: who do I need to say it to?

- strategy: how will I achieve my objectives

- communication tools: how will I communicate this to my audience

- evaluation: what worked? What can I do better next time.

What’s the point - defining the purpose

• consider why you need to communicate something• take a step back and ask stupid questions• what would happen if you didn’t communicate your

message?• what are you going to gain by

telling people about the issue?

Objectives

• bottom line: what do I want to achieve?• keep your objectives simple and achievable – no more than

three or four• don’t set unrealistic goals

Audiences

• know your organisation• define exactly who you need to communicate with• internal or external audience (or both)• identify your allies and your enemies

Key messages

• what do you need to say?• keep messages simple, get rid of the jargon• put them in a context that people can understand• think about how they will be communicated internally vs

externally• put your messages in context for your audience, use real life

examples

The Strategy

• The ‘how’ – how you communicate, what, when• Methods for getting your messages across, intranet,

website, face-to-face, email • Timing is everything. Think about other factors, what else is

happening in the organisation and whether it’s the best time to communicate

• Sell the benefits of action vs inaction• Don’t reinvent the wheel - if it’s been done before and

worked, stick to it!• talk to other departments who have done similar projects,

find out what worked for them

Communication tools

• Keep them simple (for your sake)• Getting the right information to the right people at the right

time and in a useful format is just as important as developing the information in the first place

• Important considerations include:

- using technology to enhance information distribution

- formal and informal methods for distributing information – face-to-face meeting, bulk email distribution, intranet, website.

Identifying risks

• Identify potential risks early

• Agree how risks will be managed and how you will mitigate them

• Project risks vs organisational risks

Evaluation

• Pass or fail

• An important tool not only for measuring success but identifying project failures

• Use it as a learning opportunity